Abandoned School - Boston, IN

My dad had driven by this old school for years while traveling for work. We stopped to see it on a recent trip to Huntington, IN. According to one website, this old school and beautiful building in Boston, IN hasn’t been used since 1963. Its current state seems to indicate that there’s no renovation of preservation coming anytime soon and peering in through the broken windows you can smell the familiar, musty scent of abandoned buildings. Desks and chairs can still be seen through windows, stacked inside.

We stopped only briefly to grab some photographs from the outside, hoping to ask someone about the place if anyone was around. However, hardly any other cars passed by and the few nearby houses seemed to hold residents that were staying out of the cold and away from the falling snow. The test of an air raid/tornado siren at noon from the nearby firehouse was the only thing we heard in this part of rural Indiana.

One section of the large building has “Grade School” etched in stone above its entrance, the other reads “High School” in a similar fashion. The grade school’s cornerstone proclaims “1944 A.D.,” while the high school’s boasts “1932 A.D.” Despite being built just over a decade apart, you’d never know without looking at the cornerstones as the materials and design stayed true. Two other stone placards adorn the buildings, stating: “Enter Ye To Learn” and “Leave Ye To Serve.” They appear more ominous rather than inspirational.

It’s by far the largest and most ornate structure in the immediate area, rising out of the flat Indiana landscape in grand fashion. But what do you do with a building like this, one already replaced by modern facilities serving the entire County instead of just a small town? What can it become and who’s going to pay for that? For now, a sign reading “keep out” at least hints that someone’s looking out for the place. Maybe something will eventually become of it?

Thankfully, no one seems to have turned it into a “haunted house” for halloween.