So Sandy and I were backroading in Gibson County in early August, and as we came around the bend of a winding road, there it was, as if it appeared out of nowhere. Here’s the story.

A random backroad selection led us to a wonderful find off a country road in Gibson County. We were driving through some country roads, looking for nothing in particular, just taking in the scenery.

In Gibson County, you will find some of the most beautiful farm country in the United States. We drove past some amazing farms and thousands of acres of tall dark green Indiana cornfields. We went down a gravel country road that led us to a beautiful covered bridge. We were just minding our own business drinking a Big Red and eating Moon Pies. Actually, Sandy doesn’t like Moon Pies, so I was eating two Moon Pies.

Finally, a country road led us onto State Road 65 out in the middle of nowhere, and as we passed a curve, this stately gymnasium was there along the road. And that’s when the Jeep came to a screeching halt.

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The Mount Olympus gym sits alone. No school buildings around it, no town, no houses, nothing. Mount Olympus, Indiana, is not really a town. There is no gas station, no post office, no stores of any kind, and it’s not even included in a Census Bureau count as Mount Olympus. But at one time, it was a little bit bigger than it is now, and like so many other small Indiana communities, there was a local high school.

Finding a find like this led to some research, of course, as there was absolutely no one to talk to. Mount Olympus had a high school from 1919 to 1965, and the gym was built in 1939. It seated less than 500 people, but from 1939 to 1965, home games were always packed. In 1965, the school was consolidated with nearby Princeton.

I was not able to see inside the gym, so I’m not aware of its condition. But what a fabulous structure in the middle of nowhere, and it’s easy to see what high school basketball games must have meant to this community at one time.

I’ve also learned that the 1929 Mount Olympus basketball team won 26 games in a row while claiming a sectional championship. Can you imagine what that was like in 1929 for a community like this?