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The History of West Mendota High School
Mendota, Illinois (population 7,272) is located 15 miles north of LaSalle-Peru and 30 miles
south of Rochelle along Illinois Route 251 (old Route 51) in northwest LaSalle County in North Central Illinois. U.S. Routes
34 and 52, Interstate 39 and Illinois Route 92 also take you to Mendota, as well as the BNSF railway.
Mendota was served by two school districts by the turn of the century, just Dixon (see North Dixon), Belvidere, and Batavia were (see East and West Batavia). The dividing line was the railroad tracks, which ran north-south. the East Mendota school district was located on the east
side of the tracks.
The school district began in 1867. The school offered a three-year high school course beginning in 1892.
In 1906, a fourth year of high school was added.
Before 1910, talks began concerning consolidation of the East school and the West school. The effort became
a reality in 1910 when the two schools merged together. The West school retained the school district and the current Mendota
High School's records can claim the west school's history. |
