Wednesday, March 19, 2025
ADDISON TIMES MAJOR SPONSOR: STEPHENSON RIFE ATTORNEYS
Shelbyville Schools Timeline: School No. 6
by GEORGE YOUNG
The Shelbyville school system did not originally build Walkerville School, but it was instead constructed by Addison Township. The school was established around 1900 as a small, one-story brick building located at the intersection of Morris Avenue and Knightstown Road. At the time, Walkerville was a growing area but not part of the city of Shelbyville, and the school was built to serve the educational needs of local children. By 1902, the school had an enrollment of approximately 85 students, reflecting the demand for primary education in the community.
Shortly after 1905, discussions began about integrating Walkerville School into the Shelbyville school system. The city and its residents deliberated at length over the benefits and drawbacks of acquiring and operating another school within the district. Although the exact date of annexation remains unclear, records indicate that Walkerville School was officially designated Shelbyville School No. 6 by 1914. By this time, enrollment had declined to 41 students, possibly due to shifts in population or changes in the school system.
During the early 1920s, Walkerville School no longer served all elementary grades. Instead, it operated solely as a school for first through third grade, while older students from the Walkerville area attended Charles Major School for their primary education. This arrangement remained in place for several decades.
By the mid-1950s, Shelbyville was undergoing school system improvements, and a new facility, Coulston School, was constructed. As a result, Walkerville School closed its doors in 1955, and the new school officially opened in 1956. However, the building did not remain vacant for long. In 1957, Mrs. Floyd Wagoner repurposed the facility, transforming it into the Triangle School, a specialized educational institution dedicated to serving developmentally disadvantaged students.
The building continued to serve the community in this capacity for some time before eventually being retired from use as a school. Today, the historic Walkerville School building has been beautifully renovated and converted into a private residence, preserving local history while serving a new purpose in the community.
ADDISON TIMES MAJOR SPONSOR: FULL CANOPY REAL ESTATE
NOTEBOOK:
Work will be in progress on N. Riley Highway starting next Monday, with traffic pushed to the outside and work performed on the median.
Heavy Trash Week in Shelbyville is approaching, April 7-11. Heavy trash will be collected on residents’ regular garbage collection day. Small/loose items should be contained, and all items placed neatly curbside or in an alley where trash is regularly retrieved. Trash piles should not exceed 4-feet deep, 8-feet high, and 10-feet wide. Please separate out items such as trash, lumber, or metal. No recyling or chipper pile pick-ups will occur during Heavy Trash Week.
Indiana National Guardsman Specialist (SPC) Josiah Bowen, from Fairland, won a statewide three-day competition at Camp Atterbury that tested soldiers’ physical stamina and mental toughness. “The Best Warrior Competition is not just about physical strength or tactical proficiency,” Indiana’s Adjutant General, Brig. Gen. Larry Muennich told dvids. “It’s about having the mindset of a warrior – these Guardsmen refuse to quit and never stop pushing past their physical and mental limits.” Bowen now advances to the regional Best Warrior Competition against soldiers from Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin, scheduled to start April 30 at Fort McCoy in Wisconsin.
