The History of Batchtown High School
Batchtown (population 218) is located in southeastern
Illinois in the south central portion of Calhoun County. County Highway 6 (aka Batchtown Road) and the Mississippi River Road
lead you to and from Batchtown. The mighty Misissippi RIver flows just to the west of town, while the Illinois River flows
about a mile or so to the east. Batchtown is located about 25 miles west, and a little south, of Jerseyville. A brief history
of the town is found at the Great River Road web address of http://www.greatriverroad.com/Cities/Batchtown/batchtownCover.htm. It states the following:
"The village was originally named Richwoods, then Sam White's, before
becoming Batchelderville, in honor of William Batchelder, a justice of the peace, merchant, and mill operator.
When the post office was established in 1879, the town's name was changed to Batchtown.
A history of the former schools located in Calhoun County was found at the
Rootsweb address of http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~ilcalhou/Education/ruralschools.pdf . A brief summary of this article states that Batchtown started a 2-year
high school in the early 1920s. Batchtown High School continued to function until the Calhoun School DIstrict was formed for
the 1951-52 school year. At this time Batchtown High School students were then bused to the new school's location near Hardin
to complete their high school requirements. Batchtown supported a grade school through at least 1967.
It is possible, according to Kermit Bell as relayed by
Mark Heffington, likely had the first tennis court of any school in Calhoun County. The teacher got some
of the boys out on a flat spot near the school and the shaved the grass down real low, used hoes to scratch out the boundary
lines, and strung a fish net up to play tennis.
This page was made possible through the excellent research once again by
Roberta VanBriesen!!
Batchtown High School Quick Facts
Year Opened: early
1920s (2-year HS)
Year Closed: 1951
Consolidated to: Hardin Calhoun High
School
Team Nickname: unavailable
Team Colors:
unavailable
School Fight Song: unavailable
