I’ve been right in the crosshairs of the old Dalton schoolhouse several times, but I’d never actually passed it until recently. My trip to what I believed to be Dalton Township’s old District 2 school led me just north of the building, but a drive past a flowing well took me right by it! I had to learn more.
Dalton Township sits in Wayne County’s northwestern corner. Organized in 18471, it’s home to two unincorporated communities- Franklin and Dalton. Both are tiny, and Dalton’s the only one that shows up on a map today. In 1893, the township was home to four schoolhouses2. One stood just north of Dalton in a grove of trees along Nettle Creek3, but things changed when officials decided to consolidate the township’s District 2 and District 3 schoolhouses4. A new, two-room elementary school at Dalton was built in 19115.
An addition to the Dalton schoolhouse was completed in 19246. Unfortunately, the building was shuttered in 1968 after the consolidated Nettle Creek School Corporation opened a $3 million junior-senior high school in Hagerstown7. In the intervening years, the old building was remodeled and transformed into a home.
Sources Cited
1 US Board on Geographic Names (2007). United States Geological Survey [Washington, D.C.]. Web. Retrieved April 5, 2025.
2 The County of Wayne, Indiana, an imperial atlas and art folio (1893). Rerick Brothers [Richmond]. Map.
3 Map of Wayne County, Indiana showing rural delivery service (1910). U.S. Post Office Department [Washington, D.C.]. Map.
4 Long Service To Children Will End; Dalton, Millville Schools To Close. The Richmond Palladium-Item. p. 4.
5 Dalton Township School (1923, April 7). The Richmond Palladium-Item. p. 15.
6 Hall, A. (1925, September 10) Intimate Sidelights and Topics About the Life of the Modern Farmer. The Richmond Palladium-Item. p. 2.
7 Long Service To Children Will End; Dalton, Millville Schools To Close. The Richmond Palladium-Item. p. 4.
