Rees

The first school on the site of the District 3 schoolhouse was built in 1853 on the land of Lafayette Whitney as the first in Perry Township to be constructed in response to a state law that provided for the operation of free, common schools (Helm, 1881). Originally numbered as District 4 (Kingman, 1874), the school was frame, and classes were taught by Jane Branson (Helm). 

It appears as though the frame schoolhouse was replaced by a brick structure in 1859 (Delaware, 2021). By 1881, all nine schoolhouses in the township were brick (Helm) and the school was designated as District 3. Locals knew it as the Rees schoolhouse due to its location on land originally owned by that family (Bradbury, 1935).

Along with District 4, the District 3 school closed at the end of the 1905-06 school year in order for its students to attend the new consolidated District 9 school (Kemper, 1908). Bertha Bryan, of Muncie, was the last teacher (Delaware, 1905). 

The schoolhouse served as a home for years after it was constructed. After many years of abandonment, the building was demolished in 2022 after it and an adjoining property were sold.

References

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.

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

Delaware County Office of Information & GIS Services. (2021). Parcel ID: 1232300005000. Delaware County, Indiana Assessor. map, Muncie, IN.

Bradbury, R.B. (1935, September 29). The Old Timer. The Muncie Sunday Star. p. 16.

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. (1905). School directory, Delaware County public schools, Delaware County, Indiana 1905-1906. Muncie, IN.