Albion and Noble County

After starting a new town in Noble County, the founders set out to provide for churches and schools. Sometimes, churches and schools became practically interchangeable. It was not uncommon for public schools to meet in churches and for congregations to hold their services in schools until they could put up a house of worship.

An early settler reported that the first sermon preached in Noble County was in the summer of 1832, when a Presbyterian minister from South Bend held a service on Perry’s Prairie, near Ligonier. An organized church was started in 1836 at Haw Patch, on the border between Noble and LaGrange Counties. One year later, sessions of both school and church were held in a log cabin that was later called Salem Chapel. That was purported to be the first building put up in the county that was not originally a residence.

In 1888, by some counts, there were 54 churches in Noble County. But in 1874, there were 73 one-room schools, spread out by state law so that no student had to walk too far to get to class. At that time, 4,555 students were counted in the county, with 628 of those in high school. An example of one-room schools, the 1915 Stanley Schoolhouse, stands inside Chain O’ Lakes State Park and has been preserved as a historical classroom.

The old schoolhouse in Kendallville was turned into a hospital for sick soldiers during the Civil War. While being treated there, several soldiers died of smallpox. The building later burned, and rumor had it that the citizens torched the building out of concern that later students would catch the disease.

Schools have now consolidated, and there are only four public school systems serving Noble County—West Noble, Central Noble, East Noble, and Smith-Green. There are also eight private schools, the largest being Oak Farm Montessori School in Avilla. As for churches, just about every denomination is represented. A synagogue was built in Ligonier in 1871, but as the Jewish population of that city shrank it was also turned into a church and eventually became the Ligonier Public Library.

The 1882 Wolf Lake Schoolhouse was far from the first one in Wolf Lake, which (as might be supposed) was named after the nearby body of water in 1836. In addition to being the first town in Noble County, Wolf Lake is thought to be the location of the first meeting in the county to recruit soldiers at the beginning of the Civil War. (NCHS.)

Albion’s Methodist Episcopal church was founded in 1847, but it was not until 1875 that the congregation built its own church, three blocks south of the courthouse square. In 1898, it was replaced with this impressive brick building at a cost of $4,300. Although there are now two Methodist churches in town, nothing remains of the South Orange Street building but a historical marker. (NCHS.)

Although still standing as of 2015, the 1921 Brimfield School building has been abandoned for many years. An attempt was made to turn the building on the north side of the town into apartments for farmworkers, but that effort was abandoned. As of this writing, the building is unused and usually unnoticed in a grove of trees. (NCHS.)

Albion’s first Lutheran church was built in 1855, although the Evangelical Lutherans organized in 1848. St. Mark’s Evangelical Lutheran Church has been lowered to grade, remodeled, and added to many times since but still stands on North Orange Street, near one of the highest points in town overlooking the courthouse square. The church served as a courtroom for a time after the Noble County Courthouse burned in 1857. (NCHS.)

The Immaculate Conception Catholic Church still stands on Diamond Street in Kendallville. Catholics in Kendallville traveled to Avilla to worship until Immaculate Conception was organized in 1897. (Courtesy Mike Mapes.)

The Albion High School marching band performs in the gym to a large crowd. The band’s members were from the classes of 1949–1953. In 1957, the school became Albion-Jefferson High, and in 1969 it combined with Wolf Lake High School to form the Central Noble School District. (Courtesy Ellen McBride.)

Sixth graders and seventh graders from the Albion School pose in front of the building in the mid-1910s. (NCHS.)

High school graduates gather in front of Noble County Courthouse after their commencement in 1911. In the early 1900s, classes from all over the county held their graduations in Albion, often at the Albion Opera House on the north side of the courthouse square. A photograph with the imposing courthouse in the background was the logical next step. (NCHS.)

Seen above in 1910 and below after one of its many renovations, the Brimfield United Methodist Church celebrated the 125th anniversary of its building in 2002. The congregation started meeting in the Brimfield Schoolhouse around 1867 and decided to build its own church in 1875, at a cost of $2,700. Rev. David Hartman was the first pastor. There were additions in 1952 and 1965, as well as several remodelings that included the removal of a bell tower. When new pews were purchased, the wood of the old pews was preserved in a foyer partition. (Both, courtesy Marcia Garrett.)

Burr Oak School students gather for their class photo for the 1908–1909 term. Clarence Geigler was the teacher for the one-room school, in southern Noble County. The school building was erected in 1881, and the last classes were held there in 1923. (NCHS.)

St. John Lutheran Church built its first Kendallville church in 1862 and replaced that frame building with a brick structure in 1873. After fire destroyed that church, the first portion of the current building was dedicated in 1925. It has been added to several times since and now houses a school in addition to the original church. (Courtesy Mike Mapes.)

The First Ward School in Kendallville is seen in this 1910 image. It was also known as the North Ward School. (Courtesy Mike Mapes.)

Evangelical Lutheran Church was one of two churches in Cromwell by 1882, with the other being a Methodist church. Both were built around 1870, after an attempt to establish a single union church failed. (STHS.)

