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Old Daniel Wertz School was one of the only schools in the Howell district of Evansville. In 1898, the first addition to the school was built along what is now Emerson St. Two other additions were added on, one in 1935 on the backend of the building and another on the west end in 1958.As said before, the school was built for the Howell district and was later added onto the city of Evansville in 1916. In 1922, the school was renamed for prominent businessman in Evansville, Daniel Wertz. He was a property owner and politician. In the mid-1980s Evansville began closing township schools, or in other words, neighborhood schools as they grew more into a public school district. Old Daniel Wertz was one of these schools, especially since the area outgrew the school. The city decided to move the school to its current location on Red Bank Rd on Evansville’s west side.In 1987 the original school was sold the Howell Baptist church, and they used it as storage. However, in 1990 the decision was made to raze the school. All that remains are the original sidewalk entryways from the school that served the Howell community for years. For further reading please follow the links below!

Front view of the school upon its closure in 1986. 

Image of original school that was featured on a postcard. 

Church that stands where school once stood, taken November 14, 2023.

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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.

Old Daniel Wertz School

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. 

Reitz High School was founded in 1918. Construction for the school began in 1917 but was completed almost exactly a year later in 1918. The school was funded by Francis Joseph Reitz, which is why Reitz High School was named after him. In the years prior to Reitz’s establishment, Central High School (at the time it was named Evansville High School) was the only high school in Evansville.2  Reitz is located on the west side of Evansville due to the rise in population on the west side of town. A few years later in 1921, the Reitz bowl completed construction.3 The Reitz bowl is the football stadium located at Reitz High School and as the name indicates, it makes a natural bowl shape instead of traditional stadiums that have seating located off the ground.   During the 1950s, several additions and changes were made to Reitz, including the addition of a gymnasium. In 1956, an addition was added to the west wing of the school, and then in 1957, Reitz High School added a 5-story building consisting of classrooms. Over time, the additions forced the main entrance to be moved from the center of the school to the northeast side of the school. Renovations to Reitz High School had a jump start during the 1990s when another wing was added, and efforts to make Reitz more “modern” considering Reitz had little changes to its appearance since the 1950s.  Sports are a significant part of Reitz High School’s history. Reitz has had a history of being one of the top playing high schools in a variety of different sports for decades. Reitz’s football team has been a part of the SIAC tournament since 1935, which is the tournament that most high schools in Southern Indiana participate in.  In 1961, Reitz football team had an undefeated season in which they did not give up a single point the entire season, which would go on to be one of their most important achievements as a school.4 A notorious rivalry game takes place every year since 1970 between Reitz and Mater Dei as West Side Rivals in competition for the West Side Nut Club Trophy.5 Outside of sports, since Reitz’s founding years, the school and it’s students created a multitude of clubs and groups over the years including StarPower (founded in the early 2000s which focuses on self-esteem and teamwork and leadership against drugs and alcohol) and Panther Paws (a group of people who cheered at every Reitz wrestling meet and made scrapbooks for each member of the wrestling meet).6

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.

FJ Reitz High School

Fulton School was an Evansville grade school that began construction in 1870 and was finished in 1871. Although the school did all the things of a standard grade school of the time, it saw significant success in its enrollment. This success was seen by the multiple construction projects that took place over the life of the building. When the school was originally constructed, it was relatively small and was made identifiable by a tall tower that stood out in the front of the building. Within the first 20 years of its construction, the school saw two instances of expansion, with a south wing being built in 1884, and a north wing added on in 1890 to accommodate for the influx of new students from the area. This was not the end of renovations for the school however, eventually the tower would be removed and a gym added in 1927. These additions to the school are symbolic of the growth of the school and the impact it had on the area.Fulton School was not an average grade school though, as it was recognized for its progressive and relatively new idea of having a student government of sorts. Although student governments are commonplace now, this was not the case in the early 20th century, especially in grade schools. This system involved students who had earned the rank of "prefect" which was a kind of student representative that would attend meetings to come up with ways to improve the school. These "prefects" were 6th to 8th grade students selected collectively by other students, the principal, and the teachers. At the time that this system was written about in The Journal of Education in 1926, there were 40 "prefects" and Fulton School was seen idealistically as a place where children were upstanding citizens and well-behaved, enjoying school and striving to uphold their title of "prefect" or working towards obtaining it.One of the most important figures in the school's history, especially when considering the aforementioned student government, was former principal Floyd C. Ragland. Ragland was an integral part of starting and maintaining the student government system, but also a dedicated servant of the school system. Ragland worked in Vanderburgh county schools beginning in 1893 starting as a teacher, then became a principal, and eventually earning the role of superintendent in 1907. In 1916 however, he returned to his role as principal, now at Fulton School, where he remained until his death in 1927. In his death he was recognized as a great asset to the school system and Fulton School in particular, where he cultivated a strong student culture and launched the first successful "ungraded" school in Evansville, meant to help students who were seen as less capable of learning in a standard school environment. It is clear that Ragland was deeply important to his community, as when he passed away, school was closed for his funeral and his passing made the front page of the newspaper, with an article outlining his accomplishments and significance to the city of Evansville.Although Fulton School saw years of success it did not survive to see the present day as political change came to Evansville in the 1960s and 70s. When Vanderburgh county schools were eventually desegregated, there were many changes made to the system in place including changes to school districts, which caused students to change schools and caused some of those schools to shut down, as was the case with Fulton School. After the school was closed in 1973, it was torn down and eventually constructed into what is seen today, Lewis Bakery.

