Dale (2,500?) Built 1952
June 13, 2025
June 13, 2025
I was talking with my friend Ted Shideler (of the fantastic Hiding in Plain Sight blog. If you love old courthouses, schoolhouses, or central Indiana history in general, you will love it!) the other day about the disappointment that comes along with the love for hunting down history. We've both had the misfortune of showing up to what we hoped would be a great find, only to discover that we were too late, or possibly not even in the right place to begin with. This happened to me recently when I planned a trip into the deepest recesses of southwest Indiana. Some of my mom's family hails from the tiny village of Cuzco. The high school there folded in the 30s, so I never really thought I would find a gym there. I did happen to stumble upon the address of the old school though, and looking at Google Maps, there definitely appeared to be an old structure. I foolishly got my hopes up and added it to the list of places to visit on this day. When I arrived, I was predictably disappointed. There was indeed an old school, but it was an elementary that had been built after the original high school and old gym had been torn down. While this was mildly disheartening, the worst was yet to come. I would also experience a new kind of despondency on this trip. I was alerted that there was also an old gym down in Derby that was still standing. Derby High School was also shuttered in the 1930s, so this seemed as much of a long shot as Cuzco. I made the trip down though, and lo and behold, the gym was not only there, but I got to see inside! I was thrilled beyond belief. It truly felt like the ultimate needle in a haystack, almost too good to be true! I would find out almost a month later that it actually was. Through further research, I realized this gym was actually built in the 1950s, and could never have held high school games in Derby. Not to sound dramatic, but I was devastated. These were the first two stops on the longest trip I had ever made to go see old gyms, and I was 0 for 2. Luckily, on my third stop, things began to start looking up. I arrived in the pouring rain to Dale in Spencer County. Just by looking at the exterior of the gym, I knew my day was about to get a whole lot better.
The Dale Golden Aces (another wonderful mascot name) played at a variety of sectional host sites over the years: from Rockport, to Cannelton, to Tell City, and even Boonville. They usually weren't the smallest school in the sectional field, but they were far from the largest. They found a good amount of success over the 52 years that they participated in the IHSAA boys basketball tournament. They posted an overall record of 80 wins and only 51 losses according to John Harrell's indispensable website. That was good enough for 11 sectional titles scattered over four different decades. The Golden Aces played their last games in 1972, right before the students were shipped off to the newly formed Heritage Hills in nearby Lincoln City. The beautiful gym that was built in 1952 was closed down after just 20 years of hosting high school games, and the grand high school that was attached to it was torn down just a few years later. Luckily, the gym found a second life as a community center that continues to serve the people of Dale to this very day. When I stepped inside the unlocked gym to get out of the torrential downpour, I found myself in a place that showed some characteristics of an old high school gym, but just as many of a place that has been meticulously designed to be of service to the people who currently use it. It was unlocked because any community center member can come in and use it during the day to walk, lift weights, or do any of the other physical activities that are spaced out around the perimeter of the gym. While I love seeing gyms that look like they haven't been touched since their inception, you can tell the Dale gym is well-loved and well-used by many to this day, and that is just as special.
I'm not going to try and name all the different activities and stations that are offered at the community center, but suffice it to say, no one would be bored here. The space needed for the majority of these activities came at the cost of all the original seating in the gym. Much like Reelsville, none of it is intact. It's definitely a bummer, but as I've said before, I can't really fault these places for innovating to meet their current needs. Luckily, the people in charge of the community center have made a very nice display in the one exterior hallway outside the gym honoring its history. The old hardwood center jump circle is framed and hung on the wall. Surrounding it are old pictures of the interior and exterior of the school and gym. Looking closely at a few of the pictures (which I took photos of myself to reference here), you can see the gym used to have permanent wooden bleachers that circled the court except for on one baseline end. Imagine Haubstadt, Owensville, or Winslow. The bleachers appeared to go up 8-9 rows. That would enable them to pack in some pretty good crowds. The baseline end that had no bleachers features a large stage that is almost a square. It is flanked on both sides by brick pillars that jut out a bit from the wall. A big blue beam runs across the top, and blue ribboning skirts along the bottom. All the way around the gym, the top half of the wall is painted white, the bottom half is painted a very light blue, and a solid dark blue stripe separates them in the middle. The current floor is stained a pretty standard gold color. "Dale Community Center" is written in dark blue right inside the sidelines. The baseline end opposite of the stage has a nice modern section of padding running along a recently built six foot wall that honors the Golden Aces and the years in which they played. The wall separates the court from the workout area behind it.
The corners and areas around the stage stuck out to me a little more than they do in other places. The keeper of the gym, Mr. John Braun, showed me a little window that was protected with a grate that allowed someone of importance to look into the gym from their office on the other side of the wall. This sits right next to a door that leads backstage. Right above that is another upper window that has since been covered up. I can't help but wonder what used to sit behind it. The ancient basketball hoop raising system that I always love and look for in old gyms sits right beside the stage as well. There is a nice plaque honoring the three Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame inductees from the school: Roger Kaiser and Bob Reinhart who each starred on the 1956 and 1957 sectional championship teams, and the legendary coach Del Harris (who later had stops in the NBA). They're little things, but they do the necessary job of connecting the gym to its past. I do want to take a minute to touch on the exterior which I mentioned earlier really struck me. The gym is built out of normal deep red brick. What makes it unique is the use of geometric angles in the design all across the front which gives it a distinct flair. You know I love anything original, and I've never seen anything quite like this.
As I ran back out from the gym, dodging raindrops as I went, I stopped quickly to snap the exterior picture, and dove back into my van. I took a minute to get my bearings and look ahead to the next couple of stops on my trip. The Dale gym gave me a renewed sense of anticipation for what was to come in the day. The disappointment of the early morning began to fade away. Seeing gyms like this that are still thriving is just a joy. They give me energy. It's what keeps driving me to find more. I know there will be more heartbreak along the way (yes I know I'm being theatrical again, this is what happens when I listen to the Hoosiers soundtrack as I write), but I know the highs will far outpace the lows. Just like they did for the Dale Golden Aces as they found success year after year on the hardwood, and brought joy to the thousands of people who cheered them on during the golden age of Indiana high school basketball.
