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One of my favorite blogs is Hoosier Gym Journey by my friend Brett Yoder. He’s on a mission to visit all of Indiana’s current high school gymnasiums, along with those from bygone eras. I’ve written about a few old high school gyms here, and I’ve had a blast following Brett vicariously. Sometimes I even get in on the action by searching for those fading gyms myself! The other day, Brent and I found one way up in rural Benton County! Here’s how. 

Back in the early days of Indiana basketball, high schools formed countywide athletic conferences with one another. Beginning in 1911, eleven schools in Benton County -Ambia, Boswell, Earl Park, Fowler, Freeland Park, Gilboa Township, Otterbein, Oxford, Pine Township, Raub, and Wadena- began competing¹. The conference remained mostly intact until the mid-1950s. Today, many of those old schools have been absorbed into the Benton Community School Corporation². 

Most old high schools didn’t survive once their brief days repurposed as elementaries or middle schools were over. Still, tracking down the ones that remain has turned into a hobby of mine. My process is simple: I pull up Google Maps, type in the name of a town, and start scrolling until I spot a building with that unmistakeable look of a school. More often than not, the giveaway that the building’s been demolished is what’s there instead, like a park or a shiny new fire station. 

That works for tiny communities like Ambia or Freeland Park, but finding schools in townships that don’t feature a real community of their own is much easier. An unscientific ninety-percent of the time, the school sits (or sat) right smack-dab in the middle! I search Google Maps for, say, “Pine Township, Benton County, Indiana,” follow the link, and scroll to the center. That’s how Brett and I found the old home court of the Pine Township Eagles. 

I have no idea when the Pine Township school was built, but its gymnasium appears to date to 1957 if the county assessor can be believed³. The gym was enormous compared to the rest of the school- big enough that its bleachers probably held three or four times the township’s residents! According to census data, 397 people called Pine Township home in 1960, and 324 live there today. It wouldn’t be a stretch to assume that the old gym sat a thousand or more. 

I’ve never been to Pine Township. In fact, I’ve only ever been through Benton County to take photos of its courthouse in Fowler. Still, the site of its former high school is evident from the marker in front of the property that incorporates some historic elements. It’s an intriguing sight. At any rate, I headed to Historic Aerials to confirm that the old structure I found was, indeed, the school’s old gym. Everything lined up. Brett and I were happy to find another fading gym for his collection. 

It appears that Benton County’s old Pine Township gymnasium is being used as a home today. It might not host games anymore, but the gym still stands as a monument to those who once filled its bleachers. Following Brett on his Hoosier Gym Journey reminds me just how much history is still out there waiting to be found! The game may have moved on, but the echoes still linger in these forgotten gyms if you know where to look.

Sources Cited
1 “Last Saturday the Superintendents and principals from Fowler, Boswell, Raub and Oxford met at the school building here and formed Benton County Athletic Association (1910, December 2). The Oxford Gazette.
2 Overman Resigns At Benton Central (1968, February 27). The Lafayette Journal and Courier. p. 16. 
3 Benton County Office of Information & GIS Services. (2025). Fowler. Parcel ID: 04-09-24-500-002.001-013. Map.