Shown is the 1911-12 Bremen High School basketball team. This team would have played before a gym was built. Note the second row would actually be the four players seated on the ground.

MARSHALL COUNTY — Although high school basketball gyms date back close to 100 years or more, depending on the school, for some schools there was no gym for a while and games were played in what today would be considered unusual places. Marshall County was no exception.

In Plymouth, before Plymouth High School began playing games in 1925 in what is now the older gym in Lincoln Junior High School, the team played for a while in the original National Guard Armory building on Western Avenue. There are some old newspaper references clearly stating high school basketball games were played in the Armory. The building was eventually torn down.

Plymouth also may have played games in the Wheeler building, a massive structure according to the Marshall County Historical Society, which anchored the northeast corner of Michigan and LaPorte streets downtown. Basketball was played on the third floor but the third floor was later removed.

It is not known if the games played were high school or community or youth teams.

Argos High School had a basketball team as far back as 1912-13. At that time, according to the school yearbook, an arrangement was made to practice and play games in the opera house. By 1919 there was a gym and games were also played on an outdoor court.

Culver High School played for a few years in the Menser storefront building, on a second floor court of what is now the elementary school and upstairs at Crook’s Hall. Culver had its own gym by the early 1920s and by the end of that decade there was a new gym and community building.

Culver Military Academy, now known as Culver Academies, added basketball to its sports lineup in 1903-04 just after the first gym was built, so basketball has always been played in a gym there. Information for the Culver schools came from a Culver High School yearbook (researched by the Culver-Union Township Public Library) and Jeff Kenney, who manages the museum and its archives at Culver Academies.

Bremen High School played in several venues before its first gym was built in 1923. According to Derek Jensen of the Bremen History Center, basketball dates to about 1911 and games were played in Wright’s Opera House, the second floor of the Chinese restaurant building above John J. Wright’s grocery and dry goods store on West Plymouth and the hall above Brougher’s Garage (now the consignment shop) on East Plymouth.

Bourbon High School played games in the Davis Opera House as far back as 1915. A community hall with a gym was built as an addition to the high school in about 1928. It is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places and has been in the news in recent years due to efforts to save it from being torn down.

West Township High School used the old opera house on LaPorte Street in Plymouth for games before its gym was built in the 1930s. Some people also believe games could have possibly been played above the old Montgomery Ward store or above a bowling alley in Plymouth, according to Bill Snyder, who coached basketball at the school.

According to Jim Bates Jr., a longtime resident of the Tippecanoe area, Tippecanoe High School had a small gym, not a full sized one, with cement steps for spectators to sit on in the basement of the original school building built in about 1917. Baskets were hung literally on the walls, meaning collisions with the wall were probably common.

But the 1962 Tippecanoe High School yearbook seems to indicate there wasn’t an organized basketball team until a larger gym was added in 1928 “showing the trend in school athletics.” There was also the statement in the yearbook ”Tippecanoe didn’t wish to be left out” concerning basketball and that is one reason the larger gym was added.

Tyner High School had a basketball team as far back as 1915. Marshall County History Museum has a photo on file of the 1915 team. The first gym was added to the school in 1928, but no record could be found of where the team played before the gym was built. Possibilities include the O.C. More grocery store or the IOOF Lodge.

Very little information could be found about LaPaz High School. According to a booklet published about the centennial of the town (1873-1973), the former Shalk’s Saloon was used for basketball practice, but nothing was noted about where games were actually played.

A gym was part of a new LaPaz High School built in 1928.