Fairbury High School "Tartars"
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Fairbury High School
fairburyhsdav.jpg
Fairbury, Illinois

                                    The History of Fairbury High School
 
Fairbury (population 3,968) is located in east-central Illiinois. The city is located on U.S. Route 24, about 4 miles west of Illinois Route 47 in the southeastern portion of Livingston County. Fairbury is located about 30 miles on a straight line northeast of Bloomington. The Toledo, Peoria, & Western Railroad runs through town, while the Indian Creek flows to the south and east. Fairbury was established in 1857 by Octave Chanute.   
 
The history of education in Fairbury is long and storied, and will quite likely be succeeding for many more years. It is believed that the Fairbury school system was established in 1835 when a school was opened in Indian Grove Township and later in the village in 1860. That site would also be the same for another school building, Izaak Walton School, which would later become Fairbury High School.
 
The high school was established in 1880 at a cost of $20,000. Land was donated for a new building in 1913 by Ella Beach Lewis, who was the daughter of Dr. Lorenzo Beach. The Beach family received a land grant in October 1854 for his services in Seminole Indian War, and the land was in their family for more than a century. 
 
Followed a 1914 vote that approved a $60,000 bond to build a new school, the school was erected. The voters approved a $350,000 expansion in 1949 (at which time a community school district was approved), and another $250,000 expansion for a 2,400 seat gymnasium in 1951. During this time, Ella Beach Lewis' daughter, Alma Lewis James, donated land for the athletic fields that bear the family's name (Lewis Field) in 1948, and an additional 10 acres was sold to the school board in 1955. 
 
Fairbury High School stood on its own for about six decades. It was in 1951 that Fairbury High School joined forces with a neighbor to the south, Cropsey High School (also on this site), to form the Fairbury-Cropsey school district. This arrangement lasted for 34 years until 1985 when a new school district was formed to welcome in other high schools in the consolidation effort. In 1985, the Prairie Central School District was formed, officially ending the Fairbury-Cropsey School District.
 
It is thought the original Fairbury High School building was destroyed in favor of a new building for the bigger Prairie Central consolidation effort. Fairbury is still home to the Prairie Central School District, hosting the high school and a grammar school in town. 
 
Fairbury High School Quick Facts  
 
Year Fairbury HS opened:                    1880
Year Fairbury HS closed:                      1951
Consolidated to:                                     Fairbury-Cropsey High School
Fairbury HS nickname:                         "Tartars"
Fairbury HS colors:                                Green & Gold
Fairbury HS Fight Song:                        unavailable

Old Fairbury High School & Izaak Walton School
oldfairbury.jpg
1895-1965--Bell weighed 1,200 pounds

Athletics
 
Fairbury High School faired quite well in the boys sports of basketball, baseball, and track & field. Fairbury High was one of the charter members of the Mid State Conference, which was established in 1949. Fairbury student Margaret Cummins, was given credit for submitting the name for the new conference. 
 
After it's consolidation with Cropsey, Fairbury-Cropsey won the Mid-State Conference's sportsmanship award in the 1956-57 school year. The individual accomplishments and best seasons of the kids of Fairbury High as could be researched on the IHSA web site (www.ihsa.org) are listed below.  A blog site also serves as an historical reminder of Fairbury's athletic history, courtesy of Jim Munz (www.rememberthetartars.blogspot.com).
 
Boys Baseball 
 
The Fairbury boys baseball team won a total of three District titles. Included was one excellent season in 1939-40 which resulted in a trip to the state playoffs. This was the first state playoffs in Baseball for Illinois! The team record and coach's name of this team is listed. Unfortunately, the team record and coach's names of the other two District titlists are not listed.
 
1936-37               First Season of Baseball                    Coach's name needed
1937-38    8- 1                                                                   Coach unknown
1939-40  18- 2    District Champions                           Coach Burdell Smith
                                Qualified for State Tournament
1941-42                District Champions
1942-43                District Champions
1950-51    6- 3     Mid-State Conf. Champions (6-0)  Coach Bob Hainline
               
Boys Basketball 
 
The Fairbury High School boys had some excellent success on the hardwood as well. The team won two District titles and three Regional titles and also put together a string of four nice seasons before the school was joined by Cropsey. The information as listed on the IHSA web site is listed below, and we invite anyone who has more details about these and other early Tartar teams to contact us.
 
