Editor’s note: The first part of this story was written by Warren Ogle, long time Brown County Schools superintendent.

Since Junction was my home school, I often think of the people with whom I associated during those early years. In 1918, the following pupils were enrolled at Junction: Margaret Laurie, Clarence Ogle, Wayne Ogle, Warren Ogle, Marvin Kirts, Merrill Kirts, Dora Kirts, James Kirts, Donald Kirts, Toby Kirts, Alfred Tabor, Rebecca Tabor, Ray Tabor, Carmen Steele, Lucille Steele, Con McQueen, Dock McQueen, Frank McQueen, Clyde Miller, Roy Miller, Cecil Miller, Dewey Harden, Dave Harden, Ethel Harden, Clarence Harden and Warren Harden. We can see that the Kirts family and the Harden family were dominant in numbers during the 1918 school year. Junction served pupils from the community around it, as did all of the one-room schools.

In 1990, I decided to try to get information about my first teacher, Hazel Walker. I was told that Hazel was living in Lakeland, Florida. Ruth Tilton gave me Hazel’s address, so I wrote to her. She taught for only a few years before going into other work. She was now 95 years old and feeling well except some arthritis.

Little did I realize when I trudged up the gravel road from Gnaw Bone to the Junction School that I would be involved for so long in Brown County Schools. Since I was large for my age, the teacher insisted that I be enrolled in school at the age of 5. Junction School was east of Gnaw Bone on the same hill as the Henderson Cemetery.

The youngest pupils were in the Chart Class before entering the primer or first-grade group. This “chart” was what the name implies — a standing chart, possibly 4 feet high, and 2½ feet wide, having several pages of the material that beginning pupils were supposed to learn. This included the A-B-Cs, picture numbers from 1 to 10, and as the children learned, they were exposed to more difficult material. Reading was taught by including short sentences made from letters and numbers found on the chart. Writing was taught by script, not by printing.

Drinking water was carried from a nearby house. It was usually contained in a bucket or a porcelain jar with a spigot.

The Junction School was torn down in 1946-47 by Harold Reeves with the help of members of his wife’s family. The lumber was taken to Bartholomew County, where a dwelling was built. The house is still standing on U.S. 31, just south of Jewel Village on the east side of the highway. Next door is a salvage yard that pretty much surrounds the house.

— Pauline Hoover, Brown County Historical Society Inc.