This is number twelve our new series, "The Old Schoolhouses of Decatur County." Our inspiration for this series came from an old book picked up at an antique shop about the history of schools in Decatur County from 1820 - 1978. It was an incredible project by the Rural Couples Club to celebrate the Bicentennial Year of the U.S.A. (1776-1976) Added inspiration for our geocaching series comes from one of the Hoosierdogs being a teacher in the Greensburg Schools. The inspiration for the series name comes from the poem, "The Old Schoolhouse" by John Greenleaf Whittier.
Still sits the schoolhouse by the road,
A ragged beggar sunning;
Around it still the sumacs grow,
And blackberry vines are running.
Within, the master's desk is seen,
Deep scarred by raps official;
The warping floor, the battered seats.
The jack-knife's carved initial;
The charcoal frescoes on its wall;
It's door's worn sill, betraying
The feet that creeping slow to school
Went storming out to playing!
I thought that Sandcreek School was gone, but then I found out that when they built the new South Decatur Elementary School, they preserved and used the gym and the classrooms around the gym in the new school. After a few trips around the school, I realized that was true. I talked to a man who went to first grade at Sandcreek. He thinks that 1976 was the last year for Sandcreek.
In 1940, Letts & Westport Schools were united to become Sandcreek. Sandcreek had grades 1-12 until South Decatur Junior and Senior High School was built in 1969. Sandcreek then had only elementary classes. In 1955, a large gymnasium was built. It's floor space was the only one in Decatur County that had an official sized floor. In 1978, a new building was erected for further consolidating the southern part of the county. Again, they kept the gym and classrooms surrounding the gym in the new school.