Evansville Indiana Historic Schools

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Howell Elementary opened in 1886 and was renamed in 1922 to Daniel Wertz after a prestigious businessman in Evansville. Many additions were made over the years especially after the Howell District was adopted into Evansville in 1916. With the rapid growth of Evansville, the original school was sold to Howell Baptist Church in 1987 and a new location was built on Red Bank Rd. The new school is still in operation as an elementary school and the original school was razed in 1990 and is now where Howell Baptist Church stands.

2. FJ Reitz High School

Francis Jones Reitz High School, commonly known as Reitz High School, was founded in 1918, located on the west side of Evansville. The second high school in Evansville. Founded by Francis Joseph Reitz. Once the school was completed after a year of construction, Evansville High School would be renamed to Central because it was no longer the only high school in Evansville.

3. Fulton School

Now Lewis Bakery, this corner was once where Fulton Avenue School stood. Referred to more regularly as just Fulton School, this public school remained for just over 100 years serving this region of Evansville, known as the Lamasco District. Although this school was generally seen as a success and was useful to the community and children of the area, it did not stand the test of time.

4. Clark Street School

Clark Street School was a school for African American students. Built prior to when the building was used as the school in 1868. A new building was built to replace prior building in 1889. Located in downtown Evansville on 215 Clark St. Today, the building has since then been destroyed and made into a new business. The location of the new business, and Clark Street School is right off the Lloyd, traveling east.

5. Old Central High School

Evansville High School was originally built in 1868 on the corner of 6th and Vine St. in Evansville Indiana. It was the first public high school in Evansville and is often quoted as the “Oldest free public high school in continuous operation west of the Allegheny Mountains”. It was at its original location and included many renovations and additions over the year until it was shut down following the 1971-1972 school year. Its location was moved to First Ave. and the original school was razed in 1973. The only thing that remains of the original school is a plaque for in memoriam and the original gymnasium.

6. Lincoln School

Lincoln High School was the first high school for the black community of Evansville built in 1928. The school still stands today with the name Lincoln School and serves as a Kindergarten through 8th grade school. The school was segregated until 1962 and then was converted into a K-8 school to begin the Evansville school corporation’s plans to integrate schools. The original history of the school is protected by the Alumni society as well as the Evansville African American Museum to help the Evansville community to continue to learn from its many years of racism and segregation.

7. Reitz Memorial High School

Evansville Memorial High School was founded in 1922 by Francis Jones Reitz. FJ Reitz founded both the Reitz High School that was created on the west side of Evansville in 1918 and Memorial High School. Created as a Catholic school and would later become one of the prominent private schools in Southern Indiana. Located on North side of Lincoln Ave between Bennighof Ave and Runnymeade Ave. Classes at Memorial High School started in 1925.

8. Bosse High School

Benjamin Bosse High School, more commonly known as just Bosse High School, has been in operation in Evansville for 101 years. Now servicing just under 800 students, Bosse High School has been a major hub of education in Evansville and is full of history. This school has changed and adapted over the years to improve facilities and accommodate for new generations of students, but its significance remains to this day as a cornerstone of Evansville education.

9. Culver / Campbell Street School

Campbell Street School, later known as Culver School and now known as Culver Family Learning Center, was an Evansville schoolhouse built to serve the Culver district. Culver School was a grade school that was made to teach students from kindergarten through eighth grade. The original school was comparatively large and was constructed in the later half of the 19th century.

This Tour is a Walking Tour.

Evansville Indiana Historic Schools

Created by HIST 288: Historians Craft (University of Southern Indiana) on November 28th 2023, 8:20:00 pm.

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A driving tour that discusses the vast history regarding the Evansville schools. This tour touches on many topics about the Evansville school district as well as the desegregation of the school system in the 1970s. Follow along as you visit nine schools across Evansville and see both razed schools and schools still standing. Some were converted to other properties while other still remain in operation to this day. We hope you enjoy the thorough research we did on the amazing topic and appreciate the rich history behind the Evansville school system.

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Evansville Indiana Historic Schools

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