Liberty

Perry Township’s first District 8 schoolhouse was on the land of William A Jordan at the southeast corner of today’s South County Road 700-East and East County Road 700-South (Kingman, 1874). Today, nothing remains of that structure. 

In 1876, John Lindsey granted land for a brick schoolhouse on what’s now the northeast corner of East County Road 575-South and South County Road 800-East (Delaware, 1876). By 1881, the District 8 schoolhouse there was taught by Robert Lindsey (Helm), who lived about half of a mile south of the structure (Griffing, 1887). 

During the fall of 1898, the District 8 schoolhouse became Delaware County’s first consolidated school, when the seven students who attended District 7 were sent there by wagon. The combination was experimental, with no attempt made at grading the school or officially consolidating the districts (Kemper, 1908). 

During the fall of 1902, Districts 7 and 8 -along with 2 and 6- filed a petition to consolidate into District 9 at the center of Perry Township. The request was granted, and the three schoolhouses closed (Kemper). 

Today, the District 8 schoolhouse is a dwelling.

References

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

Delaware County, Indiana. (1876 April 13). Deed Book 40. p. 486.

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.