Almost exactly a year ago, I was wandering through Huntington County when I stumbled past the old Belleville schoolhouse north of Warren. As I researched, I read a Facebook post I can no longer find that asserted it was Huntington County’s last old schoolhouse! I took that as a personal challenge to find more, and wound up with eight. Here they are.
I know enough about Huntington County to wind from town to town on secondary state highways like 105, 124, and 218, but I don’t know enough to compare the present-day roadscape with ancient plat maps that show the county’s schoolhouses. Eight is a small number compared to most counties I’ve been to, and for all I know, there may be more schoolhouses lurking about. For example, I learned about the “Old German Schoolhouse” three miles north of U.S. 241, once I got home! As always, I’ll keep searching.
I love spending time with my mom. The first schoolhouse she and I stopped at was Belleville. That’s the one I wrote about before, but the gist is that the current structure was built in 1887 and probably closed around 1923 when a consolidated Jefferson Center School was built2. I didn’t intend to visit Belleville on this trip, but I took the wrong exit and it was kind of on our way to the next.
The next schoolhouse I stopped at was the astounding building in Goblesville, which served Clear Creek Township’s District 2. It appears to have closed in 1925 before it was used as a garage and, later, a chicken coop3. Architecturally, it’s far more elaborate than nearly any other one-room school I’ve visited, by crackey! It might be my favorite I’ve ever encountered.
Next up was Jackson Township’s Ginger Hill school4. I know nothing about this building aside from its similar elaborate design and vibrant red. Interestingly, Ginger Hill is technically a T-shape school, but the classroom barely extends past its former cloakrooms. Unlike most, that T is practically invisible from the front.
Union Township’s District 3 school, known as Whippoorwill, was first established in 1888. The present Arts and Crafts building appears to have been built between 1915 and 1920. At one point, the structure served as the Whippoorwill Dairy! It was converted into a home in 1946. The main entryway of the schoolhouses stood behind the wooden corner facade5.
The next schoolhouse Mom and I drove to was another in Union Township, District 9. It was called the Shaffer school, and that’s all I know about it6. The building sits five and a half miles northwest of Markle’s Crossroads Pantry -home to the best fried mac n’ cheese bites you’ll ever eat- on State Road 225.
I found Dallas Township’s District 6 schoolhouse on a dead-end road obscured by foliage and forest. The school was built in 1886 and, again, that’s all I know7.
The two-story Mount Etna schoolhouse is, without a doubt, the singular landmark of the tiny hamlet that sits just south of Salamonie Lake’s headwaters. At some point, the 1917 structure8 was converted into a gorgeous home! I’m not sure if it ever served as one of Lancaster Township’s districted schoolhouses, but a consolidated high school six miles away served the township from 1907 to 1967, and a modern elementary stood at that site until 2018. I know this because we passed a black granite monument I failed to take a photo of.
The last schoolhouse Mom and I found was Wayne Township’s District 6 building, which stands not far from Gardens of Memory Marion at the juncture of State Roads 218 and 105. There appears to be evidence that the roofline was lowered from two stories to one9, and an old-fashioned pump still stands in the schoolyard. Again, that’s all I’ve managed to find.
It’s clear that my work is cut out for me when it comes to researching Huntington County’s old schoolhouses, but that’s part of the fun. What began with an offhand claim I heard about Belleville quickly turned into a year-long scavenger hunt that uncovered eight of them scattered across the countryside! Even so, I’m not convinced the list is complete. I expect to find more.
Sources Cited
1 German Schoolhouse to host ‘Celebration of Fall’ (2025, October 28). The Huntington County TAB. Web. Retrieved June 4, 2026.
2 Consolidated School Chain Is Completed (1923, July 28). The Huntington Press. p. 1.
3 Survey Number 069-049-05008 (1985). IHSSI (County Survey). SHAARD. Indiana Department of Natural Resources [Indianapolis]. Web. Retrieved June 2, 2026.
4 Survey Number 069-288-00065 (1985). IHSSI (County Survey). SHAARD. Indiana Department of Natural Resources [Indianapolis]. Web. Retrieved June 2, 2026.
5 Survey Number 069-288-30007(1985). IHSSI (County Survey). SHAARD. Indiana Department of Natural Resources [Indianapolis]. Web. Retrieved June 2, 2026.
6 Survey Number 069-379-30033 (1985). IHSSI (County Survey). SHAARD. Indiana Department of Natural Resources [Indianapolis]. Web. Retrieved June 2, 2026.
7 Survey Number 069-016-15031 (1985). IHSSI (County Survey). SHAARD. Indiana Department of Natural Resources [Indianapolis]. Web. Retrieved June 2, 2026.
8 Parcel 35-10-01-100-000.100-021 (2026). Office of the Assessor. Huntington County [Huntington]. Web. Retrieved June 4, 2026.
9 Survey Number 069-436-50016 (1985). IHSSI (County Survey). SHAARD. Indiana Department of Natural Resources [Indianapolis]. Web. Retrieved June 2, 2026.
