Saturday, July 23, 2016
- Helene Hoover, planning and text
- Wanda Kauffman Hoffman, photographs
General Information
During the mid-19th century, school was held a few months each year, typically from December to February. Later it expanded to November through March, and still later October to April. Many times men taught in the winter months and women in the spring. Frequently women teachers would be warned about “big” (boy, bully) students with whom they may have problems, but the women were pretty good at figuring out how to deal with those students.
There is a distinct pattern of an early landowner who designates a space and builds a log school for the area children. Sometimes the landowner is even the first teacher. Not much time goes by until logs are cut and a wood structure is built. Sometimes the site changed from one side of the road to another, and when a larger building was erected, the old smaller one was relocated for another purpose. The brick buildings are usually three layers of brick, or two of brick and one of glazed block. Students frequently etched their names in the brick or window ledges, and sometimes they included dates. We can see that at the Solomon Creek and Harrison Center schools.
Most of the information for this tour comes from Dean K. Garber’s Elkhart County One Room Schools: The Three R’s (1991), available in the Indiana Room of the Goshen Public Library and for sale at the Goshen Historical Society Museum. Many of the brick schools were two rooms, but the earlier wood buildings had just one. Only one wood school is still extant—the Baldwin School, which was moved to and restored near Bonneyville Mill Park. Other information I obtained from talking to people, researching at the Goshen Historical Museum, and remembering discussions from the older generations in my family. I apologize in advance for any inaccuracies; there are few people left who can verify this information.
NOTE: On CR 44 west of Benton is a marker showing where the very first school in the county was built—a log cabin—near Jackson cemetery (Col. John Jackson’s land), probably in the 1830s. This site is not included in the tour. –Helene Hoover
Pleasant Hill – CR 40 at CR 37 – Clinton Twp.
• 1850s (presumably a log cabin)
• 1860s a wood frame building
• 1882 a brick building
This was first known as Dewey School, because it was built on land owned by Charles H. Dewey. He was also the first teacher. The school closed in 1914 and students went to Millersburg. It has continued in use as a storage facility.
Benton – CR 44 just west of US 33 – Benton Twp.
• 1836 a log cabin
• 1804s a wood frame building (same location)
• 1890s a brick building (four classrooms) one mile east
Henry Beane was the first teacher. He also platted the village of Benton. Vernon Stutzman, a long-time Clinton Frame Mennonite member, taught 1922-23. The property is now owned by the Phillip Dowty family, who have little information about the school and no pictures or other artifacts. They bought the property in 1989 when it was a boarded-up, vacant building with no water, no heat, etc., and remodeled it into a beautiful, comfortable home.
Solomon Creek – CR 146 just west of CR 33 – Benton Twp.
• 1830s a log cabin (also used for church services)
• 1853 a wood frame building
• 1889 a brick building (facing east)
In 1989 Cam and Mel Boyer purchased the building (which had been used as a farm storage shed) and renovated it into a home. In 1999 James and Peggy Cronin bought the house and added some extensive remodeling of their own.
Baintertown – SW corner of CR 29 and CR 142 – Jackson Twp.
• 1834 a log cabin
• 1840 a wood frame building
• 1850 a larger wood frame building
• 1880s a brick building
Since 1913 it has been used for storage—which says something about how well it must have been constructed. One of the students was a W. H. Hoover, but he would have been from the New Paris Hoovers and not identifiable in my family. Some members of that Hoover family were Brethren Church folks.
Swoveland – CR 15 and CR 44 – Union Twp.
• 1840s a log cabin (on the southwest corner)
• 1850s a wood frame building (same site)
• 1861 a larger wood frame building (on the northeast corner)
• 1873 a brick building
• 1918 roof and ceiling were lowered and outside stuccoed
• 1952 school closed
Many Wisler Mennonite students attended school here, including Loretta Ramer Hoover of Five Points. In 1957 Leonard and Dora Frederick bought the property and remodeled it into a home. It has had several owners since then. Currently Lorie and Micah Hensley, who bought it in 2004, live there.
Dell – CR 15 and CR 36 – Harrison Twp.
• 1850s a log cabin
• 1860 a wood frame building
• 1885 a brick building
After the school closed in 1954, it was rented out occasionally as an event center—for family reunions, 4-H meetings, etc. It has been a church building for some years. I have no information on teachers or students, but I am positive that many would have been from Anabaptist groups.
Harrison Center – CR 36 and CR 11 – Harrison Twp.
• 1847 a log cabin
• (later) a wood frame building
• 1911 a brick building
My great-grandfather William A. Hoover taught here; his children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, and their children were students here. Many of the students and teachers were Mennonite, Wisler, Old Order, Brethren, and Missionary people. Harvey Yoder, Robert Gongwer, and Martin Grosh, all Mennonites, also taught here over the years. In 1954 the school was closed due to consolidation, and at some point the building was purchased by the Yellow Creek Wisler Mennonite congregation. They used it for young people’s meetings and other events, and most recently it is the site for the women’s sewing group. The Wislers now own and operate Harrison Christian School, and the 5th graders spend one day each spring here in the old school, where they study and play the “old-fashioned” way. This is the best preserved school building on the tour.
