This Small Town School was open over 100 years and demolished in 1986
Lima Township School, Howe Indiana
The Lima School is of interest for its high-style Victorian-era architecture, and as the first commissioned township high school in Indiana. According to a 1982 article in the South Bend Tribune, it was also the second oldest operating school in Indiana.
The monumental brick building, constructed in 1874-75, is an eclectic mix of styles, with the Victorian Gothic predominating. The Lima School is one of the finest and least altered examples of this style in the state. Its exterior bears resemblance to the East College at DePauw University in Greencastle, which was built at approximately the same time.
The possibility of building the structure was first considered at an 1874 meeting, when John B. Howe stated that he would give $2,500 to the enterprise if the people would raise by subscription half the funds necessary for building a structure worth $12,000 to $15,000. Howe was the first teacher, first lawyer, and first banker in LaGrange County, and later the founder of Howe Military School. The name of the town was changed from Lima to Howe in 1909 to honor him.
Howe's proposition was accepted, and the building was finally constructed at a cost of $18,000. In 1881 Lima High School became the first commissioned township high school in the State of Indiana. During the early years of the school, all the grades were housed on two floors; the third floor was the auditorium. All the school assemblies, plays, concerts, and meetings of the literary society were held there. The third floor was perceived to be a fire hazard in 1883, and an exterior fire escape was built on the front of the building. An auditorium and assembly room were added in 1911 due to increased enrollment. The building was also wired for electricity and inside toilets were installed at the same time.
In 1927 the gymnasium was added. In 1961 land surrounding the school was acquired and a new, six-room elementary school was added onto the gymnasium.
Building Description
The old section of the Lima School is a two-and-one-half-story structure with a raised basement. The building, which is of brick laid in a variation of Flemish bond, has a rectangular plan and a hip roof.
On the first story, there is one window in each bay. These are double-hung with two lights in each sash. Second-story windows are variously arranged singly or in groups of two or three. These are double-hung with one light in each sash. All windows have pointed-arch transoms and stone sills. On both the first and second stories at the spring line of the window arches is a projecting brick band that curves to follow the arch of each window. The first-story brick band follows the arch of the main entrance, as well.
The main entrance is on the south side of the building in the fourth bay from the east. Masonry steps lead up to the entrance which is a double, glazed, paneled door with a pointed-arch transom. The bay in which the door is located projects slightly from the east part of the facade and has a steeply pitched gable roof. There are two gable roof dormers on each side of the building, except for the east side which has only one.
Windows in the dormers are double-hung in pointed arch openings. Dormers have paired, double-hung, blind, pointed-arch windows. Centered above the four westernmost bays of the facade is a gable roof wall dormer with paired, single-sash, pointed-arch windows. Basement windows are double-hung with two lights in each sash and pointed arched openings. A double row of headers follows the arch of each basement window.
In addition to banding around the windows, there is a projecting brick band between the first and second stories, and brickwork encircling the top of the structure which comprises the entablature. The cornice is a metal, molded box cornice which encloses the gutter. There is a stone water table encircling the building at the base of the first-floor level. Surmounting the roof above the main facade's wall dormer is a wood frame belvedere with pointed-arch windows, a hip/gable roof, and brackets under the eaves. The roof is covered with asphalt shingles.
Between the groups of three windows on the second floor of the main facade is a panel that reads, "Erected A.D. 1874."
Behind the main building to the north is the 1911 auditorium addition. This two-story brick addition butts against the eastern portion of the main building's rear facade. The auditorium's west wall is unadorned brick, with few doors and windows. The north and east walls, however, have more decorative detailing. The main entrance bay projects from the east facade, although the entrance is now obscured by a later addition. Ground floor windows are very tall, multi-paned rectangles, with a brick string course traveling at the impost level and going up over the tops of the windows. Another brick string course follows the sill line of the second-story windows, which are shorter than the ground-floor windows, but are also multi-paned rectangles. Their heads are framed by a soldier brick course, with stone blocks at the upper corners of the windows. Another string course above this is surmounted by a parapet wall. The detailing from the front facade carries around to the north, although there are only two small, segmentally arched windows on the ground floor here.
The interior of the old building retains many of its original features. Notable among these are the cloakrooms and storage closets, which have doors that roll upwards, not unlike a roll-top desk. Marble partitions on pedestals are still extant in the girls' restroom. The original seating is in use in the 1911 auditorium.
A low passageway connects the 1911 addition to the 1924 gymnasium, a two-story, gable-roofed brick structure. Decorative detailing on this building is limited primarily to the brick wall buttresses on all sides, with stone weatherings. The main facade of the gymnasium faces south. Extending east from the gymnasium is the 1961 elementary school addition, a low, one-story classroom building. The 1970 cafeteria addition adjoins both the gymnasium and the 1961 addition at their northwest juncture.
