This school, part of the University Place School System, was annexed in 1927. It was named for James Whitcomb Riley (1849-1910), a popular American poet.
Following are excerpts from ‘Riley History’ by Nicole Ann Hessheimer, Riley Class of 1999
The first school building was built in 1892. It was a white frame building that had two rooms and held only about 100 students. At the time, Riley was called Ward 3, and this area of Lincoln was its own town called University Place. The school was called Ward 3 until 1913 when a second and larger building, called Riley, was built on the same property. The smaller structure was then used as an annex. In 1927, Riley became part of Lincoln Public Schools, or LPS.
In 1964 the new Riley Elementary School was built. Total construction costs were $524,532.00 At that time, the school offered grades Kindergarten through 6th. The building could hold 600 students and in September of 1965, the enrollment was 533.
On Tuesday, March 10, 1964, smoke was reported being seen coming from the annex. The custodian checked the building and found fire had broken out in the temporary building. Fortunately, the children that used the annex for classes had been dismissed for lunch only a few minutes before. All the materials, band instruments and clothing had been damaged or destroyed but the students were not injured. After the fire, the children who used the annex were bussed to Hawthorne Elementary until the school year was completed.
In January 2001, the old Riley school (c. 1917) was demolished to make way for new homes. Riley students enjoyed watching the fascinating process of the old school being torn down.
