Washington (Current) (7,090) Built 1966
March 15, 2025: Terre Haute North vs. Whiteland (Boys)
March 15, 2025: Terre Haute North vs. Whiteland (Boys)
I’ve written before in blogs about my connection to Daviess County and specifically the Barr-Reeve community. When I first met all my friends from Montgomery in junior high and learned about their insane run of success (of which I was a little jealous), I also heard a lot about their rivals. I had never heard of Loogootee or North Daviess. Honestly those names sounded a little exotic to a northern kid who was used to school names as simple as West Noble and Lakeland. The other name I heard thrown around was Washington. I didn’t know much about it until I found John Harrell’s website maybe a year later. As stats-obsessed as I was, I loved just looking through the historical records on the site. My knowledge of southern Indiana basketball at the time was almost nothing, so I dove into researching Barr-Reeve and the other schools I had heard mention of. I quickly realized that not only did Washington have one of the longest running programs in the state, but one of the most successful. As I’ve gotten older and started researching Indiana high school basketball history in earnest, the weight of their tradition and legacy has become even more apparent.
Three state titles over the course of about a decade during an era when the postseason tournament averaged just under 800 different teams is a big accomplishment in itself. Coupling that with 39 sectional and 16 regional titles in the one class era is beyond impressive. Even though Washington was the big school and host in the vast majority of those years, that sectional was one of the most tightly contested in the southern part of the state for half a century, in both the pre and post-consolidation eras. Those teams produced legendary figures like Marion Crawley, who many people (including myself until I did a lot of research) have no clue won two state titles at Washington before starting his historic run at Lafayette Jeff. Dave DeJernett was the leader of the first integrated team to ever win the state championship in 1930 as well. Gregg Doyle wrote an incredible article about him in the Indy Star where he chronicles how his father attended the 1931 regional game with a pistol in his pocket because of threats his son received in the days leading up to the game. These are just a couple of the incredible footnotes in the long history of the Washington Hatchets (who also have a top three mascot name in the state. It doesn’t get much more intimidating than a primitive weapon). I haven’t even mentioned the success they’ve had in the class basketball era to the tune of 4 state championships brought about by the best set of siblings Hoosier Hysteria has seen at least since the turn of the century, if not longer. The Zeller brothers along with coach Gene Miller (who just retired with 779 career wins), brought huge crowds to town for the better part of a decade. Hatchet fans have not only been blessed with a lot of wins over the years, but two incredible gyms to watch them in.
I talked recently about how Seymour has been blessed with not just one, but two of the best gyms for the eras in which they served. The same could be said for Washington. The old gym that was built in 1925 still stands and serves as the home of junior high games for the school. Looking at pictures, it seems to be one of the best preserved gyms of the era and one that could start hosting big high school games today if needed. It’s high on my list of old gyms I need to visit soon before something happens to them. It just looks magnificent (if anybody has a connection to see the inside of the gym, feel free to reach out!). Normally I would absolutely hate to see a place like that shuttered for any reason, but in this case it’s hard to argue with the alternative. A new gym was opened in 1966. Deemed the Hatchet House, it’s not quite the biggest gym in the state, but I’d argue it might be the most unique, at least out of the mammoth gyms that we have. Holding just over 7,000 fans, it’s a bit of a Frankenstein of styles, but in the most beautiful way. Looking at the very bottom floor level, it reminds me of a small school gym like Cowan or Daleville with the 10 foot concrete wall all the way around with just a few rows of seats along the sidelines. Above that lies the majority of seating in the form of a bowl that wraps all the way around the court in a manner I like to describe as an “upside down sunken gym” like at Southport. Above that along the sidelines is a third level of retractable wooden bleachers in the style of a normal two level high school gym. When you put it all together, there is nothing like it anywhere else in the state.