HOOSIER NEWS: As the top steel producing state in the country, Indiana has perhaps the most to gain with tougher tariffs on metals. Steel industry leaders expressed strong support for Trump’s implementation of 25% tariffs on all steel imports from Canada, which they say closes a loophole that allowed importers to skirt tariffs by buying fabricated steel abroad. Leaders from five organizations representing the American steel industry wrote to Trump that the imposition of the tariffs allowed producers to restart idled mills, rehire laid-off workers and invest tens of billions of dollars in new and upgraded plants. Still, others in Indiana, particularly those in the construction industry, say the tariffs could lead to higher prices and sap momentum on large development projects. Some U.S. companies saw higher prices on steel due to price gauging before the tariffs took effect last week. (IndyStar)
NATIONAL NEWS: The Oregon Ducks got some serious air this basketball season. Thanks to the school’s move from the Pac-12 conference to the Big Ten, the men’s basketball team not only logged more time flying to and from games than playing basketball, it also traveled a greater distance than any college basketball team ever has, according to the Wall Street Journal. Like its namesake at the start of winter, the team took to the skies: all together, they’ve traveled 26,700 miles—enough to circumnavigate the globe and still have a few thousand miles to go. That’s compared to the 7,327 miles the team traveled last season when it was still in the Pac-12 and its farthest away game was in Tuscon, Arizona, 1,046 miles from campus. This season, the team had five games more than 1,500 miles away. (Morning Brew)
Thank you to every donor for your continued support of The Addison Times. Donors of $100 or more receive a quarterly print publication in the mail. Please consider a one-time or monthly donation to The Addison Times, either online or via a check to The Addison Times, 54 W. Broadway, #13, Shelbyville, Ind., 46176. Thank you for your continued support of daily local news and history. I appreciate each of you. - Kristiaan Rawlings, Editor
The Addison Times is pleased to offer free milestone announcements. Forms are available here: Engagement Announcement, Wedding Announcement and Anniversary Announcement.
Want the daily edition read to you? Struggling with your email provider filtering out your local news? The Addison Times Substack app will solve those challenges!
SHS Courier Archive Highlights
March 5, 1931, Part II
Dale Mitchell’s Skunks won the SHS intramural league title. Top teams and captains had been, the Reapers, Teddy Wheaton; the Hatchets, Harold Phares; and the Terrors, Homer Mitchell.
Morristown (17-3) was one of the strongest teams coming to the sectional. Olinger had played varsity all four years of high school; Nugent, Justice, Boring and Thurston had all been on the team three years; and Nigh had been on the team two years. Waldron had experienced an “unlucky” season due to sickness. Key players included Tindall, Snyder, Kolkmeier, Yeager and Cunningham.
Coach Harrell’s Fairland Hornets had won the Shelby County Tournament and had outscored opponents, 472-320, over the course of the year. “Before the school burned in 1928, Fairland had no gym, which was a great handicap to the coach and his team. Now they have a modern gym with regulation floor and a seating capacity of 750.”
ADDISON TIMES MAJOR SPONSOR: MAJOR HEALTH PARTNERS
This Day in Shelby County History
News around Shelbyville and the surrounding area as reported on or about this date in history. Selections are curated by The Addison Times from Shelby County Public Library Genealogy Department materials.
2005: Sandy Allen signed autographs and sang with several bands at a Sandy Allen Benefit held at OB’s Pub in Indianapolis. Featured bands included Mr. Klean, The Elmo Lewis Band and Sour Cream and Chives.
1995: Three Shelbyville businesses - McRoses Flowers and Gifts, W.W. Winkler Furniture and K&R Motorsports - were all burglarized overnight.
1985: A correctional psychologist said Shelby County’s 111-year-old jail, which had been the subject of a lawsuit from inmates, was a “very depressing, outdated steel-cube kind of set-up” that was “just too cold.” The psychologist was one of several witnesses to testify in court proceedings.
1975: The Morristown Bantam Football Association formed. Ronald Wehe, Marilyn Hilton, Bruce Nigh, Joe Seifert and Richard Hilton had all played major roles in organizing the new league.
1965: New owners Paul and Beverly Means opened the A&W Root Beer drive-in on East Road 421. They had purchased the business from Mr. and Mrs. Donn Burke. Drive-in hours were 10:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Thursday, staying open until 11:30 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, and from noon to 11 p.m. on Sundays.
1955: Sandman Bros. offered free installation of an antenna with the purchase of a Motorola 21-inch TV for $255 (approximately $3,000 in today’s money).
1945: A fire at the local recreation center at the corner of Harrison and Hendricks streets caused significant damage to the building, which was owned by Bertie Anderson.
1935: Willard Kehrt, former SHS basketball star, was named the Indiana University basketball Outstanding Player of the Year. Kenneth Gunning, of Shelbyville, was also on the IU team.
