05/12/2013
In the early 1900s, Crawfordsville was growing and more students were coming from the southern and eastern parts of the city. Additionally, students were staying in school as more and more Hoosiers were stressing the importance of an education. As a result of the growing school population, six and a half acres of property was purchased. On November 7, 1906, the first classes were held in Crawfordsville’s newest school, Tuttle Grade School, named after Dr. Joseph Farrand Tuttle, the third President of Wabash College.
The original school increasingly became too small and outdated for the growing population of Crawfordsville. It remained in use as a grade school but was demolished in December of 1959. Plans for a new school were drawn and construction commenced. The current school was built on the same location and opened its doors in 1960 for the beginning of the school year. The new Tuttle Junior High School accommodated students in grades 7-8-9.
A new school also brought many other new items like books for the library, machinery for industrial arts and home economics, and a new ventilation system. Something taken for granted today, a ventilation system was very important to the operation of the new school. The principal of the new school, Don Golliher, was even quoted as saying, “(the building) ...has a good ventilation system… everybody will be breathing fresh air all the time.” It also meant many firsts like instruction in brand new classrooms and convocations in the brand new gymnasium.
The Junior High School served grades 7-8-9 until the fall of 1986 when the school was restructured as a middle school to house grades 6-7-8. The school underwent many renovations and updates in the summers of 2000 and 2001. Tuttle Middle School now serves approximately 600 students from the Crawfordsville city limits. Although the building has gone through many changes and the staff and student population has changed over the years, one goal remains the same: to educate young people so that they may become responsible and productive citizens.