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.

Fulton School

Clark Street School aka Lower Colored School was built prior to when the building was used as a school in 1868. The building was a manual training school for African American students at the high school level. In 1889, a new building was created to house the growing population of African Americans in Evansville. A few years before the newer building would be erected, Clark Street School had a relatively small amount of students each year, given the size of the school. According to an interview of Helen Best, in 1915 there were 9 graduates. After the new building was built, Clark Street School was made a high school. The school was renamed Frederick Douglass High School in 1919, after the famous abolitionist.  Clark Street School (Douglass High School) was one of the few African American schools in Evansville at the time, and since it was a school that labor skills were taught, African Americans did not have as many opportunities for higher education in Evansville.They often times had to travel to Terre Haute to go to college. In 1927, the school was merged with the new Lincoln High School. Since the new Lincoln High School was in close proximity to Frederick Douglass High School, the students there were moved to Lincoln. After Frederick Douglass High School's students left for Lincoln High School, the building was left unused and abandoned for several years until it became a warehouse for a few years.Both the original building of Clark Street School and the newer building of Frederick Douglass High School were razed in 1937 after school no longer took place in these buildings. The lot that Clark Street School and Douglass High School were built in was left empty until it was bought out by another company. Today, the location that once held Clark Street School and Douglass High School is now a heating and air conditioning business. The layout of the roads looks a lot different today than it did 100 years ago. The Lloyd is now on the left-hand side of the building, which is one of Evansville's busiest roads.

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.

Clark Street School

Old Central High school was originally named Evansville High School until 1918 when Reitz High School was built on the Evansville west side. It was originally a two-story schoolhouse, but large additions were made over the years. In 1896, the clock tower and two wings were added to the original building. The clock tower was one of the most recognizable monuments in the city and was how citizens identified the school. After many additions, the school encompassed the entirety of the 6th St. and Vine St. block. In 1927 a gymnasium was built across the street. Central was highly acclaimed in their football career at both Old Central and the current high school. They won the football championship in their respective conferences throughout the years. For example, they won in 1919, 1921, 1922, and 1924-1929. They won in years following, most recently in 2020.As the city of Evansville continued to grow the population became more widespread throughout the city. Central was no longer the center of the city. Suburbs were also increasing, and the downtown area became more urbanized and less filled with families. The city decided to accommodate the vastly growing north side and built the new Central High School on N. First Ave. in 1971. The last class graduated from the original school in 1972 and the next class began at the new location in the fall of 1972. Following the transfer to the new school much debate arose on what to do with the original building. Many citizens, including the Historical Society, argued that the school should be conserved as a historical monument. However, the school had much structural damage from the flood of 1937. The clock tower, as well as other structures, was at risk of collapsing and causing further damage. For this reason, the city razed the original building in 1973. The gymnasium and land was purchased by the YMCA is was used as a parking lot and office building for their association for many years. According the Outreach Director, Sean Kuykendall, the original school is actually buried under the parking lot that was put into place. There are also water systems in place to help prevent further damage from flooding in the area due to its proximity to the river front. In recent years, the YMCA built a new facility across the street and sold the original gymnasium to another prospective buyer who is in the process of turning it into affordable apartment. There is an honorable plaque in place at the YMCA parking lot as well as the original writing above the gymnasium door. Central still remains a prominent school in Evansville, regardless of the location. For further reading and how to get involved, please follow the links below!

