Spiceland (900?) Built 1937
October 14, 2024
October 14, 2024
If you've been following along with my blog long enough, you know I've had a love for history from a young age. Often this love for the things of the past also coincided with an interest in geography. I even won the junior high geography bee (though I'm not sure that's necessarily something to be proud of considering my main competition were Amish students who did not have access to the internet and who mostly never traveled outside of northern Indiana). Regardless, I loved learning about different places, people, and their cultures. This also in part led to my complete fascination with the Pirates of the Caribbean movies that came out during my formative years. The fictional East India Trading Company somehow stirred a connection to my interest in the explorers that sought riches in the New World by finding lands that were supposed to be flowing with gold and valuable spices. How on earth does this connect to high school gyms? Well in my research of old gyms in the state, I came across the town and former school of Spiceland, and all I could think about was how Captain Jack Sparrow should have made his home in this charming town instead of Tortuga. After visiting it myself, I saw firsthand the treasure that can be found here.
Spiceland may not have been one of the islands that Columbus was seeking on his journeys, but according to the town website, it was in fact known for an abundance of spice bushes in the area which brought about its name. I was able to visit the gym that once was home to the Spiceland Stingers and is now owned by the neighboring Friends Church. The Stingers played basketball in the gym from the time it was built in 1937 until consolidation hit in 1968. They did manage one sectional championship at New Castle while playing in the this gym in 1947, which was no small feat considering New Castle was one of the toughest sectionals in the state year to year. My guide was Mrs. Nancy Wadman who taught for many years in town and who told me that Spiceland is really the only town in the surrounding area who's gym still stands, and I am beyond grateful that it is. There are a couple leaks in the roof that need to be repaired, but currently you wouldn't know anything is amiss by looking at it.
The youth today like to talk about whether everything in their world has an "aura" or not, and the aura of the Spiceland gym is impeccable. The most notable thing to me right off the bat was how the maroon of the bleachers, stage curtain, and trim everywhere match the cherrywood red stain on the hardwood just perfectly. I've never seen such a perfect marriage between the overall color scheme of a gym and the hue of the court itself. The effect alone is enough to make you fall in love with it, but luckily there is so much more here to be enamored with. There are two sides of maroon, wooden, permanent bleachers that are trimmed in grey and mirror each other along each sideline. The top row on each side seem to sit up a hair higher and it almost seems as if they were added later, though there is no way to be sure. In the corners are little platforms that sit above entrances, the concession stand, and a bathroom as well. The original scorer's table sits at the bottom of one set of bleachers, but it has a big "Titans" sign on the front of it which is the mascot of Tri High which is the local high school that was formed after consolidation. Above the sideline seating are big square windows which have long since been framed in with wood to help with HVAC costs. An all too common but understandable tragedy in these old gyms.
The walls of the old gyms are made up of multicolored stone bricks that remind me of what the milking parlor at my family farm was made of. The baseline ends are distinct from one another. One wall is bare except for two wooden practice hoops that sit right behind the main goal against the wall on both sides. A blue and maroon colored mat gives players some protection from slamming into the brick wall that sits just a couple feet behind the out of bounds line. The side by the main entrance has a beautiful old stage. It doesn't run the length of the gym as many do, but instead spans about the width of the ends of the three point lines in the corners of the court. The bottom four feet of the wall that run up to the bottom of the stage are the same brick as the wall, but everything above that around the stage is white plaster. An old heavy maroon curtain reaches across the length of the stage. Entrances to the stage can be found on both sides in two corners of the gym. I've already touched on the beauty of the court, but it's worth mentioning one more time how perfect it is. The foul lanes on both sides of the court are also painted maroon along with the interior of the half court circle surrounding a yellow "S." It's extremely simple, but it's truly a work of art.
The Spiceland Friends Church that sits right beside the gym happens to own it at the present time. The local school district still leases it to hold practices for various sports teams throughout the year. As repairs and maintenance come up, it becomes a tricky question of who is exactly responsible for taking care of it all. For the sake of the community and those who care about its history, I hope collectively that some solutions are found to keep the gym in the solid state it is currently in. I hope the pictures here do it justice, because aesthetically there are maybe only a few older gyms I've seen that can match it. It may not contain the valuable spices that Columbus once sought on his journey to become one of the great explorers of his time, but the experience of seeing it in person made me feel wealthy beyond anything I could've imagined.
