Delaware County boasts basketball cathedrals like the Muncie Fieldhouse and Ball Gymnasium, but its history thins out fast after a step outside the city. In fact, only one true survivor from Indiana’s golden age of hoops remains- the home of the Gaston Bulldogs. After years of trying to find someone to let us in, My friend Brett and I visited yesterday. We might have made it just in time. Here’s how it all unfolded, with some history to boot.
Before there could be an old Gaston gym, there had to be an old Gaston High School. That story started in 1899, when a two-story, four-room brick institution was erected on the block bounded by Mulberry, Madison, Walnut, and Washington Streets. It didn’t take long for the building to become the center of education in Washington Township: as rural schoolhouses consolidated, students were funneled into the Gaston school. Growth was steady, but also relentless. By 1921, the building was bursting at the seams and overcrowded to the point that officials condemned it1.
Regardless, Washington Township continued to consolidate its schools. The old Prairie schoolhouse closed in 1922, then the Washington and Zion schools were shuttered two years later. To keep up, Gaston High School was dramatically expanded to the west with a gymnasium, assembly room, and new classrooms in 1924. The project also introduced a cosmetic refit that removed the old building’s open belfry and peaked roof, along with coating its bricks with stucco2. The expansion paved the way for the Wheeling schoolhouse to close the following year in a move that brought all of the township’s students together under the same roof3.
A lot of great basketball passed through the new Gaston gym, but one story stands above the rest to me: in 1954, my great uncle Bob Swander led the Yorktown Tigers to a commanding 53–38 win over Gaston on their way to the Delaware County Championship4! That one’s hard to top in my book, but Gaston had its moments: the Bulldogs put together a solid 15–5 campaign in 1927 and turned in a respectable 11–7 season in 19525. The team’s true high-water mark came a few years later, though, when Gaston broke through to win the Delaware County Tournament in both 1956 and 19576. It was proof that, on the right nights, Gaston’s old gym could be just as tough a place to play as anywhere.
Unfortunately, it only took about thirty years before Gaston High School became overwhelmed. A modern, twelve-classroom elementary was built just northeast of the building in 1958. The same year, a new state law specified minimum school enrollments and property tax valuations. Under those guidelines, Gaston’s district was too small7.
As a result, 1966 saw Gaston’s combination with the nearby Harrison Township High School to form the Harrison-Washington Community School District8. The new establishment soon built a modern high school, Wes-Del, about midway between the old buildings. Fortunately, though, Gaston’s volunteer fire department stepped in and purchased the home of the Bulldogs. The academic wing was demolished but what mattered most to the community -the gym- was saved9. Eventually, it was acquired by the Town of Gaston10.
The old brick gym took on a strange new look when it was wrapped in an odd layer of wooden siding in the 1980s11. It was a curious update, but the building kept serving the community. For decades, the old gym lived on as a gathering place long after its final buzzer had faded. Only recently has that long run come to an end. As for why, explanations vary.
Some say the basement from the demolished school immediately east was never properly backfilled, which compromised the gym’s foundation. Others point to a failing roof and years of water damage. Still, officials I talked to yesterday put it more bluntly: bringing the old gym back would cost more than anyone could realistically justify. It sounded like the building will soon be demolished, but no concrete plans or timeline are appear to be in place.
Today, the old gym’s entrances have been boarded up. When Brett arrived yesterday, officials were busy prying away the fence panels to let us in! I was a few minutes late and stepped inside from the west. Inside, the space opened up all at once- four rows of wooden bleachers hugged the court in a tight U-shape just inches from the sidelines. The court itself, though faded, held together remarkably well. Still, I noticed a few spots where its boards had buckled and rippled with time.
The officials who let us in soon disappeared, leaving Brett and I alone in the quiet to take everything in. We split up almost instinctively, drifting in opposite directions with our cameras as we soaked in the details. Every corner of Gaston’s church of basketball seemed to have something worth capturing! The old scoreboard caught our attention first. Mounted in the southeast corner as a relic from another era, its faded numbers still clinged to relevance. Across the gym, a newer board hung in the northwest as a reminder that the gym had been asked to adapt to modern needs long after its prime.
