Read time: 11 min.

I joined the board of the Delaware County Historical Society in 2023 and edit our newsletter, the Society Quarterly. That’s fine, but my favorite part is going out into the field to connect with fellow history buffs. Usually, I get to do it every few months as a speaker in our Lost and Found series. I had to miss tonight’s talk in Union Township, but my friend and colleague Chris Flook is still speaking. Since I couldn’t be there in person, here’s a version of the presentation I’d planned to give on the schoolhouses around Eaton, Indiana.

Union Township’s first brush with formal education came in 1836, when a cabin was built on Junius McMillen’s farm near what’s now Walnut Street (Center Pike) and Eaton-Wheeling Pike¹. A year later, a second school opened in the far northwestern corner of the township on Aaron Mote’s land. A third popped up the same year on Havilla Green’s farm near what we now know as Ginn Woods². It became known as the Green schoolhouse³.

Early schoolhouses were humble, no-frills structures, usually no bigger than twenty feet square. Most often, they were built from notched logs packed with mud or clay, topped with a simple eight-foot peaked roof covered in shake shingles. The interiors featured simple, puncheon floors, wide fireplaces, and chimneys made of sticks daubed with mud. Natural light came in through narrow slits cut into the log walls⁴. 

Crude as they were, those one-room cabins laid the foundation for public education in places like Union Township. Before 1840, schoolhouses were almost entirely funded by subscription. Families paid a kind of tuition to the person running the school, a fee that also covered the teacher’s salary. In 1840, the state began using proceeds from land sales to help offset those costs, but the support wasn’t enough to last all year. Once the funds ran out, schools went right back to the old subscription model⁵. 

In 1851, Indiana adopted a new state constitution that laid the groundwork for a township-based public school system. A year later, the School Law of 1852 brought those ideas to life⁶. It created a statewide schoolhouse fund, established the role of Superintendent of Public Instruction, and called for a “general and uniform system of common schools, wherein tuition shall be without charge, and equally open to all⁷.” Within a few years, Union Township’s old log cabins started disappearing. They were replaced by sturdier frame and brick schoolhouses that marked new chapters in local education.

By 1874, twelve school districts had been established in Union Township. In addition, a new brick schoolhouse at Shideler -which straddled the Union/Hamilton Township line- was built in 1880 to serve students from both areas⁸. It’s not entirely clear whether it was ever designated as a Union Township school since the building sat in Hamilton, but either way, its construction reflected the growing commitment to more permanent educational spaces. By 1881, Union Township’s twelve schoolhouses were known by their district number as well as a common name: 

• District 1: Eaton
• District 2: Poor
• District 3: Walter’s
• District 4: Center
• District 5: Crow
• District 6: Johnson
• District 7: Love
• District 8: Keplinger
• District 9: Yount’s
• District 10: Rocky Branch
• District 11: Babb
• District 12: Maple Grove⁹

In 1897, Delaware County Superintendent of Schools Charles Van Matre ventured thirty-five miles south to see the newly-consolidated school in Webster, which combined a trio of buildings into one and “answered every purpose of the three10”. Although Union Township officials had already shuttered the District 8 school in 189911, a wave of consolidation efforts swept the county in the ensuing years. The District 6 school closed and was combined with District 7 in 1902. Then the District 10 and 12 schools shut down sometime before 1904¹². District 9 combined into District 8 in 1905¹³. 

The Eaton school was condemned after a study revealed that students and teachers there were falling ill more often than in other schools¹⁴. Even two years later, major issues with lighting and ventilation persisted¹⁵. Still, funding for a replacement didn’t come through until 1906, when public opinion finally rallied behind a bond issue.

Construction began at the northeast corner of East Harris and South Meridian Streets, and by spring 1908, the old, unsanitary schoolhouse was torn down¹⁵. That November, a brand-new building opened with six grade school rooms, two high school rooms, an assembly hall, an auditorium, and spaces for manual training and domestic science¹⁶.

