King’s

The ruins of the Pipe Creek Township District 8: King schoolhouse are hidden behind brush and growth at the southern terminus of North County Road 350-West at West County Road 900-North. There’s not a lot of information about the place, unfortunately, but it was originally located on the land of G.W. King (Kingman, 1880), hence its name.

Charles King was the teacher of the schoolhouse in 1905 (Township, 1905), and in 1911, Charles Gooding -previously employed at the Pipe Creek Township District 6: Monticello school (Township)- taught school there too. Eight years later, Brenda Swann, from Princeton, Indiana, accepted a contract to teach there. Unusually, after meeting with her class during her first morning there, the teacher left- never to be seen again (School, 1919).

Several days later, Ms. Swann was replaced by Ruth Ream, of Jennings County. Though a movement to abandon the schoolhouse was started after Swann’s departure, it was quickly quelled (New, 1919).

It appears as though the King’s schoolhouse closed sometime prior to 1920 upon completion of a consolidated Pipe Creek Township school at Frankton (Grant, 1989). The following year, the former schoolhouse was auctioned off by the township trustee along with the District 4 and District 5 schools (Notice, 1921).

According to satellite imagery provided by Google Earth, the King schoolhouse was still standing as late as 2003, though it was in ruins in 2005. It appears as though some portions of the building still remain in 2021. Today, the schoolhouse is collapsed. It’s only visible during fall or winter..

References

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

Township Schools Started With Excellent Prospects (1905, September 18). The Elwood Call-Leader. p. 1.

School Teacher Did Not Like the Country School (1919, September 20). The Alexandria Times-Tribune. p. 1.

New Teacher (1919, September 25). The Alexandria Times-Tribune. p. 1.

Grant, D. “Remember when?” (1989, September 14). The Elwood Call-Leader. p. 6. 

Notice of Sale of School Property (1921, July 2). The Elwood Call-Leader. p. 7.