The junction of state roads 67 and 38
By Leona Anderson
Back in 1930 my dad, Othal Ridgway, was a tenant farmer east of Pendleton, midway toward Markleville.
He heard of land available to purchase on the corner intersection of what is now state roads 67 and 38.
Automobiles were quickly replacing horses by means of transportation. His desire was to purchase this property, build a filling station, and change his occupation.
Relatives and friends did not encourage this undertaking, but he did it anyway.
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Things were tough in the ’30s, but he did make a decent living, and in the long run it was a good thing to do.
He purchased about 28 acres on the east and west sides of State Road 67.
On the west side, it is now home to the CVS Pharmacy.
On the east side, which is now where the R & R Market is located, my dad built a station in 1931.
Our family of four lived there until he sold only the business corner in 1948 to Ralph Ridenour. My parents then moved into the big house on the hill behind the station.
This property consisted of a gravel pit, which bordered State Road 67 and today is the front lawn of Pendleton Heights High School.
This gravel pit had a spring-fed pond with hills and high banks.
It is hard to imagine that now with such a beautiful front area to the school.
The marquee out in front of the school is approximately where the big old barn sat.
It was speculated that maybe gravel and dirt were taken from this pit for the building of the railroad incline, or perhaps to build State Road 67.
The picture of this old farm house is the site of where Pendleton Heights High School now stands. This two-story farm house — along with a big old-fashioned barn, two sheds, a couple pasture fields, and a gravel pit — compose part of the territory that is now home to the high school.
In the early 1960s, the state legislature passed the School Reorganization Act. It required redistricting of school boundaries so that each student was backed by $5,000 in assessed tax evaluation in order to have a high school.
Judge Carl Smith appointed a nine-man school reorganization committee, with Jim Craig as chairman, to accomplish the redistricting.
After much discussion and many public meetings, a plan was devised that met all requirements.
In South Madison County, the new school district consisted of Green, Fall Creek and Adams townships.
The area chosen to build the new consolidated school consisted of about 112 acres just east of Pendleton, bordering state roads 67, 9 and 38.
The central location of this site was considered in the selection.
Nearness to utilities, drainage and suitability of terrain for building were important factors carefully weighed.
The acreage consisted of farmland owned by Ridgway, Reason and Lawrence.
This property was sold to the school in early 1967.
Construction on the new high school started in October 1967 and was completed for occupancy by Sept. 1, 1969. The first cohort to graduate was the Class of 1970.
Anderson is a former member of the Pendleton Historical Museum board.