The History of Lacon High School
The city of Lacon (population 1,979) is located along the banks of the Illinois River at the intersection
of IL Routes 17 & 29. This places Lacon in the middle of Marshall County, about 25 miles north and a little
east of Peoria. The Lacon/Marshall County Airport is located on the southeast side of town.
This history of the town itself was provided by Kev Varney:
Lacon was the first town to be laid out in what is now Marshall County (named after the former
chief justice of the Supreme Court from 1801-1835, John Marshall) while it was still part of Putnam County in 1831. The town's
original name was Columbia, but changed to Lacon five years later when it was discovered that there was another Columbia in
Illinois. The name "Lacon" came from a philosophical writing of the same name by Rec. C.C. Colton. Marshall County was created
in 1839 and Lacon was chosen as the county seat on April 6th of that year. The county's population grew quickly, going from
1,849 in 1840 to 5,180 in 1850, and caused Marshall County to be divided into townships.
Lacon's educational history goes back to 1837 when a school was established. The first high school
for Lacon came in 1857, and served the community until after World War Two when the district merged with the Varna school
district (also listed on this website) to form Mid-County.
Here’s a link to a picture of the former Lacon Union High School:
http://www.genealogytrails.com/ill/marshall/LaconPhotos/Laconphoto2.html
Lacon has had many decades of solid education offered to its children. The high school was technically
named the Lacon Union High School. An addition was made to the school building in the 1940's and the school was renamed Lacon
Community High School. In 1949, Lacon and nearby Varna began consolidation talks. There was a major statewide consolidation
effort at the time which saw many schools merge at the time. The two towns came to an agreement and merged their schools to
create the Mid-County School system. The high school was located in Varna and a grade school was located in Lacon, where
it still operates today.
Lacon High School Quick Facts
Year opened:
1902
Year closed:
1949
Consolidated to: Mid-County
School District (Varna)
School nickname: unavailable
School colors:
unavailable
School Fight Song: unavailable
