Beech Grove

Though the extant Lafayette Township District 4: Beech Grove schoolhouse was built in 1884 (Jackson, 2009), a previous structure -likely frame- was situated at its location on the Kimerling family’s land (Kingman, 1880). 

Along with the Prairie, Keller, Elm Grove, Closser, Salem, and Florida schoolhouses, the Beech Grove school closed in 1932 upon the opening of Lafayette Township’s Leach consolidated school, a six-room building erected near the center of the township (Leach, 1932). 

Fifteen years after the schoolhouse was abandoned, a local 4-H club comprising eight students was named “Beech Grove” due to the members’ proximity to the old building. By 1975, the club had grown to twenty-eight members from seventeen different families (Brown, 1975).

Today, the Beech Grove schoolhouse is one of eight still standing in Lafayette Township. It is a home.

References

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

Jackson, S.T. (2009, November 14). In History: Township schools set by districts. The Anderson Herald Bulletin. Retrieved December 3, 2021 from https://www.heraldbulletin.com/community/in-history-township-schools-set-by-districts/article_21819f32-4eef-5e59-992e-3bad0f213a87.html.

Leach School to be Dedicated Next Tuesday (1932, August 19). The Alexandria Times-Tribune. p. 1.

Brown, J. (1975, June 28). Beech Grove 4-H club is family affair. The Elwood Call-Leader. p. 3.