I guess it makes sense to tackle the description here from the bottom up, level by level. The hardwood floor is always going to be one of the focal points of a gym, especially in one this big as it sits right at the center of everything else. It looks like the floor was replaced in the last 5-10 years, and they opted for something simple that works really well. The colors of the Washington Hatchets are gold and black, and the light-gold tone of the court matches the accents everywhere else in the gym perfectly. It’s a monotone design, with only the silhouette of a big “W” at center court holding a slightly darker shade. There are also two little crisscrossing hatchets at the enter of the "W." The state championship years are highlighted along the sidelines in clean, black font. “Washington” is written across one baseline and “Hatchets” across the other in clear letters against a black background. The basketball stanchions are the permanent kind with a long neck holding the hoops in place. The black mats behind them against the baseline walls have striking Hatchet logos on each end. There are four rows of brown plastic retractable bleachers along one sideline behind the team benches. The other sideline has six rows of these. There are entrances at all four corners of the lower level that let you onto court along with little stairs that lead to the middle bowl level of the gym.
16 rows of beautiful, original, wooden, permanent bleachers encircle the entire court here in the Hatchet House. They’re worn, weathered, and I hope they never touch them because they’re perfect. One cool little detail about them are the fancy supports underneath them that fasten them to the concrete. I’m not sure if it was intentional, but they look kind of ornate for the simple job they serve. The rows are lessened by a few in the corners of this level as there are two press rows for media members sitting above all four entrances to the lower level. Underneath each one is written “Media” and then the gate number in gorgeous gold script. The corners also require the concrete steps to snake upwards at different angles. At places like this I parrot the phrase “not a bad seat in the house” way too often, but it definitely applies here.
When you get to the top of the second level, there is a narrow concourse that makes its way across the entire perimeter of the gym. In two corners up here are bathrooms, and in the other two are concession stands. There’s a small banner in one of these corners honoring Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame members from the school's past. Across one upper baseline wall is written “Home of the Hatchets” in gold lettering across a black backdrop. Along the sidelines are 13 more rows of retractable wooden bleaches. They’re the old school bleachers of death that you can see right through to the depths below when you look down. They also had some decent sway to them as I clambered up to take some pictures. They also weirdly have the steps going up here painted green. They’re only pulled out for the biggest games, but they really are what put this gym over the top in terms of its uniqueness. I look forward to coming back for a game where even these are filled to the brim. Above them on one side is a little platform area high up on the wall where the jerseys of past Hatchet greats now hang. Directly across from that on the other upper sideline wall is a banner welcoming fans to the Hatchet House with the year built and capacity listed. Right underneath it hangs a very tiny and underwhelming conference team poster which is really my only knock on the entire gym.
I can’t end the gym description here without talking about what you see when you look up. Above each baseline hang old school golden cloth athletic accomplishment banners. One baseline has many for various sports and accomplishments. The other honors all the state titles won in different sports. They look regal flying high in the rafters, and oh what rafters they are! The metal trusses that crisscross one another across the entire length of the roofline are breathtaking. If you go to enough high school gyms in Indiana, you’ll find a handful of really unique ceilings, and this is right up there with the best of them. It makes for one of the coolest gyms to photograph that I’ve been to.
My trip to Washington for the nightcap of the boys regional round was one I won’t soon forget. I started the day at home north of Anderson. My plan for the morning was to hit a few fading gyms in southern Indiana before making my way to see three regional games in the afternoon and evening. I went to Indianapolis Wood, Oolitic, Tunnelton, and Paoli before making my way back up to Martinsville for the first game. From there I made my way to Seymour and then shot across U.S. 50 in the pouring rain to Washington. By the time I made it back home for the night I had driven over 10 hours and 550 miles. It was even a little crazy by my standards, but I knew it was going to be my last day of watching Indiana high school basketball for the season and I wanted to make the most of it. I hate the end of the season. There’s not just a hole in the Tuesday and Friday nights on my calendar, but there’s a sense of saying goodbye to something I love. This trip concluded the second season of this blog, and it was special in a lot of ways. I got to watch the Anderson girls team play a lot starting in the summer, and it was really neat to see them grow and develop as a team over the course of the whole year. I started going to a lot more old gyms and learning about their stories. I also started taking my boys with me to a lot more games which has become a really cool experience. I’m just incredibly thankful for the heritage of high school basketball in this state. It’s not only brought me to some amazing gyms, but it’s introduced me to some extraordinary people and their stories. While I’m still going to try and visit some places during the offseason, I can’t wait until November to start all over again in earnest.