1925: W. Houk and Son leased the W.H. Wagner store at Harrison and Franklin streets to open a new retail furniture business.
1915: Cyrus Carmony, “that jolly fat merchant of East Broadway,” took his wares to Indianapolis for the day, The Republican reported.
Shelbyville students grades 3 through 8 were graded on penmanship. The average grade was a 58.3 percent. (Grades were not adjusted for grade level; third-grade students were held to the same rubric standards as eighth-grade students.)
ADDISON TIMES MAJOR SPONSOR: Freeman Family Funeral Homes & Crematory
OBITUARIES
Anthony W. Laird “Tony”, 73 of Shelbyville, passed away Sunday, March 16, 2025, surrounded by family at his residence. He was born September 9, 1951, in Shelbyville to Robert H. Laird and Christine (Coers) Laird.
Tony graduated from Waldron High School with the class of 1969. He went on to further his education at Indiana State University. Tony was baptized at Mt. Pisgah Baptist Church at a young age. When he was younger, he enjoyed racing four-wheelers and that helped form his passion for riding motorcycles through his adult life. Tony was an avid animal lover and had a love for sports, especially golfing and playing softball. He always enjoyed life to the fullest and was known to many as “Good Time Tony”. Some of his favorite times were spent traveling with his wife and the many family vacations through the years.
Tony sat on the board for Rush Memorial Hospital. He was a member of the Manilla Volunteer Fire Department and served as the secretary for many years. Tony was a member of the Manilla Lions Club, Elks Lodge of Rushville #1307, Brickyard Chapter of Spyder Ryders, and the Rush County Community Foundation. He worked for Farm Bureau for 50 years total, holding positions at the co-op, as an insurance sales agent, then solely crop insurance the last seven years.
He married Kerri J. (Wickline) Laird on August 21, 1982 and she survives. Tony is also survived by his son, Aaron Gobel (wife, Teresa), his daughter, Tara Griffith; his grandchildren, Kyra Springman, Parker Springman, Logan Vogler, Micah Price (husband, Adam), Abby Gobel, and Alexandra Gobel; his great-granddaughter, Clara Price, his brother, Roger Laird, his sister, Susan Kuhn (husband, Rex), and several nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents, his daughter, Briana Springman, and his son-in-law, Jay Griffith.
Visitation will be Thursday, March 20, 2025 from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m., at Mt. Pisgah Baptist Church, 3718 East Blue Ridge Road, Shelbyville, IN. Funeral services will be on Friday, March 21, 2025 at 10 a.m. at the church with Dr. Robb Barlow officiating. Burial will be in Manilla Cemetery. Funeral Directors Greg Parks, Sheila Parks, and Stuart Parks are honored to serve Tony’s family. Memorial contributions honoring Tony may be made to the Manilla Volunteer Fire Department, 9234 State Road IN-44, Manilla, IN, 46150. Online condolences may be shared at www.murphyparks.com.
Michael Paul Terry, 47, of Rushville, passed away on Saturday, March 15, 2025, at his home. He was born March 14, 1978, in Jackson, Kentucky, the son of Olema (Jewell) Terry. Michael is survived by his children, Jordan Wilson of Columbus, Gabriel Wilson of Shelbyville, Jasmine Homebrink of Batavia, Ohio, and Leia Terry, Keera Terry and Ethan Terry, all of Greensburg; brothers, David Jewell and Paul Neace; sisters, Anne Terry, Judy Terry and Jolema “Nikki” Terry; and several nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his mother; and sister, Tina Neace.
Michael worked as a machine operator for Honda.
He enjoyed going fishing and watching the Pittsburgh Steelers. Michael was an avid Michael Jordan fan and collected Jordan shoes.
Private services have been entrusted to Freeman Family Funeral Homes and Crematory, 819 S. Harrison St. in Shelbyville. Online condolences may be shared with Michael’s family at www.freemanfamilyfuneralhomes.com.