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.

Old Central High School

Lincoln School was built in 1928 for the black community of Evansville, it was the first public schoolhouse built for this reason. It cost the community around $275,000 to build the schoolhouse. It had 22 classrooms, a gymnasium, auditorium, sewing room, home economics kitchen, study hall, and manual training center. However, there was not a cafeteria for the students and the library did not have any books. The school argued to provide books to the students, but the board of education refused to ensure this would happen. Therefore, the faculty took matters into their own hands. Mrs. Alberta K. McFarland, who was the first librarian at the school, went around the community and neighborhoods asking for books and donations.The school was originally built as a Kindergarten through 12th grade school and had students from Mt. Vernon, Rockport, Newburgh, and Grandview as it was the only school for black students in the area. The enrollment was around 300 students, which of course was large for the time period.In 1949, Indiana passed the law to begin desegregating schools in 1949. However, Lincoln was still an all-black school until 1962 and even then, it was a slow process that was not completed until 1972. According to an anonymous patron who attended this school during this time, they lived on the opposite side of town but were forced to bus to Lincoln everyday in order to encourage the desegregation of the school. Federal court judge, Judge Hugh S. Dillin made the decision to desegregate Evansville public schools in the 1960s,The last all black high school class graduated in 1962 and the school changed to a Kindergarten through 8th grade school. In 1996 the school began following an all-year calendar. The students had intersession breaks in October, March, and June. Summer break was 6 instead of 9 weeks. However, they switched back to a traditional school system in 2013 to follow along with the rest of the Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation.Lincoln School holds a rich history of the segregation of the Evansville community. The school continues to preserve this history and as times have changed it has been brought more to light. To read more about the African American community and Lincoln School follow the links below!

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.

Lincoln School

After Reitz High School finished construction and was officially ready for the school year, Francis Joseph Reitz decided in 1922 to build another school in Evansville. He decided to build a Catholic high school to memorize his parents, this is where the name of the school originated from; a sort of “memorial” to his parents because of their devout Catholic beliefs. Classes would first start at Memorial on January 5th, 1925, just 4 years after plans began for the school’s creation.   Memorial was the first Catholic high school in Evansville that was not attached to a Catholic church or monastery, standing on its own. Given that Memorial was a catholic school, boys and girls were taught separately and by a separate group of teachers. The boys at Memorial were taught on the main floor of classrooms by the Brothers of the Holy Cross and the girls were taught on the third floor of classrooms by the Sisters of Providence. Students at Memorial were taught by religious teachers until 1994 when the last remaining Sister of Providence left the school.   Until the 1960s, specifically 1969, Memorial High School remained relatively similar to how it was when it was constructed in the 1920s, looks-wise. A new wing was added to the west end of the school, which expanded the first and second floor and added a gym, library, and a band room. And then in January of 2000, a $5 million expansion to the west wing of Memorial would begin. This expansion added 8 new classrooms, 2 art studios, etc. Renovations to the original building also took place which improved several aspects of the high school (new A/C, heating, and new windows). These additions increased the capacity of the school by 900 students.  Sports have played a prominent role in Memorials extracurricular history. Within the last few decades, Memorial has acquired several different stadiums for a variety of different sports. In 2006, Memorial Norbert Stone dedicated NJ Stone Baseball Field to Memorial for them to use as their home baseball field. In 2008, Memorial build Wayne Henning Stadium to use as their football field and Varsity and Junior Varsity track meets. In 2014, Traylor Family Stadium was built to house Memorial’s soccer program, which is commonly known as their most successful sport, along with their football program.

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.

