WAYNEDALE’S FIRST SCHOOL
The first principal was Mr. David Baird, who was Schoolmaster from 1874 to 1878.
Schoolmaster Baird lived in Wallen, Indiana and is reported to have walked 15 miles each Monday morning, stayed with friends during the school week, and then walked back home on the weekends.
The school was located on Old Trail Road and McArthur Drive, near the present Waynedale Elementary School. It was a one-room school, built in 1874 and was simply called School Number 8. The first class in 1874, consisted of twenty students: 18 boys and two girls. At the corner, next to the original school, was a well spring where travelers would rest and water their horses. A tin cup hung on the water pump and everyone, kids, teachers and travelers drank from the same cup.
The second Waynedale Elementary School was built in 1917, and the school standing now is the third Waynedale School to occupy this space.
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