Wheeling

Built in 1840, the first schoolhouse in Wheeling was the second purpose-built schoolhouse in Washington Township. Here, the town’s Methodists church met until 1871 (Kemper, 1908), when the present Methodist Episcopal Church was erected. That year, the town’s Odd Fellows’ organization added a second story to the schoolhouse in order to accommodate their meetings (Helm, 1881). This building stood directly south of the extant church but is no longer standing (Griffing, 1887). 

The present building was erected in 1891, accommodating grades 1-8. In 1922, a tornado ripped through the community, tearing the roof off of the church and significantly damaging the schoolhouse (Property, 1922). Despite this, classes were conducted at the building through the 1924-25 school year when it was the last township school to consolidate into Gaston. Carl Hedgeland served as the final teacher at Wheeling (Delaware, 1924).

Though the building was initially repurposed into a home, in recent years it has been used as a barn (Careins, 2021). Nothing remains of the 1840/1871 schoolhouse and Odd Fellows’ lodge, or of the second Wheeling schoolhouse.

References

Kemper, G. W. H. (1908). Education in Delaware County. In A Twentieth Century History of Delaware County, Indiana, Volume 1 (Vol. 1, p. 252). book, Lewis Publishing Company.

Helm, T. B. (1881). Mount Pleasant Township. In History of Delaware County, Indiana: With Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Some of Its Prominent Men and Pioneers (pp. 268–269). book, Kingman Brothers.

Griffing, B. N. (1887). Mt. Pleasant Township. An atlas of Delaware County, Indiana . map, Philadelphia, PA; Griffing, Gordon, & Company.

Property in and Near Wheeling Damaged by Tornado That Swept Northwest Part of County. (1922, April 19). The Muncie Morning Star. p. 1. 

Delaware County Public Schools. (1924). School directory, Delaware County public schools, Delaware County, Indiana 1924-1925. Muncie, IN. 

Careins, R (2021, August 6). Pupils posing in front of the Wheeling School, Wheeling Indiana, Washington Township, Delaware County Indiana. This school building still stands.. Garner, M. And Townsend, B. comments on post retrieved from https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10226788779814036&set=a.10200877694933108.