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.

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 

Engelhardt, Gordon. Reitz’s 1961 football team was “untouchable,” November 23, 2011. https://archive.courierpress.com/news/reitzs-1961-football-team-was-untouchable-ep-444890291-327456291.html/.  

Engler, Joe. “almanacSPORTS.” Almanacsports.com - football - evansville reitz high school football history. Accessed November 1, 2023. https://almanacsports.com/football/history.php?team=REI.  

Evansville Vanderburgh Public Library. Accessed November 1, 2023. https://digital.evpl.org/.  

“Historic Evansville.” Historic Evansville - Reitz High School. Accessed November 1, 2023. https://www.historicevansville.com/site.php?id=reitz.