A Brief History of Hellertown's Reinhard School

Tilghman S. Eisenhart (1824-1895) was the first child born to Benjamin Eisenhart and Catherine Seiple. The Eisenhart family moved to Spring Valley in the 1840s, after purchasing a large farm from the Apple family. Tilghman married his neighbor, Cecelia Gangawere, in 1857. He worked as a mining agent for the Bahl-Gangewere Mine, which was one of the largest iron ore mines in Lower Saucon Township. The mine was the first of what would later become the Bethlehem Steel Company. The mine was located on property that was part of the Bahl and Gangewere family farms.

Tilghman generously donated a lot along Northampton Street to the Hellertown School Board to build a schoolhouse. At the time, Eisenhart and J.S. Hess owned all the property along Northampton Street. Two years before the borough was incorporated, in 1870, a two-room brick school was built on the site of the current Reinhard School. The school served grades 1-12 until the high school program was moved to a schoolhouse at the corner of Pine and Main streets in 1896. 

Alvin Joslin Reinhard (1866-?), who was principal of the Hellertown schools in 1908, was unable to convince the Hellertown School Board that the school buildings needed immediate improvements. The board chose to ignore Reinhard's requests even after reading state inspector C.R. Kock 's report that found school buildings in Hellertown to be in deplorable condition. The school district was in danger of losing future state funds. At the risk of losing his job, Reinhard sent letters to people throughout the state, soliciting financial help for the schools of Hellertown. When the citizens of Hellertown learned of the situation they exerted pressure on the school board to build new schools.

In 1910, two new schools were built: a high school on Main Street and a new school that replaced the old schoolhouse on Northampton Street. This second school was named after Alvin Joslin Reinhard in 1930. The school was designed by A.W. Leh, a noted architect of local schools, churches and businesses. It originally was a 2-story brick school with a slate roof. It had four entrances, four classrooms, a laboratory, library, assembly room, director's office and indoor lavatories. Typical of architect Leh, the front entrance had a 3-story tower and grand arch. This building is the heart of the Reinhard School today. Four classrooms were added in 1952 and expanded again in 1960.

Reinhard was last used as a public school in the spring of 1999. In 2003, the Saucon Valley School Board voted to transfer ownership of the school to the Borough of Hellertown for one dollar, with the stipulation that it be used for public purposes. That same year the Hellertown Police Department moved their evidence room to Reinhard, which was occupied by Second Chance Academy for a time. As of March of this year, Hellertown Borough Council voted to demolish the building early this summer. The borough has no plans for the property.