School consolidation in Union Township didn’t really take off until after the new Eaton school was completed. District 3 closed its doors in 1909. District 6 followed in 1915, and the next year saw the closure of Districts 7 and 8. By the end of the 1916–1917 school year, the last remaining holdouts -Districts 2, 4, and 11- had finally shut down, too¹⁷. The joint schoolhouse in Shideler held on a bit longer, remaining open until 1923.

Today, three old Union Township schoolhouses appear to remain standing. The first is the Poor Schoolhouse in District 2. In 1858, Thomas C. Poor granted officials a portion of his land for use as a school near the northeastern corner of Union Township. Poor charged the township $2.00, insisting that the rights to the land expire after ninety-five years or after the plot was no longer used for a school¹⁸. 

A frame schoolhouse was soon erected. In 1881, Francis Wagner was the teacher at District 2, which closed thirty-seven years later¹⁹. Besse Brandt was the last teacher²⁰. After it shut down, the building didn’t just fade from history. Instead, it was reportedly moved about a third of a mile east and converted into a home. Years later, resident Norma Haas Robbins remembered living there, calling it “an old schoolhouse, not too bad²¹.”

The second surviving schoolhouse in Union Township is the old Center School, which once served District 4. That district came along later than most- back in 1874, nearby students were attending classes at the original District 8 school on Joseph Kirkwood’s land or at the Sniff School, located at the corner of Center Pike and County Road 1200-North²². Around 1880, the township realigned its school districts, and by 1881, John R. Mansfield was teaching at the newly established District 4 schoolhouse²³.

Center schoolhouse appears to have been built around 1900²⁴. A redistricting makes the facts unclear, but it appears that the place closed after the 1917-1918 term, so students could attend classes at the larger school in Eaton. The last teacher at the Center School was Mary B. Benadum²⁵. Today, the Center School sits on the Wise farm, where it’s used as a home. 

The last Union Township schoolhouse that remains is the old District 6 schoolhouse. On May 22, 1847, Thomas Johnson granted Union Township officials a portion of his property to build a school in exchange for a dollar²⁶. By 1874, the building -located on the east side of North County Road 200-W about a half a mile south of Eaton-Wheeling Pike- was known as District 6 and stood on Richard E. Craw’s property²⁷.

In 1884, Jesse Nixon granted the Union School Township an acre of his land at the southwest corner of Eaton-Wheeling Pike and 200-West so a brick replacement could be built²⁸. Eventually, the schoolhouse became known as the Nixon school. It closed in 1902 when its students were sent to the two-room District 7 Pike Creek school two miles south. Sadly, the Nixon School didn’t survive the 21st century. It was largely destroyed in October 2000, when sparks from a cutting torch being used on its front door accidentally set the old structure ablaze²⁹. Only a few walls remain today.

Back in Eaton, the 1908 school was expanded in 1926 in a project that added an assembly room, five classrooms, a library, and a gymnasium³⁰. By the time the 1960s approached, though, change was in the air. In 1958, Indiana’s State Commission for the Reorganization of School Corporations introduced new guidelines requiring that each district have at least 1,000 students in average daily attendance and a minimum adjusted assessed valuation of $5,000 per student³¹. 

The era of small, local schools was nearing its end, and Eaton High School became an elementary school after Eaton joined the districts serving DeSoto and Royerton to form the Delaware Metropolitan School District in 1967. Four years later, a new open-concept Eaton Elementary School was built in response to concerns raised by the Indiana State Fire Marshal’s Office³² about the aging high school building³³. Sadly, the warning proved all too accurate: in 1976, a trash fire broke out and spread to the roof as the old high school was being torn down³⁴. 

Today, Eaton Elementary stands as the only active school in Union Township, operated by what is now known as the Delaware Community School District. The three Union Township schoolhouses that remain are reminders of a time when every other crossroads had its own classroom. Union Township’s Poor, Center, and Nixon schoolhouses may no longer ring with the sounds of recitation or recess, but they continue to tell the story of how education took root in this part of Delaware County.

