Read time: 5 min.

I’ve been chasing down old schoolhouses for over a decade now. Soon after I started writing about them, the questions started rolling in. Folks on Facebook, members of the Delaware County Historical Society, and even my own family kept asking, “So, when are you going to write a book?” I wasn’t sure how to answer for years, but eventually, it clicked: as soon as I started seeing them be torn down, a book about the schoolhouses of Delaware County seemed beneficial.

I pitched the idea to a few history publishers. Unfortunately, I heard nothing but crickets without old sepia-toned postcards. I eventually decided to go a different route: I started my own imprint, Smoky Row Press, and it’s the beginning of something I’ve been building toward all along.

When it became clear I’d need to self-publish, I knew one thing for sure: I wanted to name my press after an old schoolhouse. I sifted through some of the more colorful contenders -Possum’s Glory, Tick Ridge, Buncum- but none of them felt quite right. Then I landed on Smoky Row. The name belonged to a schoolhouse in Madison County’s Anderson Township.

Officially, the school served Anderson Township’s District 8, but locals first knew it as the Brown School because of nearby Brown Street. The nickname, Smoky Row, had a more poetic origin: one chilly morning, an early settler walked toward town and saw smoke rising from the chimneys of some clustered homes. He called it a “smoky row,” and the name stuck.

For me, the name Smoky Row had the right feel for a publishing imprint: it’s grounded, vivid, and a little mysterious. So that’s what I chose: Smoky Road Press is a nod to a place, a moment, and stories waiting to be told.

I’ve got a handful of projects I want to bring to life under the Smoky Row imprint. At the top of the list is a deep dive into Delaware County’s forgotten schoolhouses! The second is a book about the abandoned Marsh Supermarkets I’ve been featuring here every Friday. Unexpectedly, they’ve become some of my most-viewed posts! I was going back and forth trying to decide which to tackle first, until something unexpected landed in my lap thanks to my grandma.

I owe my love of schoolhouses to Grandma Swander. With my mom, she beckoned me on a trip to find many of Delaware County’s old schools as she was developing a fourth-grade curriculum for the Delaware County Historical Society. I rode along and got hooked! 

These days, Grammy Mare is nearing ninety. Over the past few years, she’s been quietly writing stories for her twenty-two grand- and great-grandchildren! It struck my mom that Grandma’s stories should be told in a children’s book, and I’m proud to say that Grammy Mare Stories: A New Life, by Marilyn L. Swander, is the first book available from Smoky Row Press. You can buy it on Kindle or in paperback right this second. 

Publishing Grammy Mare Stories: A New Life under my Smoky Row Press imprint feels like the perfect beginning. This book is more than just a family project- it’s a full-circle moment. The same woman who first nudged me down the back roads in search of forgotten schoolhouses is now the first author on my imprint.

I’m proud that Smoky Row Press can give my grandma’s stories a permanent home, not just for our family, but for anyone who believes in the quiet power of her stories that feature what a retired police horse named Grammy Mare teaches her friends at the farm. It’s exactly the kind of meaningful, grounded storytelling I want Smoky Row to stand for: tales told with heart, rooted in place, and carried through generations.

What started as a curiosity about crumbling brick and weathered wood has grown into something much bigger- something lasting. Smoky Row Press began with a love for forgotten places and the stories they hold, and it’s already found its voice through someone who first helped me listen.

As I look ahead, I’m excited to keep building this press into a home for overlooked histories, meaningful memories, and voices that deserve to be heard- all starting with Grammy Mare’s. To those who once asked, “When are you going to write a book?” this is just the beginning!