The Stanley Schoolhouse

Education became a priority early in Indiana’s settlement. The 1915 Stanley Schoolhouse, named for nearby landowner Henry Stanley, was one of several schoolhouses built on this site. The first was a log structure, and a later frame schoolhouse was burned by an arsonist. The schoolhouse has tall windows facing east and south to bring in light and warmth, and its grounds included an outhouse, a water pump, and a schoolyard for recess. Under the 1785 Land Ordinance, the sixteenth section of each township was set aside to support schools, and after Indiana became a state in 1816, townships often sold that land and used the proceeds to build a school. Through the late 1800s, rural schools in Indiana remained one-room ungraded schoolhouses with less funding. In 1907, the legislature closed all schools with fewer than 12 students, and between 1890 and 1920, 4,000 one-room schoolhouses closed in Indiana. The Stanley Schoolhouse remained open until 1954 and continues to educate current and future generations.

Indiana · United States