Reitz Memorial High School

Named after former mayor Benjamin Bosse, Bosse High School was constructed in 1922 to serve the Lincolnshire Historical District area of Evansville. This high school is still operational and is currently the place of education for 781 students and ranks in the top 20% lowest teacher to student ratio among public schools in Indiana, showing a smaller class size and more personal learning environment. Bosse has also made it a core priority to promote diversity among students, impressively ranking in the top 5% of public Indiana schools in diversity, and making it an emphasis of their school identity. Bosse High School also is home to the standard high school sports, like football, basketball, baseball, softball, soccer, and more, carrying the mascot name of the bulldogs, and is also the host of many school clubs like a spell club, chess club, and various other student organizations.The man whom the school was named after, Benjamin Bosse, also played a critical role, not only in this region of Evansville, but for the city as a whole. Benjamin Bosse had multiple careers throughout his life, including a successful political career, as well as a prosperous businessman. Eventually, his business endeavors resulted in his involvement of over 65 Evansville businesses, being either president or investor in these local businesses. Among other accomplishments, Benjamin Bosse was a figurehead for the development of Evansville and its infrastructure, leading the city to gain over 450 acres of parkland and the city investment and construction of a highway that runs north and south through the city. The life of Benjamin Bosse was one that earned the respect of many, reaching far beyond the Evansville city limits, as he was widely praised as one of the best and most important public servants of his time in the state. Beyond recognizing his efforts for the betterment of his community, his resilience and personality was recognized in newspapers as far as Indianapolis, publishing an editorial that outlined his life as an everyday, working citizen, that was passionate and driven enough to eventually become a successful businessman and eventual mayor of the city that gave him the opportunity to flourish, Evansville. Benjamin Bosse eventually passed away in 1922, the same year that Bosse High School was constructed and subsequently named after the former mayor.In 1939, 17 years after the school had opened, there was a very unique problem that Bosse High School had encountered. The issue at hand was five fires that had been ignited in the school over the span of two months. These fires caused hundreds of dollars in damage at the time, now equivalent to several thousands of dollars of repairs, with the primary cost being the burning of the curtain in the school's auditorium. The culprit of these fires remained a mystery for about 2 months, and on June 2, 1939 the cartoonist Karl Kae Knecht made a drawing depicting the Bosse "pyromaniac", and the next day an article published in the Evansville Courier announced that the student who lit these fires had confessed to the police his wrongdoings. The student was 15 years old and a freshman at the high school, and when asked why he lit the fires he simply explained that he "likes excitement" and enjoyed watching the fire trucks responding to the fire. Eventually, the student was given a trial and sent to a juvenile corrections institution and the fires ceased thereafter.Bosse High School holds a very interesting, and occasionally flammable history, but nonetheless, has served this region of Evansville for over 100 years and will continue to do so in the foreseeable future.

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.

Bosse High School

This grade school has gone through multiple changes in both construction and in name, starting as Campbell Street School, then later known as just Campbell School before being renamed Culver School after former principal John M. Culver. When the school was first built, it was three stories tall and featured a large tower. Before improvements were made in the construction of the school, however, there was a major setback to the operation of the school. On April 11, 1905, the school was struck by lightning and burned down, forcing all 490 of its students to go to another school. The destruction of the school was valued at damages of $35,000 at the time, well over one million dollars in damages in today's currency. The school was rebuilt after the fire and still stood at three stories tall, but now with no tower. As time went on, the school was expanded slightly in the 1920's and 50's, adding a gym and more general facilities.In 1936 the school went through another, less destructive, change when the name was changed to Culver School, as previously mentioned. The man the school was named after was John M. Culver, who taught at the grade school for 34 years and retired at the age of 76 in the same year as the renaming. As shown by just how long Culver was committed to teaching at this school, it was of extreme importance to him and he even was at risk of losing his position of principal just a few years before his retirement. In 1931, John M. Culver was forced to retire by the Evansville School Board when they implemented a new rule that required retirement at the age of 70 years old. Culver fought hard against this seemingly targeted rule change, claiming that he was protected by Teachers' Tenure Law, and taking this case to court. Eventually, Culver's case was decided in his favor, allowing him to return to his role of principal at the grade school for the next 5 years when he retired on his own terms. It is clear why the school was named after him following retirement, dedicating almost half of his life to the education of the students that attended here and fighting a legal battle at the age of 70 to serve this school longer shows the meaning this school held to him.As time went on, Evansville began closing old schools, and Culver School was on this list of schools to be shut down. In 1978 however, the community surrounding Culver School defended its place in Evansville. The city was met with a list of reasons the school should remain, citing the positive impact it had on the community, and the importance it held geographically, as the students would then have to be bused to other schools, which caused even more issues in the eyes of Culver School's supporters. Seeing all of the support the school had from the community and representatives, the city decided not to tear down the school, allowing it to remain until 1982. In 1982, the new school building was constructed and the old one demolished, leading to the Culver Family Learning Center that stands today.

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.

Evansville Indiana Historic Schools

Old Daniel Wertz School

Introduction

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Backstory and Context

Sources

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