On December 11, 1916, Indiana celebrated her 100th Anniversary of Statehood having formally been admitted as the 19th State of the Union on December 11, 1816. All over Indiana, celebrations of all kinds were held in many towns and cities. In Boone County. each school was asked to put on some sort of an observance.
The Crabapple District School #5, in Perry Township, Boone County. Located about four miles southeast of Lebanon on the Shepherdsville Road (County Road 200 East), Crabapple school was a one-room brick building. I had some 30 pupils enrolled.
For their centennial observance project, the teacher and students at Crabapple school chose a corn husking bee. Lawrence Smith gathered six bushels of corn in the husk. In husking the corn, the boy finding a red ear got to kiss the girl of his choice. There were five red ears found in the five bushels of corn that were tucked. Those were the horse and buggy days, and on the way to town, Lawrence lost one sack of corn.
They all got up early on the Friday morning of September 15th, 1916, and were soon headed for the county seat of Lebanon. They dressed in the Central school on East Main Street, then walked to the east steps of the courthouse. The courthouse then was only four years old having been dedicated on July 4, 1912.
It took about twenty minutes to put on their show which was noted on the program as “The Husking Bee.’ Our presentation was well received by the spectators. After the show they drove home. The pupils all thought that they had had a wonderful time. They talked about it the rest of the school year.
Crabapple school was discontinued in or about 1921 after resisting for some five years being transferred to Perry Central on the grounds that it was too far for hauling the pupils. A big crabapple tree growing in the schoolyard gave the school its name.
A lot of changes have been made over the years. Almost half of the scholars attending Crabapple in 1916 are dead. In 1966. They celebrated the 150th year of Statehood for Indiana In this year of 1976. they are celebrating the 200th year of the birth of our Nation. We Americans are spending a lot of time and money to make the year 1976 a most memorable one.

Return To Boone County's Main Page