From 1997 to 2011, nearly every trip to my dad’s carried me past the tiny town of Kimmell on US-33, a stretch of the old Lincoln Highway. The road’s modern routing glides over the town on an overpass. Because of that, I somehow missed one of the community’s best landmarks: an old schoolhouse situated at the corner of Schlabach Street and Jackson. Once I finally spotted it, I knew I had to turn around and take a closer look.
Kimmell’s origins are sketchy and seem to tie in with an earlier community known as Sparta. In 1860 -before Kimmell was founded- a school in the area sat on the north side of Cromwell Road between Sparta Lake Road and what’s now US-331. The school still stood on the site in 18742.
The Noble County Assessor says that the extant Kimmel school was built in 19023. In 1920, it briefly shut down when Sparta Township officials ran out of money to pay the teacher’s salary4. Things changed two years later, though, when a large addition came to the building’s east side5.
Kimmell’s school might have served grades one through eight when initially established, but only kids from first through third attended classes there around 19616. Older elementary students seem to have been sent to nearby Cromwell. The Kimmel school closed after the 1969-1970 term7, and the building was auctioned off the following year8.
Today, Noble County’s old Kimmell schoolhouse sits beside the road, easy to miss unless you know to look for it. Thousands of people have probably sped past on US-33 without ever realizing that generations of Sparta Township kids once climbed its steps each morning! I was one of them- I passed nearby for years, but completely missed this reminder that Indiana’s landscape is layered with stories.
Sources Cited
1 Gerber, E.B. (1860). Map of Noble County, Indiana. E.B. Gerber [Ligonier]. Map.
2 Durant, S.W. & P.A (1874). Illustrated Historical Atlas of Noble County, Indiana. Andres and Baskin [Chicago]. Map.
3 Parcel 57-16-24-100-056.000-015 (2026). Office of the Assessor. Noble County [Albion]. Web. Retrieved May 9, 2026.
4 Kimmell School Closed; No Money For Salaries (1920, November 11). The Fort Wayne News And Sentinel. p. 20.
5 Kimmell News (1922, August 17). The Fort Wayne News And Sentinel. p. 10.
6 Moore, J. Growing Up in Kimmell Indiana (2026, May 8). 1961 I was in 3rd grade in Kimmell only had 1st thru 3rd grade 4 th grade went to Cromwell [Comment]. Facebook.
7 Winebrenner, B. Growing Up in Kimmell Indiana (2026, May 8). II went to Kimmell in 1969 and 1970. That was when the school was closed and elementary started going to Cromwell [Comment]. Facebook.
8 Study Building Disposal (1971, April 6). The South Bend Tribune. p. 8.
That thing has a magnificent belfry. Unfortunately I couldn’t come up with any photos of it in tact.
It was! I know a few with similar open ones that remain. One in Wells County I’ve yet to make it to.
Based on the electric meters I’m guessing it may have been converted to some sort of multi-unit housing.
The assessor says commercial/industrial, but prior to that it was a six-unit apartment.