1920-21                IHSA District Champions                Coach Ned Whitesell
                             District Scores Needed
                             IHSA State Tourney - Preliminary Round
                             Lost to Collinsville 21-15
                             Collinsville lost to Batavia in Elite 8 Round
 
1921-22                Fairbury District Tournament             Coach Ned Whitesell
                             1st Rd Beat Paxson 27-9
                             2nd Rd Beat Saunemin 46-19
                             Semi-final lost to Pontiac 27-24
                             Pontiac lost to Forrest in title game
                             Forrest lost to Galesburg in Sectional
 
1922-23        Postseason scores and record needed.    Coach Ned Whitesell 

1923-24                Livingston Co. Tourney Champs       Coach Ned Whitesell
                     Postseason scores and record needed. 

1924-25  Postseason scores, record, and coach's name needed.
1925-26
1926-27
1927-28
1928-29
1929-30   
  
1930-31                Livingston Co. Tourney Champs       Coach's name & record needed
                             Postseason scores needed  
    
1931-32                IHSA District Champions                Coach's name & record needed
                             District Scores Needed
                             Danville Sectional Runner-Up
                             1st Rd Beat Bradley 30-20
                             Semi-final Beat Fairmount 31-15
                             Title game lost to Rantoul 15-14
                             Rantoul lost to Lawrenceville in Elite 8 game
RANTOUL (15): McCulloch 7, Rasmussen 4, Willard 2, Zander 2.
FAIRBURY (14): Hartman 5, King 4, Henderson 3, Bedell 2.
 
1932-33                Dwight District Tournament               Coach's name & record needed
                             1st Rd Beat Forrest 48-12
                             2nd Rd beat Flanagan 41-23
                             Semi-final lost to Pontiac 35-20
                             Pontiac beat Morris in title game
 
1933-34                Dwight District Tournament               Coach's name & record needed
                             1st Rd Beat Saunemin 45-14
                             2nd Rd Beat Cornell 23-19
                             Semi-final lost to Mazon 26-23
                             Mazon lost to Dwight in title game
 
1934-35                Dwight District Tournament               Coach's name & record needed
                             1st Rd Won - Score needed
                             2nd Rd Beat Reddick 29-26
                             Semi-final lost to Gardner 19-15
                             Gardner beat Cullom in title game
                             
1935-36                Gibson City Regional Tournament    Coach's name & record needed
                             1st Rd Beat Thawville 35-18
                             Semi-final lost to Paxton 24-20
                             Paxton beat Strawn in title game
 
1936-37                Dwight Regional Runner-Up           Coach's name & record needed
                             1st Rd Beat Gardner 36-24
                             Semi-final Beat Kempton 37-25
                             Title game lost to Dwight 31-20               
    
1937-38                Chenoa Regional Champions         Coach's name & record needed
                             Early Round Scores Needed
                             Title Game Beat Normal U-High 30-28
                             Pontiac Sectional Tournament
                             1st Rd lost to Toluca 42-29
                             Toluca lost to Braidwood in semi-final
                             Braidwood beat Streator in title game
 
1938-39                Chenoa Regional Tournament           Coach's name & record needed
                             1st Rd Beat Gridley 19-13
                             Semi-final lost to Bloomington 24-22
                             Bloomington beat Normal U-High in title game
                             Bloomington lost in Sectional
 
1939-40                Chenoa Regional Runner-Up          Coach's name & record needed
                             Early Round Scores Needed 
                             Title game lost to Normal  35-27
                             Normal lost in Sectional
 
1940-41  Postseason scores, records, and coach's name needed.
  
1941-42                Chenoa Regional Tournament           Coach's name & record needed
                             1st Rd Beat Forrest 36-22
                             Semi-final lost to Normal U-High 31-29
                             Normal U-High lost to Normal HS in title game
   
1942-43                Lexington Regional Tournament        Coach's name & record needed
                             1st Rd Beat Lexington 46-24
                             Semi-final lost to Normal32-24
                             Normal beat Gridley in title game               
   
1943-44                Chenoa Regional Champions          Coach's name & record needed
                             1st Rd Beat Gridley 33-26
                             Semi-final Beat Normal U-High 39-33
                             Title Game Beat Bloomington Trinity 32-21
                             Ottawa Sectional Tournament
                             Semi-final lost to Marseilles 33-30
MARSEILLES (33): R. Coates 15, D. Coates 6, Seaborn 6, Gage 4, Smith 2.
FAIRBURY (30): Wilkin 12, Beckley 9, Dameron 5, Haase 3, Woodward 1.
                             Marseilles beat Peru St. Bede in title game
                             Marseilles lost to Anna-Jonesboro in Sweet 16 Rd.
    
