Keller/Buttermilk

Lafayette Township’s District 5 Schoolhouse was built around 1882 (Jackson, 2009) at a crossroads originally called Mt. Herman (Buttermilk, 1967) many years prior to its establishment. 

Apparently, the District 5 schoolhouse, most often called Keller, was also known to those who lived in its proximity as the Buttermilk school. Like the community of Florida Station, “Buttermilk Station” was an early stop on the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, & St. Louis Railroad (Jackson, 2019). Also known as the Keller Station after the family that deeded the land for the schoolhouse, the community appears to never have been platted or officially established.

Along with the Elm Grove, Prairie, Closser, Beech Grove, Florida, and Salem schools, the Keller school was abandoned in 1932 after Lafayette Township erected the six-room, consolidated Leach school near the center of the township (Leach, 1932).

After its abandonment, J.D. Sargent converted it into a dwelling (Buttermilk). It remains a home today.

References

Jackson, S.T. (2009, November 14). In History: Township schools set by districts. The Anderson Herald Bulletin. Retrieved December 13, 2021 from https://www.heraldbulletin.com/community/in-history-township-schools-set-by-districts/article_21819f32-4eef-5e59-992e-3bad0f213a87.html.

‘Buttermilk Station’ in Florida Area Recalled (1967, March 4). The Anderson Daily Bulletin. p. 4.

Jackson, S.T. (2019, September 10). What’s in a Name: Lafayette only township in county named for foreign-born person. The Anderson Herald Bulletin. Retrieved December 14, 2021 from https://www.heraldbulletin.com/opinion/whats-in-a-name-lafayette-only-township-in-county-named-for-foreign-born-person/article_18713796-c8ef-11e9-a3be-436bc9542f9a.html.

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