Unionville (1,500) Built 1962
June 4, 2026
June 4, 2026
We've had a lot of Union schools throughout our state's high school history. According to John Harrell's website, there have been two just plain old Union high schools (three if you count College Corner), six Union Townships, Union Center, Union County, Union City, and Union Mills. Gymwise, there aren't any traces left of over half of them. Union Modoc, Union City, and Union County are all active high schools (Union City also has a nice old one still up). Union Mills is now a factory. That's it. The only Union variety that I haven't mentioned yet also has a gym that's still up and thriving. Unionville sits in the foothills of Monroe County between the Morgan-Monroe State Forest and Yellowwood State Forest. Today, there's only an elementary school, a couple churches, a post office, and a cemetary. Back in the day when it had its own high school, there was a little more going on. Just because things have slowed down though doesn't mean there's no life. This was evident when my friend Cliff Pappe and I made our way down State Road 45 to stop by the old gym that's been serving Unionville since 1962.
We were greeted by a couple of very friendly staff members at Unionville Elementary who showed us around. Walking into the school, there are some very neat displays honoring past students at Unionville who went on to serve in the United States military. This was extra special to Cliff who is a member of the National Guard himself. They were really cool to see. After passing those displays we made our way into the gym. Up on the wall, close to the entrance we walked through, is a beautiful old team picture of the Unionville Arrows from 1966. This was the season that Unionville won their lone sectional title which was captured at Bloomington. While that was an incredible accomplishment for a school this size, this was also the year they won the Wabash Valley Tournament. While not as well-known, people who grew up during this period in southwestern Indiana can tell you just how big of a deal that would have been as well. A sectional title may have been more prestigious, but a Wabash Valley Tournament championship may have been even more impressive depending on the year just because of the sheer number of teams you would have to go through to win it. To win both in the same years tells the story of how special that 1966 team was. The gym that team played in is the same one that the picture hangs in today. It was built in 1962 after the previous gym (which was located where the parking lot is now) burned down. The Arrows played varsity games in this gym until 1972 when they were consolidated into Bloomington North. Ever since then it has served as an overqualified elementary facility.
Unionville is one of the more impressive old gyms with a sideline stage setup that I've found. Most of the time these gyms are pretty small. When it was opened, Unionville boasted a seating capacity of 1,500. I'm guessing that was probably counting some seats up on the stage, but the one section of normal bleachers that it has isn't too shabby on its own. Along the sideline opposite of the stage are 10 rows of retractable bleachers that span from baseline wall to baseline wall with nothing in the corners. They're the nice wooden retractable variety. They are a little weathered, and they match the type of bleachers that would have been used in the 60s, so it's possible that they're original, but they also could have been replacements at one point. The fact that they have completely solid bottoms with no gaps to drop things through makes me lean towards them not being the originals, but I can't say for sure. Either way, they look great. Right above the bleachers is some signage dedicating the gym to David C. Marshall who was a longtime educator at the school. On both of the baseline walls way over above the bleachers are a couple of gorgeous murals. One is of a beautiful sunrise/sunset over what looks like the hills of Monroe County. The other is a patriotic view of the Washington Monument and the Capitol building. It looks like signatures in the corners date them to 1979 if I'm reading them correctly.
Opposite of the bleachers is a huge sideline stage that nearly spans the whole wall. It was covered up at some point over the years with a material I'm not exactly sure how to describe. I saw an old picture when doing some research for this blog, and it looked massive back when it was open and used for high school games. While it's a bit of a bummer it was covered, it's not uncommon and even understandable when elementary schools take over these old gyms and need the space behind them for different uses. The baseline wall that sits across from the entrance to the gym we came through is pretty bare. The baseline wall above the entrance has a little more going on. It has the aforementioned sectional title team photo hanging up on it. I love these old photos that almost look like painted portraits with the way they're developed. Underneath it is a framed arrow with "Unionville Arrows" written below it. I'd love to know the story behind it. If you happen to know, please reach out! An old school metal ladder exercise device is folded into the wall here too. It's the type of thing that I would have been terrible at as a kid in P.E. class (I could never do a pull-up when it came to the Presidential Fitness Test). An old Unionville sweater is framed up in the corner over here as well. The original glass backboards with wooden bottoms that the fixed rims screw into are still intact and in use! That's awesome to see at an active school like this. The floor design is simple but elegant. The hardwood is stained a shiny gold color. "Unionville" is written in red inside the half-court circle. Little arrowheads are painted right inside the sidelines along with "David C Marshall Gym." It all fits together nicely.
The drive in and out of Unionville captured some of the most breathtaking scenery I've come across on my travels so far. The vast swath of forest that stretches all the way from Martinsville down to the Ohio River is the best our state has to offer. I'll never get tired of driving the few state roads that twist and turn their way through it. We drove from Unionville through Bloomington on our way over to Eastern Greene. It made me think of what it must have been like for those kids from small town Unionville to be uprooted and placed over in the behometh that became Bloomington North. That must have been quite the culture shock. In some ways it makes it even more special that Unionville has been able to keep their elementary school going all these years as it continues to feed into a bigger and more urban school district. Small town values are important, and these small schools that help keep them alive are worth saving. When there's an old historic high school gym attached to them, that's just icing on the cake.
