Six-year-old me spent a lot of time in the back seat traveling across the state to a family Christmas here or an Easter there. The historic courthouses I saw on those trips made a massive impression on me! I spent hours drawing each I came across and knew that the Hamilton County Courthouse in downtown Noblesville was truly special.
Continue reading “The Hamilton County, Indiana Courthouse (1879-1992)”
The town of Clarksville was laid out in 1849. The first schoolhouse in the area, known as Swamp College, stood about 3/4 of a mile west of the settlement and operated under the subscription model until 18541. The first school in Clarksville proper was built in 1867 as a graded school under the direction of a board consisting of Dr. P.P. Whitesell, D.D. Taylor, and J.R. Leonard2.
Continue reading “Wayne Township’s Clarksville schoolhouse in Hamilton County”
Wayne Township’s District 7 schoolhouse was apparently known by number and doesn’t appear to have had a colloquial name. In 1866, the building sat on 160 acres of land owned by the Huntzinger family1. Based on the building’s appearance, it probably replaced a log or frame structure in the 1890s.
Continue reading “Wayne Township’s District 7 schoolhouse in Hamilton County”
Hamilton County’s Tick Ridge schoolhouse has existed in one way or another since shortly after 1854, when free schools were established at Wayne Township’s Districts 1 and 21. The first structure was log, and it was replaced by a frame schoolhouse2 that was eventually superseded by a brick building in 18923.
Continue reading “What’s left of Wayne Township’s Tick Ridge schoolhouse in Hamilton County”
Some version of Wayne Township’s former District 1 schoolhouse -commonly known as Willow Pond- has stood on the same site at the northwestern corner of what’s now 206th Street and Cyntheanne Road since around 1854, when free schools at Districts 1 and 2 were first established in Wayne Township1. In 1866, the McRhea family owned the 240 acres that surrounded the structure2. Early on, the local United Brethren church held Friday night services at Willow Pond3.
Continue reading “Wayne Township’s Willow Pond schoolhouse in Hamilton County”