A Brief History of Chuckery

Chuckery was never formally surveyed or platted as a village. Earliest mention of this village in local histories date to 1814. In approximately 1858 a small Methodist Episcopal Church was built at Chuckery. This church, named for its founding pastor, was called Lewis Chapel and was a part of the Milford Circuit. In 1892 a Lutheran parochial school was built in Chuckery as a branch school to the St. John's Lutheran congregation also located in Darby Township. In 1893 St. Paul Lutheran Church was formally recognized as a separate entity from the St. John's congregation. On April 8, 1898 a US post office was established in this small village, based out of the general store. The St. Paul Lutheran Church congregation erected a house of worship in 1902. In 1903 the post office was closed. The Little Darby Creek was dredged in the vicinity of the village in the early 1920s as a flood control measure. The 1930 US Census reported that there were 36 inhabitants of Chuckery. In 1946 the store in Chuckery was closed, and in 1953 a semi truck hit the abandoned store building. At one time there was also a blacksmith and a hotel in this village. Today Chuckery is still home to St. Paul Lutheran Church and School. There is also a parsonage in the village limits for the church, and one farmstead also lies within the town limits.

The Chuckery Special School was built in the village in 1905. The school received a grade school charter in 1917 and again in 1929. In 1937 the public school in Chuckery was closed with the consolidation of the Chuckery and Unionville school districts. St. Paul Lutheran Church bought the vacant building, using it for a few years while they constructed a new parochial school building.

St. Paul Lutheran Church has maintained a school in Chuckery since its founding in 1892. The school originally taught just students in grades 1 through 7. A kindergarten was added in the late 1980s. A preschool was added in 2006. Students from this school usually transfer to Fairbanks Local Schools, Jonathan Alder High School, or Mechanicsburg Village Schools to complete their education.