The Cromwell High School pictured above was built around 1880 and later replaced by a new school, shown below under construction in 1911. Although it did not have a stint as county seat or a location on the Fort Wayne–Goshen Road like Sparta (later Kimmell) did, Cromwell benefited from the B&O Railroad line. Platted in 1853, it is now the smallest incorporated town in Noble County. Harrison Wood, who had served Noble County as sheriff and probate judge, platted out 28 lots and named the town after Oliver Cromwell. The first school in town was a 20-foot-square log house, built where the Cromwell Railroad depot would later be constructed. (Both, STHS.)

The North Elkhart School, built in 1916, was a step up from the old one-room schools. It would later be one of many schools falling to consolidation in the early 1970s, and for a time Elkhart Township elementary students attended the Wawaka School. The building was near the small village of Cosperville and close to the Elkhart River, in north central Noble County. (NCHS.)

Green Center School students stand outside their south central Noble County school for a 1910 class photo. The last one-room school in Noble County, this building was constructed in the 1870s and replaced by a larger school in 1854. That building was turned into a community center in 1983. (NCHS.)

The first school in Kendallville, a three-story frame building at Diamond and Riley Streets, was constructed in 1858, but it was not until 1879 that the first high school class graduated. This 1909 photograph shows Kendallville Central High School, which was renamed in 1966 when the East Noble School District was established. (NCHS.)

This building at Diamond and Riley Streets served as Kendallville High School until 1966, when the East Noble High School was built on the south side of the city. It then became the Kendallville Middle School and has served in that capacity ever since. (Courtesy Mike Mapes.)

The LaOtto High School served the southeast corner of Noble County from 1902 until 1937 and later was home to elementary school students. The structure was used by the local Wesleyan church after 1965 until it was demolished in 1992. LaOtto students are now part of the East Noble School Corporation. (Courtesy Vern Christlieb.)

The Hopewell School District No. 3 building was constructed in 1899 and used as a school until 1938, when Hopewell students rode the bus to LaOtto. The town of Hopewell eventually vanished, but as late as 2007 the building was being used by the Hopewell Church as a reception hall. The land for both the church and the school was donated by Jonas Strouss after he settled nearby in 1836. (NCHS.)

Students play outside a Kendallville area schoolhouse in 1908. John Harker was the teacher in what the photograph identifies as the Pippen Schoolhouse, although it appears to be the Singery School. (Courtesy Mike Mapes.)

Students stand in front of the Singery School in 1913. The school was in Allen Township in east central Noble County and was typical of dozens of one-room schoolhouses of the time. In 1894 the original Singery School teacher was reportedly Libbie Bortner. (NCHS.)

Although most of the spire is no longer on its 1878 church, St. Mary of the Assumption Catholic Church has prospered in its Avilla location. The location now features a Catholic school and a Franciscan convent. (Courtesy Mike Mapes.)

In a Cromwell photograph from the early 1900s, schoolchildren demonstrate their places in a play about the parts of a sentence, presumably for English class. (Courtesy Mike Mapes.)

The Wawaka United Methodist Church was founded in 1857; the first minister was reportedly Rev. A.E. Mahin. (Courtesy Mike Mapes.)

The Washington Center School was built in 1925, south of Knapp Lake, in southwest Noble County. The first schoolhouse in Washington Township was built in 1840, but in 1925 all the schools in the township were consolidated into this two-story brick building, which housed all eight elementary grades. High school students were bused east to Wolf Lake until 1967, when more consolidation created the West Noble School Corporation. (NCHS.)

The First Presbyterian Church was organized in Port Mitchell in 1844 but moved to Albion along with the county seat two years later. After the church burned in 1867, services were held in the courthouse, then in the town’s Lutheran church, until a new Presbyterian church was put up in 1876. The entire cost of the building project, at Oak and Highland Streets, was $7,100. J.P. Moore was the first minister, with Nelson Prentiss serving as clerk of session. The building was damaged by fire a second time in 1901 and a third time on January 1, 1951. It was remodeled and rededicated both times and is still serving the community today. (Both, NCHS.)

Much of the block on the left of this photograph, taken from the Noble County Courthouse in the spring of 1894, was destroyed or damaged by fire in 1901, including the First Presbyterian Church of Albion. The church was rebuilt and still stands today. The Noble County Democrat newspaper office is lower center, across the street from the block that would burn. (Courtesy Noble County historian Sarah Knopp.)

The 1910 Rome City High School is shown here in 1914. Note that the sign that actually says “Orange Tp. No. 1”; schools in early Indiana were the responsibility of townships, by state law. (Courtesy Mike Mapes.)

A group poses outside after a “women’s class” at the Methodist church on South Orange Street in Albion. Only a historical marker is left to indicate where the once imposing brick building stood. (NCHS.)

Old and new churches stand together in this mid-1950s photograph of the Merriam Christian Chapel. The church dates to 1843, although it was not until 1852 that the congregation erected a wood-frame structure. In 1881, they dedicated the building on the left, but by 1951 they ran out of space and bought land next door. The new building, constructed with Indiana limestone, was dedicated in 1957 and expanded in 1965. (NCHS.)