I started to wander. Before long, I found myself drawn to the stage, which featured a tall proscenium that rose behind the basket. Something about it felt off, though: the goal was fixed to the stage floor a way that didn’t quite make sense. That’s when Brett and I spotted a mechanical winch tucked away in the corner. Long ago, the basket was retractable!
Eventually, I found an improvised stairway that led to the classrooms above the gym proper. I’ve never trusted stairs without handrails, and the one in the Gaston gym didn’t do much to change my mind. Still, curiosity won out. I made the dirty climb and found the school’s old assembly hall.
There, a pressed-tin ceiling layered with years of sagging paint hung above a floor with spots that looked questionable. A handful of old classrooms branched off to the north and south, each one a little more uncertain than the last. I picked my steps carefully, avoiding the worst of the sagging boards, but still managing to take everything in.
The classrooms I dared to step into were surprisingly small. Tight, almost claustrophobic, the spaces felt frozen in time. Each one still had its old chalkboard mounted to the wall. Some of them even featured graffiti that lingered between layers of dust! After I peered in, gingerly walking around the assembly room was a reminder that even in abandonment, places like the old Gaston gym never truly stopped collecting stories.
Brett and I lingered upstairs for a little longer, then we heard it- a faint rustling, unmistakable, coming from somewhere in the shadows. With a broken window nearby and debris scattered across the floor, it didn’t take much imagination to realize we weren’t alone up there. That was enough! We turned back toward the staircase, picking our way carefully through the mess as our phone flashlights cut thin beams through the darkness. Soon, we were back in the gym.
As we made our way back down, Brett and I caught one last look at the old scoreboard and clock tucked into the corner. The clock was silent, but it wasn’t hard to picture it keeping time for packed crowds and loud Friday nights. We grabbed a few final shots, then did as we were asked and shut off the breaker, letting the gym slip back into darkness.
All told, we were inside for maybe twenty minutes. Still, that was more than enough time to leave with something that’ll stick with us for a lifetime. Places like Gaston’s gym weren’t just rooms built for basketball: they were the heartbeat of Hoosier Hysteria, the kind of spaces where entire communities showed up and memories were made one game at a time.
After years of trying, it still doesn’t quite feel real that Brett and I finally made it inside the old Gaston gym. As we wrapped up and circled the building for a few exterior shots, though, something else caught my eye. Just beyond the gym, the park that now occupies the old Gaston High School site came into view. Kids were running around and laughing! They were completely at ease in a place layered with history they probably didn’t know. It struck me in that moment how seamlessly time moves on.
Gaston’s school is gone and its gym is fading, but the space around it is still doing what it always did- bringing people together. The setting has changed, but the heartbeat of Gaston still revolves around its old gym. I’m so glad Brett and I got to peer inside for a while.
Sources Cited
1 Gaston school fight is settled. (1921, September 10). The Muncie Morning Star. p. 7.
2 Teachers will view new Gaston school. (1924, November 6. The Muncie Morning Star. p. 5.
3 Delaware County Public Schools. (1926). School directory, Delaware County public schools, Delaware County, Indiana 1926-1927. Muncie, IN.
4 Episode (1954, ). Yorktown High School [Yorktown]. Yearbook.
5 Aurora (Various). Gaston High School [Gaston]. Yearbooks.
6 7 Neddenriep, K. (2010). Historic Hoosier Gyms: discovering bygone basketball landmarks. The History Press [Charleston]. Book.
7 School Corporation Stockholders to Meet. (1958, December 29). The Muncie Evening Press. p. 16.
8 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.
9 Barnet, B. (1966, November 22). Gaston Firemen Buy Old School, Gym for Use of Community. The Muncie Star. p. 13.
10 Parcel 18-02-34-158-003.000-025 (2026). Office of the Assessor. Delaware County [Muncie]. Web. Retrieved April 22, 2026.
11 Neddenriep, K. (2010). Historic Hoosier Gyms: discovering bygone basketball landmarks. The History Press [Charleston]. Book.
Wow, what a great opportunity! That wooden exterior siding is curious indeed.
It may be the ugliest building in the county. But probably not for long.
Fascinating read, thank you for the look inside! This building, and honestly this whole town, were entirely off of my radar.