A Former Student Returns to the 1891 Schoolhouse Inn
A Former Student Returns to the 1891 Schoolhouse Inn
When Barbara surprised her husband Jack with a stay at the 1891 Schoolhouse Inn for his 91st birthday, she had no idea how much the old building still remembered him.
Jack Diggs had walked through those doors before. Not as a guest — as a student. Between 1939 and 1945, he was one of fifteen or twenty children of all ages taught together in the single room that is now the inn’s great room. He practiced his reading here. He stoked the classroom stove on cold mornings. He tossed a ball back and forth over the roofline at recess because there was no playground equipment and children make do.
More than eighty years later, he came back. And the schoolhouse was still standing.
School Days in the Cottonwood Schoolhouse
The Cottonwood Schoolhouse of Jack’s childhood was one room. Rows of wooden desks. A potbelly stove in the corner. Chalkboards across the back wall. The library was a small stack of National Geographic magazines. Teachers came and went — rarely staying more than a year — so Jack met a new one almost every fall. By sixth grade, he was the only student left in his class.
Students stood at the front of the room to recite their lessons while others studied quietly at their desks. Discipline was strict. The games were simple and invented on the spot — the ball tossed over the roofline being a particular favorite.
Those school days unfolded against the backdrop of World War II. Too young for military service, Jack watched older classmates leave for the front — some who never came back. After completing his education, he went on to serve four years in the Air Force, carrying forward the quiet resilience shaped in that little schoolhouse on a Brown County hill.
“By sixth grade, he was the only student left in his class. The schoolhouse was still standing when he came back at 91.”
What the schoolhouse kept — and what changed.
The original hardwood floors still creak in the same places. The old brick chimney is still there. The school bell still remains and I like to think about the children who heard it every morning.
What changed is everything around those bones. The potbelly stove gave way to a full kitchen. The wooden desks became comfortable furniture. The chalkboards are gone, replaced by the kind of thoughtful, layered décor that took years to get exactly right. But the wavy glass windows that filtered the winter light in Jack’s childhood — those are still there. Original. Irreplaceable.
When I bought this building, I wanted guests to feel the history without living in a museum. I think we got it right. Jack seemed to think so too.
What the 1891 Schoolhouse kept from Jack’s time.
- Original hardwood floors — still creak in exactly the right places.
- Wavy glass windows — the same ones that filtered winter light in the 1940s.
- The school bell — still important and present.
- The brick chimney — original, restored, and still the heart of the room.
- The building itself — built in 1891, standing still, full of stories.
The 1891 Schoolhouse Inn is ready for your chapter.
Historic character, thoughtful modern updates, and a host who knows every inch of this building. Book direct for the best rate and my full attention from the moment you reach out.
| Book the Schoolhouse Inn | Explore the Property |
For Jack, this wasn’t sightseeing. It was remembering.
For Jack and Barbara, visits to Brown County are an annual tradition. But this one was different from the others. It wasn’t about checking off attractions or finding a good restaurant — though there are plenty. It was about slowing down in a place that held something irreplaceable.
I wasn’t there when they checked in, but I heard about it afterward. Jack walked the floors slowly. He stood at the windows. He didn’t say much, from what I understand — but then, some stories don’t need a lot of words.
That’s what I love most about hosting this particular property. Guests arrive with their own reasons for being here. And sometimes, without my knowing it at all, the schoolhouse gives them exactly what they came for.
“Guests arrive with their own reasons for being here. Sometimes the schoolhouse gives them exactly what they came for.”
The 1891 Schoolhouse Inn is available for couples, small families, and anyone who wants a stay with real character and a story behind every creak in the floor. Dogs are welcome too — it’s that kind of place.
Book direct and I’ll take care of the rest. I always do.
Stay cozy. Stay local. Stay with us.
| Book Direct & Save | Meet Your Host |
Leah Lamm
Owner & Host · My Brown County Vacation
I’m a Brown County local, Airbnb Superhost, and Vrbo Premier Host with eight years of experience personally welcoming guests to Nashville, Indiana. I host two boutique vacation rentals — the 1891 Schoolhouse Inn and Helmsburg Homestead — and I’m involved in every detail of every stay. When I’m not welcoming guests, I’m tending the garden, loving on my chickens and border collies, or enjoying a quiet morning on the porch with coffee.
Sourced from: BrownCounty.com, MyBrownCountyVacation.com, OurBrownCounty.com