W.S. Rea School was named for William S. Rea, a prominent wholesale grocer in Terre Haute, Indiana. Rea also bequeathed the money that was used by city to create Rea Park.
The school opened in 1906 at the NW corner of 4th Ave. and 4th St. The school was closed in 1979, and tragically, and in keeping with Terre Haute’s sick compulsion to tear down all of its architectural treasures, was razed in June, 1980. Nothing has been built on the land to take its place. Hopefully, nothing will be on the school’s gravesite.
The school was replaced with Ouabache Elementary,which is farther north, on Maple Ave.
My Rea comments here.
