Augusta (population 600) is located on Illinois Route 61 at the intersection of Illinois Route 101 in western Illinois.  The town sits in the far southeastern corner of Hancock County.  A larger town of note is Quincy, approximately 35 miles southwest of Augusta. A branch of the Williams Creek runs through the south side of town and the At & St Railroad has tracks running through the center of town. 

 

Augusta's residents enjoyed their own high school until a consolidation effort took place in 1970.  That year Augusta consolidated with nearby Bowen High School to form the Southeastern School District.  The Plymouth School District joined Southeastern later and now the three towns enjoy the success of their joint school district.  The High School is located in Augusta in the original high school building.

 

The following description of the Augusta High School campus is offered by Robert Stienbarger:

 

"The original Augusta High School is located on North Center Street in Augusta and opened in 1857.  This original school building is currently used by the Lions Club for meetings and activities. The grounds are a city park. In 1919 the school board voted to construct a new high school on what was then known as "Catlin Hill".  Joel Catlin, the founder of Augusta, built his home atop this hill, and hence the name of Catlin Hill. The new school building opened in 1921.  The building and wooded hill make for a beautiful high school campus.  The school was known as Augusta High School until the 1970 consolidation with Bowen and later Plymouth to form the Southeastern School District.  Southeastern High has always been located at this former Augusta High School's beautiful campus.  The Southeastern Grade School is located in Bowen and the lower grade school now in Plymouth."

 

For a view of a photo of the original Augusta High School building check out the Roots Web address of http://www.rootsweb.com/~ilhancoc/postcard/augustahighschool1909.html - sent to us by Roberta Mc Kiski.

 

The Augusta High School building met a sad fate in March of 2006.  Check out this newspaper article supplied to us by Bev Chenault:

http://www.whig.com/285545776888526.php  

 

 

Year school opened:  1921

Year school closed:   1970

Consolidated to:         Southeastern School District

School yearbook:       "The Hilltopper"

Team nickname:        the "Redskins"

School colors:           Red & White

School building:         Now home of Southeastern High School 

School Fight Song:    "Augusta Loyalty"

                                 (Words Provided by Carolyn van Horn Sill class of '57)