Salem/Gullet

The original site of Wayne Township’s District 5 schoolhouse was purchased on September 4, 1861, as one of the area’s earliest schools to benefit from state legislature that provided for the operation of free, common schools (Hinshaw, 2008). The first iteration of the building was located on the northwest corner of what’s now West County Road 100-South and Indiana State Route 227 (Warner, 1865).

This intersection was once known as the town of Salem, which was recorded in 1849 with nine lots. Some of its earliest residents were Ezekiel and Samuel Gullet (Tucker, 1882). The town and the family provided the school its common name.

The schoolhouse was moved to its present location at the southwest corner sometime prior to 1882 (Tucker).

District 5 was a school that served students from grades 1-8. Never a high school, students who intended to pursue further education were made to attend higher-level courses at Union City until a $23,000 structure was constructed on the site of District 6, a mile and a half west of the Salem/Gullett school (Stump, 1991).

Today, the old District 5 schoolhouse is a home. 

References

Hinshaw, G. (2008). A History of Education in Randolph County, Indiana. Retrieved February 13, 2022.

Warner, C.S (1865). 1865 Wall-Map of Randolph County. C.A.O. McClellan & C.S. Warner. Waterloo, Indiana. map.

Tucker, E. (1882). History of Randolph County, Indiana. book. Chicago, IL; A.L. Kingman.

Stump, T. (1991). Remembering Wayne High School in Randolph County. From the Pages of History. Retrieved March 6, 2022, from https://rchsmuseum.blogspot.com/2018/06/remembering-wayne-high-school-in.html.