Alexander One Room School House
The Alexander School has a 100-year history preceding the current structure. First built in 1820, it was one of the first three schools in Dubois County.
Originally, it sat near the present Shiloh Church and was known as the Shiloh School. It was moved in 1859 to its present location on the Kellams family farm south of Ireland and renamed the Alexander School after the Alexander descendants of the Kellams family. In 1915, the school burned, and the new school was built in 1918.
The Kellams family agreed to donate the schoolhouse to ROJAC and it was moved to its current location near the Schaeffer Barn in 2021.
One Room School House PROJECT
Through an official project of ROJAC, original planning to move the schoolhouse to the riverfront began in 2014. The group looked at using other buildings or even building a new structure before learning that the Alexander School was available. While most of the schoolhouses in the county were built in the 1870s or 1890s, the Alexander’s current structure was built in 1918.
The project preserves the history of the one-room schoolhouse, which was prevalent in Dubois County into the 20th century. Dubois County had 124 one-room schoolhouses at one time.
Wilson Family
The final product includes an exhibit on local historian George R. Wilson and his sister, Margaret, and their contributions to the community and the school system, as well as an exhibit about one-room schoolhouses in Dubois County.
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See video for the background history behind this project as told by Delbert “Junie” Himsel.
Education Videos
Inside the Classroom – A Preview of Being a Student at a One-room Schoolhouse
Teacher Rules – History of Teaching Guidelines at a One-room Schoolhouse
Lovella & Clara ~ First-hand One-Room Schoolhouse Accounts
Historic Desk at the School House – Told by John Habig
History of George Wilson
History of Margaret Wilson
Dubois County Surveyor History Told By Ken Brosmer
The Rectangular System (Surveying Con’t)
Buffalo Trace
A huge factor in telling the history of Jasper is its location along the Buffalo Trace. See the video below told by Art Nordhoff, Dubois County Historian.
Schaeffer Barn
See the video below told by Joe Rohleder, involving the history of the Schaeffer Barn and it’s relocation.
Educational Documents
Become a Member
ROJAC is a not for profit community organization supported by its annual tax-deductible memberships. Through these membership fees, many successful projects have come to fruition.