The first District 2 school in Ward Township was located on a section of Jasper A. Sipe’s land1 deeded to the township on September 1, 18562. The schoolhouse is visible at that site on maps published as late as 18823.
Continue reading “Ward Township’s Narvoo schoolhouse in Randolph County”
The first school near Farmland was originally Monroe Township’s District 9. It was built on Angling Road southwest of the town in 18561. The schoolhouse closed in 1869 when a newer building was completed in Farmland proper2.
Continue reading “Monroe Township’s Farmland schoolhouse in Randolph County”
The Randolph County town of Buena Vista was first recorded in 1851. Its first store was established three years later and, by 1882, the community was home to two stores, a smithy, a saw mill, a tile factory, a wagon shop, a church, a post office, fifteen houses, and seventy-five people1. The post office was known as Cerro Gordo2.
Continue reading “West River Township’s Buena Vista schoolhouse in Randolph County”
Greensfork Township’s District 6 school was first known as District 7. In 1865, it sat on the land of Archibald Armstrong at the southwest corner of what’s now East County Road 600-South and Boundary Pike1.
Continue reading “Greensfork Township’s White Hall schoolhouse in Randolph County”
Spartanburg is a tiny place. Tucked away in the southwestern corner of Randolph County, the community consists of little more than a bank, two churches, and a park. Despite that, it’s the largest community in Greensfork Township, and the village’s presence is amplified by its old high school, which towered over the community for a hundred years. Today, its ghostly ruins do.
Continue reading “The ruins of Spartanburg High School”
I’ve been to two-hundred and thirty-three one-room schools across eleven counties since I started documenting and researching East Central Indiana’s one-room schoolhouses during the pandemic. Even if that isn’t enough to make me an expert, it is enough to list weirdest schoolhouse names I’ve come across! Today, I’m happy to present my scientific findings.
Continue reading “The top ten weirdest schoolhouse names in East-Central Indiana”
On May 22, 1847 Thomas Johnson granted Union Township officials a portion of his property to build a schoolhouse in exchange for a dollar1. By 1874, the schoolhouse -located on the east side of North County Road 200-W about a half a mile south of Eaton-Wheeling Pike- was known as District 6 and stood and on Richard E. Craw’s property.
Continue reading “Union Township’s Nixon schoolhouse in Delaware County”
The community of Shideler sprung up in Delaware County around 1870 when the Fort Wayne, Muncie & Cincinnati Railroad was extended through the area. Isaac Shideler, a railroad promotor, opened a store and post office near the station1. As a kid, I was told my family was distantly related to those Hamilton Township fellers, but I’ve been unable to corroborate that as an adult.
Continue reading “Hamilton Township’s Shideler schoolhouse in Delaware County”
Philadelphia became the first town to be established in Sugar Creek Township when it was platted by Charles Atherton on April 11, 1838. By the 1870s, it was an important stop on the railroad with a sawmill, grist mill, and grain elevator. Serving District 1, the first brick schoolhouse in the township was was completed in 18731.
Continue reading “Sugar Creek Township’s Philadelphia schoolhouse in Hancock County”
Anderson Township’s District 8 Schoolhouse -known as the Brown or Smoky Row school- was a two-room schoolhouse that held classes for two grades in each room1. It was named Brown either due to its location on what later became Brown Street in Anderson or as a reference to the family that gave the thoroughfare its name. The Smoky Row moniker came from an early resident walking to town one chilly morning. Noting the chimneys warming the area’s houses, he described the scene as a “smoky row”. The name stuck2.
Continue reading “Anderson Township’s Smoky Row schoolhouse in Madison County”