Mishawaka (Old Battell) (350?) Built 1921
March 7, 2026
March 7, 2026
Is there something you used to think was unbelievably old, but then you later found something similar that was even older that shocked you? My great-grandpa was born in 1908 and lived to be 100. My young mind had a hard time comprehending the fact that I knew someone personally who was born before the Titanic. Then my dad told me my great-grandpa's brother lived to be 107 and was born in 1898 (his sister also lived to be 106). That was something I just couldn't wrap my head around. This has happened a couple times with gyms. For awhile I thought the oldest gym I would ever find would be Mooresville which was built in 1921. Eventually I was able to confirm that the old Merom College gym also served Merom High School. It was built in 1919 and is still standing. Before that I never thought I would find one pre-1920. In the last few months as I've been digging even further into schools and where they played in the early days, I've found even more examples of gyms that were used in the 1910's. Many of them were banquet halls or ballrooms in the upper stories of downtown buildings that doubled as houses of hoops. Sometimes they were on the stages of old theaters. If it was the home court of a high school team, it was technically a gym! The oldest I've found is a gym in the upper story of a downtown building in Argos that was used before the state tournament even started in 1911. Each time I find one older than the next, it still surprises me. Once instance that really stuck with me involved the gym that most people in the state think of when they think of "old": Mishawaka. The Cave in Mishawaka opened in 1924 and is the oldest actively used high school gym in Indiana. It gets a lot of press for this fact, and deservingly so! It's an absolute beauty. I played there once in my junior year of high school. I was mesmerized then, and I need to get back to it soon to take pictures. Since it's the oldest active gym, I never really thought about where the Cavemen played before it opened, even though I knew they had teams predating 1924. Imagine my shock and awe when I discovered not only where they played, but that it's still standing and exists much as it did over 100 years ago.
According to Pete DeKever of the Mishawaka Historical Museum, the Battell grade school was originally built in 1900 with an addition in 1908. As the population in town grew, another addition was brought to the school in 1920 that included a gym. The old Mishawaka High School sat on Lincolnway West (where it still does, it is now apartments) and had a basement gym, but it was too small to host actual games. When the Battell grade school gym was built, the high school used it as their home court for three seasons before The Cave was built in its present location. While it feels like a crackerbox today, back then it seemed quite expansive. On a rainy sectional Saturday in March, I planned a winding route through northwest Indiana that started in Howard County and ended at Gary West for the sectional championship there. I hit over ten faded gyms on the way up. Along the way I was in St. Joseph County to see the old South Bend Central gym along with Greene Township. While I was there I figured I would stop by the old Battell gym which is now part of a community center and try my luck even though I hadn't set up anything ahead of time. Fortune was with me as the gym was empty and the one employee on duty let me right in.
It doesn't take a lot of imagination to visualize what games would have looked like in this old gem back in the beginning of the Roaring Twenties. There aren't any bleachers in it today, but I don't think there were many back then either. You could maybe fit one or two rows of seats behind the baselines and a couple more along one sideline, but that's it. If you were watching a game here, you were most likely standing. It reminds me of Newport in that regard. One sideline wall sits less than a foot from the out of bounds line. The opposite sideline has may 8 feet of space underneath a second story hallway that runs above it. There are upper windows that look down from the hallway into the gym which are really neat. This hallway connects the gym to the rest of the old school building. There are support posts for the hallway running along the court that probably proved to be treacherous for players back in the day. Above the baselines are balconies on both ends that can be accessed from that upper hallway. They hang out slightly over the court and the baskets are hung directly on them. I'm not sure if the hoops are original, but they look the part. They're made of wooden slats and have old fixed rims. The three walls that border the exterior of the building all have windows running along the top as well. It gives the place an open, airy feel to it. The court has the smallest dimensions I've encountered since I visited Michigantown. I doubt the hardwood is original, but it's definitely old. It's a worn gold color that looks just fine.
To reach the gym you have to go through a series of tight turns through staircases and hallways. The gym is actually a little below ground level. The adjacent theater is just as impressive as the gym from a photo I saw. It's a really neat old building. In the lobby of the community center is a giant basketball sneaker that looked like it was in the process of being painted. I'm not sure why it was there, or if it has any connection to the gym, but it made for a neat addition. As I walked back out to my car, the stormclouds were looking quite ominous and the rain had just started falling. I've joked with my wife many times that I'm not sure if God approves of these gym hunting trips because I always seem to encounter miserable weather when I embark on them. The dark clouds couldn't bring me down on this day though. I wasn't planning on stopping by the old Battell gym, but I'm really glad I did. While Mishawakians are rightfully very proud of The Cave, I hope more of them become aware of this little jewel of a gym right in their backyard as well. It wasn't a high school gym for long, but it made a lasting mark in the few years that it was.
