At the time of the Tower City & Porter Township Centennial, 1968, this building in Reinerton, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, was the oldest existing school building. It was built in 1871.
The following is a history of the erection of school buildings in Tower City and Porter Township:
In the period beginning with the opening of East and West Brookside Collieries in 1868, a number of one and two-room school buildings were erected:
1869 – SEIBERT’S SCHOOL. A two-room frame building about three-fourths of a mile south of Tower City on the road to Clark’s Valley from Tenth Street in Tower City on land now [1968] owned by the Watkins estate.
1869 – SCHWALM’S SCHOOL. A one-story frame one-room building about one-half mile south of Muir on the northeast corner of the intersection of roads leading to Fairview Cemetery and the road to the Forks. This building was wrecked by a windstorm in 1880.
1869 – TOWER CITY. A one-room brick building on the north side of Grand Avenue on the lot east of the Lutheran Church. A one-room frame addition was built to the rear in about 1897. The building was razed in 1922 for the construction of the Tower City High School. Frank P. Henry was the earliest teacher in this building, and taught in Tower City and Porter Township until 1922, when he retired after 52 years of continuous teaching in the district.
1871 – SHERIDAN. A frame building erected on the north side of Grand Avenue. This building was razed and the present [1968] former school building was erected in its place.
1871 – REINERTON. A small brick building on the southwest corner of Yohe Street and Wiconisco Avenue. It still stands [1968], and is used occasionally as a community building.
1871 – ORWIN. A two-room building on the east side of the present [1968] Reformed Church. This building was razed and the land is now used by the church. The first teachers in these buildings were Henry Billick, Edward Fortman, Frank P. Henry, Philip H. Updegrave, J. M. Weidle, and Tobias Bender.
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Photo and text from the Souvenir Book for the Centennial of Tower City and Porter Township, 1868-1978.
Corrections and additional information should be added as comments to this post.