Historic Stumptown School reflects early Harrison County life

Stumptown School, shown in a 1916–17 photograph with teacher Anna Robinson, was part of the early educational history of Harrison County. The image is from the collection of the Harrison County Historical Society and appears in the book “Lest We Forget: Harrison County Early Schools.”

Stumptown took its name from the Stump family. The community once included a store, an election house and a blacksmith shop. During the Civil War, Gen. John Hunt Morgan reportedly turned eastward at this location. In the 1890s, Stumptown was also home to a well-regarded brass band.

The community was located at the intersection of Route 519 and the Flushing-Cadiz Road. A merchant named Robert Lee operated a store there in a log building.

While no school was formally listed as Stumptown School, it is believed the school shown may have been known as Sixteen. According to “Lest We Forget,” the first Sixteen School building stood near a later structure on the Dunlap farm, south of Stumptown and close to the New Athens-Flushing Road. The last teacher at Sixteen served in 1938. Schools during that era were also used as polling places.

Other schools that once operated in Athens Township included Hopwood, Oakdale, Beech Point, where George Custer taught, Oak Hill, Jockey Hollow and New Athens.