Tag Montpelier Indiana

Two consolidated schools in Blackford County that got consolidated themselves

Ted Shideler Leave a comment
Read time: 6 min.

I always thought one-room schoolhouses were relics of an ancient era. It surprised me to learn that some in Blackford County operated through the 1950s and 60s! Today, a pair of elementary buildings that succeeded the one-room schools of Licking and Jackson Township have been consolidated as well. I guess time marches on.

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Harrison Township’s Blackford schoolhouse in Blackford County

Ted Shideler 2 Comments
Read time: 2 min.

Harrison Township’s old District 3 schoolhouse, known as Blackford, sits three miles east of Montpelier on Highway 18. It likely took its name from the county whose students it served which was named for John Blackford, a state speaker of the house and Chief Justice of the Indiana Supreme Court. The extant brick structure was built around 1900. In 1905, it sat on the land of S.S. Norton1.

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Blackford County’s old Shinn’s Chapel

Ted Shideler Leave a comment
Read time: 3 min.

I’m attracted to abandoned, rural churches for the same reason I love old schoolhouses. They’re testaments to communities that once thrived but have since been forgotten, and I’m driven to try and tell their stories. Deserted schoolhouses were often repurposed into barns, corn cribs, or sheds, but it’s uncommon for old churches to be recycled in that way. Nevertheless, that’s exactly what happened to Shinn’s Chapel -later known as the Blackford Methodist Episcopal Church- in the far northeastern corner of Blackford County. 

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Harrison Township’s Waugh schoolhouse in Blackford County

Ted Shideler Leave a comment
Read time: 2 min.

The Harrison Township District 1: Waugh schoolhouse in Blackford County was built around 19001, likely to replace a frame structure. It took its common name from the family who deeded its land to the township, but in 1905 the building sat on the land of Jonathan G. Woods2. 

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What’s left of Harrison Township’s Goodboo schoolhouse in Blackford County

Ted Shideler 3 Comments
Read time: 2 min.

It’s said that the Harrison Township’s District 4: Goodboo schoolhouse took its unusual name from a Native American word meaning “good morning1.” More likely, it took its name from a small community that sprung up in the Godfroy Reserve, an Indian reservation named after Miami chief Francis Godfroy, who was granted land here in 1818. The settlement included homes, a church, a schoolhouse, and a trading post; it was named after an Indian who married one of Godfroy’s daughters2.

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