Carmichael

In 1874, the school was located on Isaac Lenox’s land just southwest of where it currently stands (Kingman, 1874). This -likely a frame building- was built in 1854 by Lewis Rees, who was paid $224 for his efforts (Helm, 1881). No trace of the structure stands today.

According to Helm, Valentine G. Carmichael was the teacher of District 1 in 1881. The Carmichaels owned land just northwest of the school in sections 34 and 35 (Griffing, 1887), and it’s likely that this association provided the common name for the schoolhouse.

In 1907, a new state law that forced a township trustee to abandon a schoolhouse after its average attendance dropped below twelve students (Kemper, 1908). The District 1 schoolhouse fell victim to this and consolidated into Cowan after that school year. Its last teacher was S. Horace Weber of Oakville (Delaware, 1907). 

The building has since been converted to a dwelling in such an apparently aggressive manner that the county assessor’s office lists its year of construction as 1929 (Delaware, 2021). As was certainly the case with other schoolhouses in the area such as, it appears as though the roofline and windows have both been dramatically altered. 

References

Kingman Brothers. (1874). Map of Delaware County, Indiana. Chicago, IL.

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.

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.

Delaware County Public Schools. (1907). School directory, Delaware County public schools, Delaware County, Indiana 1907-1908. Muncie, IN. 

Delaware County Office of Information & GIS Services. (2021). Parcel ID: 1135400001000. Delaware County, Indiana Assessor. map, Muncie, IN.