Shriver-Kulp – CR 7 and CR 36 – Harrison Twp.
• 1848 a small building
• 1860s a larger wood frame building (known as the Kulp School)
• 1886 a brick building (changed to Shriver school)
Robert Gongwer and D. A. Yoder, both Mennonites, taught here. This school had low attendance and closed before consolidation. At some point, it was renovated into a home, currently owned by Ray and Hope Collins, who attend Yellow Creek Mennonite Church.
Sailor – CR 30 and CR 3 – Olive Twp.
• 1840s a log cabin (SW corner of intersection)
• 1849 a wood frame building
• 1889 a brick building (NW corner of intersection)
This was the first school in Olive Township. It was also the site of the first election held in the township—with votes cast by 12 men (the only eligible voters at the time). The school closed in 1925 when pupils were sent to Wakarusa. Later it was made into a residence, now owned by Walt Buckle.
Jonesville – CR 7 and CR 30 – Harrison Twp.
• 1849s a log cabin
• 1850s a wood frame
• 1903 a brick building
D. A. Yoder, a member at Olive Mennonite, was a teacher here. The school closed in 1954 at the time of consolidation and was later renovated as a home. Darrel Yoder and his wife have lived here 33 years. They attend Bethel Missionary Church.
Kurtz – CR 30 and CR 11 – Harrison Twp.
• 1840s a log cabin
• 1959 a wood frame building (known as Union Grove School)
• 1886 a brick building
• 1920 a larger brick building
Doris (Mrs. Stanley) Shenk was one of the teachers at this school. My father had one brother and one sister who attended here while she was teaching (Harrison Center was too full and this school had room). My own brother Dale Hoover began first grade here in the fall of 1953, but in January 1954 all the smaller schools in Harrison Township were consolidated at the new Harrison Township School on CR 11 just north of CR 38. Since 1954, there have been five owners of the property, the first of whom renovated it into a home, but each of the others have subsequently continued the remodeling. It has changed sufficiently that a former pupil could not identify it, even though she knew the property.
Forrest Hill – CR 11 and CR 26 – Concord Twp.
• 1842 a log cabin
• 1860 a wood frame building
• 1874 a brick building
During the 1950s the roof was lowered, it was renovated into a ranch-style house, and the exterior was stuccoed. The building was used as the offices of an insurance company for many years, and is now occupied as a dwelling.
Pleasant Plain – CR 7 and CR 20 – Concord Twp.
• 1841 – a wood frame building
• 1860s – a larger wood frame building
• 1893 – a brick building
In 1927 the school closed and became a grange hall. In the 1970s the property was sold and became a Mexican restaurant. In the 1990s it became Phyls Neighborhood Bar, one of few public places in the county where smoking is allowed.
Excelsior – CR 45 and CR 18 – Concord Twp.
• 1846 first building (SW corner)
• 1882 a brick building (SE corner)
According to Garber, this was first called the Myers School because Jonas Myers owned the property, and he was the first teacher. Roger Weaver says he has found no newspaper articles using that name, but a relative of his, Lydia Grosh, who attended Beulah Missionary Church, taught there at one time. I found nothing to explain why it was later called Excelsior, but that’s how it was known in 1924. For many years it has been the site of Barney’s Bar, but that recently closed and the property is now for sale.
White Brick – CR 14 and CR 23 – Jefferson Twp.
• 1889 brick replaced the former wood frame building.
Nancy Tubbs currently lives in it. She and her late husband purchased it 20 years ago. A former owner had removed the ceiling to expose the beams. It is the building that has been most successfully converted to a dwelling while retaining the appearance of an old school.
Bemenderfer – SR 15 and CR 26 – Jefferson Twp.
• 1842 Wolfe School began on the east side of the road
• 1860s a wood frame building
• 1880 a brick building erected on the NW corner
This was called the Jefferson Court House in the 1890s, perhaps because the architecture made people think of a court house. The bricks for the school were made at the Bemenderfer brick factory, so after that it was called the Bemenderfer School. Frances Cripe is the current owner, and her son Roger lives there. She grew up across the road, and when she was a child in the late 30s and early 40s, it was already used as a house.
Model – CR 32 and CR 19 – Elkhart Twp.
• 1924 a brick two-room building
• 1950s four more rooms added
• 1966 Became a storage building for Goshen Community Schools
My mother attended here in 1935-36. Lloyd Hess, a long-time Missionary Church member, was a teacher here in 1939. There is a lot about this school, including photographs, at the Goshen Historical Society Museum on Main Street in Goshen.