Overview
From 1893 to 1938, a two-room schoolhouse served Riverview area children at Illinois and Riverview Streets. Riverview was planned as a manufacturing town south of Des Plaines, but it never became the industrial boomtown its planners envisioned. Des Plaines annexed Riverview in 1925. In 1938, a larger brick school at 1535 Everett Street replaced the 1893 schoolhouse.
During World War II, Douglas Aircraft operated a war production factory on the site of today’s O’Hare. Many Douglas employees and their families moved into duplexes in Riverview, which led enrollment to rapidly rise at Riverview School.
The Chicago Tribune reported on October 17, 1943 that Riverview School stood in the middle of a war housing project of 352 units and that most defense factory workers living in the duplex units had two or more children in attendance at the school.
This rise in enrollment led to the construction of an addition with five new classrooms in 1943, funded by a federal grant of $24,430.
In 1945, Riverview School was renamed South School. At the time, it was the southernmost elementary school in Des Plaines.
open since 1893
All of the historical information of the CCSD62 schools was generously provided by the Des Plaines History Center.
Go to their website below to learn more about Des Plaines history!