Union Township’s one-room schools are worth remembering because they tell the story of rural life, they’re architectural time capsules, they connect us to forgotten places, and -maybe most importantly- they spark curiosity and storytelling. In short, they help us understand where we come from and why education still matters.

If you were one of the forty or fifty people planning to attend tonight’s Lost & Found Townships program, I’m genuinely sorry I can’t be there. I was looking forward to sharing the story of Union Township’s schoolhouses with you. That said, if you don’t have plans tonight, you should absolutely go. Chris always delivers presentations that are funny, sharp, and full of historical insight. I’m already looking forward to the next program, and I hope we’ll find a time for me to give this talk in person down the line.

Sources Cited
1 Helm, T. B. (1881). Mount Pleasant Township. In History of Delaware County, Indiana: With Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Some of Its Prominent Men and Pioneers (pp. 268–269). book, Kingman Brothers.
2 Kingman Brothers. (1874). Map of Delaware County, Indiana. Chicago, IL.
3 Kemper, G. W. H. (1908). Education in Delaware County. In A Twentieth Century History of Delaware County, Indiana, Volume 1 (Vol. 1, p. 252). book, Lewis Publishing Company.
4 (See footnote 3). 
5 (See footnote 1). 
6 Natali, B. L. (2007). The Impact of Caleb Mills on the Hoosier Education Debate: An Edition of Two Unpublished Addresses (thesis). University Graduate School, Indianapolis.
7 Indiana Constitution. (1851), art. 8, sec. 1.
8 A view of the schools. (1880, March 30). The Muncie Daily Times. p. 2.
9 (See footnote 1). 
10 (See footnote 3).
11 (See footnote 3). 
12 Delaware County Public Schools. (1904). School directory, Delaware County public schools, Delaware County, Indiana 1904-1905. Muncie, IN. 
13 Delaware County Public Schools. (1905). School directory, Delaware County public schools, Delaware County, Indiana 1905-1906. Muncie, IN. 
14 School Condemned by Health Officers. (1905, July 9). The Muncie Sunday Star. p. 3.
15 Better Light and Ventilation. (1905, July 28). The Muncie Evening Press. p. 4.
16 Eaton’s new school thrown open today. (1908, November 16). The Muncie Morning Star. p. 10.
17 Delaware County Public Schools. (1918). School directory, Delaware County public schools, Delaware County, Indiana 1918-1919. Muncie, IN. 
18 Delaware County, Indiana. (1858, August 13). Deed Book 20. p. 506.
19 (See footnote 17). 
20 Delaware County Public Schools. (1917). School directory, Delaware County public schools, Delaware County, Indiana 1917-1918. Muncie, IN. 
21 Haas, R. (1992). North of Eaton Farm. RobbHaas Family Pages. Web. Retrieved December 25, 2022.
22 (See footnote 2).
23 (See footnote 1). 
24 Delaware County Office of Information & GIS Services. (2021). Parcel ID: 0321200001000. Delaware County, Indiana Assessor. map, Muncie, IN.
25 Delaware County Public Schools. (1916). School directory, Delaware County public schools, Delaware County, Indiana 1916-1917. Muncie, IN. 
26 Delaware County, Indiana. (1847, May 22). Deed Book 8. p. 657.
27 (See footnote 2). 
28 Delaware County, Indiana. (1884, August 21). Deed Book 54. p. 114.
29 Wilham, T. (2000, October 13). Police determine who struck, killed Hartford City woman. The Muncie Star Press. p. 3B.
30 New school at Eaton nearing completion. (1926, February 3). The Muncie Morning Star. p. 16.
31 Delaware County Committee for the Reorganization of School Corporations. (1959). A Comprehensive plan for the reorganization of school corporations of Delaware County Indiana. Muncie, IN; Delaware County Committee for the Reorganization of School Corporations.
32 Love, N. (1971, February 21). Three Metro School Projects Getting Priority.
33 Loy, B. (1971, October 15). School Dedications Sunday. The Muncie Evening Press. p. 1.
34 Yencer, R. (1976, May 26). Fire Razes Abandoned Eaton High School. The Muncie Star. p. 1.