Huffman

It’s surprising that there’s so little information available about Stony Creek Township’s District 3 schoolhouse, commonly known as the Huffman school. 

Here’s what is known, though: In 1880, a schoolhouse sat on Jasper Huffman’s 114 acres south of Lapel (Kingman, 1880). The schoolhouse was named after the land he deeded to Stony Creek Township. 

Madison County’s geographical information system lists the schoolhouse as having been built in 1899 (Madison, 2021), though it’s probable that it was constructed up to a decade earlier since it exhibits the T-shaped style of many later schoolhouses that featured an entryway flanked with cloakrooms that led to the main classroom. 

The Huffman school was abandoned in 1925 as part of a consolidation movement when its students were sent to Lapel. In 1927, the structure and several other abandoned schoolhouses were sold at auction through the township trustee (Five, 1927).

Today, the building -now with an address on Indiana State Road 13- has been added onto towards the rear and is a home.

References

Kingman Brothers. (1880). History of Madison County, Indiana with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches. Chicago, IL.McTurnan, L. (1900). Handbook For The Teachers of Madison County. Madison County, Indiana. Anderson, IN.

Madison County Office of Information & GIS Services. (2021). Parcel ID: 48-15-03-200-001.000-032 . 

Five Rural Schools Near Lapel Are Sold (1927, July 15). The Elwood Call-Leader. p. 6