Twice a year, I drive through southeast Indiana and pass by two crumbling schools in a tiny town on the way. To the west is the high school, built in 1904 and closed in 1950. To the east is the junior high/elementary school, built in 1922 and closed in 1972. The focus of the post is the high school, by far the more interesting of the two structures. After it closed in 1950, it was briefly used as a residence at one point. You can see that one of the classrooms had been remodeled into a living area and a bathroom was built into the main floor. Both the boys and girls restrooms were in the basement. Usually, I don't have any time for exploring on these trips but back in 2013, I stopped to grab some quick exterior photos. This year, I had slightly more time than usual so I stopped for a hasty explore. The sad part of the story is that sometime between September and yesterday, the bell tower crashed through the roof and is now sitting in a second floor classroom. I was hoping they would be able to renovate the building but now it looks like it's headed for demolition since the roof collapsed. Sorry about the photo quality as I was on very limited time.
1. 2013 photo with the bell tower intact
2. 2013 photo with the bell tower intact
3. 2015 photo after the roof collapsed
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5. Fire escape
6. Both the boys and girls restrooms were in the basement
7. The basement was a dark maze.
8. Front entrace
9. Random bike
10. The only desk I saw in the building
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13. The blue classroom
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16. Classroom in the rear. I believe this is the part of the building that was briefly a residence.
17. Bathroom that was added to the first floor when it was a residence
18. My favorite part of this picture is the beer can stuck in the wall.
19. The bell tower that has fallen into the second floor classroom.
20. More of the collapsed roof/bell tower
21. Second floor classroom
22. Stairs to the second floor
23. Basement restroom