Alfont

According to Madison County Historian Stephen Jackson, the house at 10278 South County Road 750-West is the former Green Township District 6: Alfont schoolhouse (Jackson, 2021). 

The District 6 school was shown at its present location on the land of William Alfont in 1880 (Kingman, 1880) and later in the same location on the farm H.R. Jones in 1901 (American, 1901). The Madison County Assessor’s office lists the building as having been erected in 1976 (Madison, 2021), but the structure has clearly been renovated beyond its original footprint over the years in expansive projects which that date may refer to. 

Unsuprisingly, William Alfont was the man who laid out the town that bears his name. Though the area was first settled around a saw mill on nearby Lick Creek since at least 1835, Alfont officially established it in 1850 (Alfont, 1973). Alfont’s brief period of prosperity was brought along by the arrival of the Bellfontaine -later the Big Four- railroad, but the rising prominence of nearby Fortville in Hancock County ended any hopes of its enduring success (Fortville, 1976). Even closer, the community of Ingalls was incorporated in 1896 (Forkner & Dyson, 1897), which stole more of Alfont’s thunder. 

Very little is known about the District 6: Alfont school itself, but it was still in operation as of 1910 according to a map showing rural free mail delivery service in Madison County at the time (Map, 1910).

It is likely that the District 6 school was closed around 1913 when a new, four-room school was completed at Ingalls (Contractors, 1915). Today, the former schoolhouse is a home.

References

Jackson, S. T. (2021, August 19). Madison County schoolhouses. email.

Madison County Office of Information & GIS Services. (2021). Parcel ID: 48-16-02-100-004.000-014.

Kingman Brothers. (1880). History of Madison County, Indiana with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches. Chicago, IL.

(1901). Green Township. An atlas of Madison County, Indiana. map, Cleveland, OH; American Atlas Company. 

Alfont Village Folded As Fortville Grew (1973, September 21). The Anderson Daily Bulletin. p. 50.

Fortville Moved, Ingalls Named For Railroad President (1976, July 3). The Anderson Daily Bulletin. p. 40.

Forkner, J. & Dyson, B. (1897). Historical Sketches and Reminiscences of Madison County, Indiana. book. Anderson, IN.

Map of Madison County, Indiana showing rural delivery service (1910). The United States Post Office Department. Map Collection, Indiana Division, Indiana State Library.

Contractors are Sued (1915, April 10). The Elwood Call-Leader. p. 1.