1944-45   26-  5   Corn Belt Conference Co-Champs   Coach's name & record needed
                            Ranked as high as 13th in State during season
                            Bob Ziegenhorn, Dale Dameron, Sam Runyon,
                            Ralph Knopp and Bill Wilken were the starting five.
                            Lexington Regional Tournament 
                            1st Rd Beat Chenoa 51-20
                            Semi-final lost to Gridley 38-37
                            (Gridley hit half court shot at the buzzer for the upset)
                            Normal U-High beat Gridley in title game
  
1945-46               Chenoa Regional Tournament             Coach's name & record needed
                             1st Rd lost to Normal HS 53-32
                             Normal lost to Normal U-High in title game
 
1946-47                Lexington Regional Tournament          Coach's name & record needed
                             1st Rd lost to Chenoa 55-35
                             Chenoa beat Normal U-High in title game
 
1947-48                Chenoa Regional Tournament             Coach's name & record needed
                             1st Rd lost to Chenoa 73-55
                             Chenoa lost to Normal in title game
  
1948-49                Lexington Regional Tournament          Coach's name & record needed
                             1st Rd lost to Normal 48-31
                             Chenoa beat Normal in title game
 
1949-50                Lexington Regional Tournament          Coach's name & record needed
                             1st Rd lost to Normal U-High 70-41
                             Normal U-High lost to Lexington in title game

1950-51   16-11    Fairbury Regional Tournament            Coach Bob Hainline
                             1st Rd lost to Normal 75-41
                             Lexington beat Normal in title game
 
Boys Track & Field
 
The Fairbury boys could run, jump, and throw as well. The FHS thinclads won one District Championship and brought home six individual medals from the State Track Meet! 
 
1904-05     James B. Walker          Shot Put                             3rd Place
                                                              Standing Broad Jump     2nd Place
1905-06     Harlen B. Bedell             Hammer Throw               3rd Place
1925-26     Dean Carter                    1 Mile Run                         5th Place
1930-31     J. Clifford Henderson   220 Yard Hurdles            2nd Place
1931-32     J. Clifford Henderson   120 Yard Hurdles            5th Place  
1931-32     Team Won District Championship
 
Football
 
The Faibury High School Tartars won one conference championship before merging with Cropsey. In its final season, the 1950 team was perfect at 9-0 to take the Mid-State Conference title. While it was a member of the Mid-State as either Fairbury or Fairbury-Cropsey, the Tartars sported a conference record of 40-12-2 (.769 winning percentage) from 1949-56!! The better FHS seasons are listed below.
 
1950-51    9-0       Mid-State Conf. Champs (6-0)       Coach Bob Hainline
 
MEMORIES
 
from Tom Carter:
 
"Your basketball records for the 1944-45 Fairbury Township high school Tartars is missing from your records. That team compiled the best record in school history, 26 wins, 5 losses. At one point in the season the team was ranked 13th in the state of Illinois by the Associated Press, which at that time included Chicago schools in the rankings.
 
"The team tied for first place in the Corn Belt Conference with a 10-2 record. Disaster overtook the team in the regional tournament when they lost 38-37 to Gridley on a last-second shot from center court.

"Bob Ziegenhorn, Dale Dameron, Sam Runyon, Ralph Knopp and Bill Wilken were the starting five. All the above taken from the 1945 school yearbook, The Crier. The figures there-in were supplied by me as kept through the season."
 
Need More Information
 
If you have ANY further information to offer regarding the many accomplishments and achievements made by the students and townspeople of Fairbury and its original High School, please share it with us. School fight song as well as other non-athletic related items are being sought. Photos of teams and prominent individuals tied to Fairbury High's history would especially be welcome. These items can be e-mailed to us at dr.veeman@gmail.com or real-mailed to us at:
 
Illinois HS Glory Days
6439 N. Neva
Chicago,  Il.  60631