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| Allerton High School |
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| Courtesy of Bob Hageman |
| Allerton High School - Burned Down in 1919 |
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| Submitted by Don Archer |
The History of Allerton High School
Allerton (population 293) is located in east-central Illlinois in the far southwestern corner of Vermilion
County. A portion of the town is also located in southeastern Champaign County placing Allerton about 20 miles
southeast of Champaign/Urbana. Illinois Route 49 is the main roadway leading you to and from town and intersects
with County E 300 North at Allerton. The Goodall Branch flows to the east of town and the Missourri Pacific Railroad
(formerly the C & E I(Central and Eastern Illinois) layed tracks through Allerton. This railroad however no
longer exists as the tracks have been removed.
A history of the Allerton school system was provided to us by Glenn Archer (see track
& field accomplishments below). Glenn found the history in a 1941 yearbook from Allerton High School.
It is copied word for word below:
Allerton Community High School
A
Brief History
"The growth of a high school or any school may be licensed to the growth of a home. As the family
increases in numbers, as the horizon broadens, new rooms may be added to accommodate that growth."
"We would like to trace briefly the growth of our house, and, much more important, the growth of
the group within. But to understand fully the history of this school we must understand something of the careers of
the schools which served this community."
"The first school was opened in Allerton September 2d, 1892, in a small frame school house that had
been moved from one mile north of town, with Chas. Smeeton, Sr. as teacher. Meanwhile movement was started by which we were
granted a new district, by two of the Trustees, viz, Taylor Gerlaugh and J.J. Southworth."
"This district was formed out of territory from four districts, and comprised eight sections of land.
The Board of Directors for the new district was J.H. Herron, Geo. Allen, Sr., and Joseph Warters."
"S.W. Allerton, of Chicago, donated twenty-five hundred dollars toward the erection of a five-thousand
dollar building. A meeting was held, and bonds to the amount of three thousand dollars were issued and sold to Dr. E.L.
Hardman for the building and furnishing of said school building."
"The new district had much opposition, and after the decision of the County Superintendents of both Champaign
and Vermilion Counties had been sanctioned by the Circuit Court of Champaign County, the parties in opposition carried the
suit to the Supreme Court, where the decision was rendered in favor of the new district. Meanwhile Architect Ennis of
Danville, had drawn plans for a four-roomed building, with all the necessary halls and cloak rooms. A substantial
brick building took the place of the old frame one."
"The year of 1894 found the new building, housing the grade and two year high school, opened with Chas.
Smeeten principal, and Miss Emma Mozier, of Danville, primary teacher, Miss Myra Mendenhall, of Vermilion Grove, E.J.
Vines, Margretta Parks, and Minnie Shaw were among the first teachers of the new building. This school was the abode of
the ambitious and industrious seeking to better to equip themselves for the future. This remained the seat of learning
of the community until it was destroyed by fire December 27, 1921."
"The present four year, accredited, Community High School was then built. It was completed and ready
for use by September, 1923."
"In this exceedingly well equipped house of ours, the Allerton School, boards with the financial support of
the community has provided us with as well trained a set of foster parents as it can procure."
"It remains for us, the student body, for whom all this has been done, to justify the vast expenditure
of time, money, and energy, that has gone into the making of ALLERTON COMMUNITY HIGH SCHOOL."
| Allerton High School Memorial |
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| Photo from Infinity Farms Website |
As stated above, a brick Allerton School building was built in 1923. In the mid-1950s
a consolidation effort was launched between the towns of Allerton, Broadlands, and Longview. In 1953 it was decided to consolidate the school districts. The new district was named the A-B-L School District with the high school located in Broadlands.
The above photo of the Allerton High School building was sent to us by Bob Hageman. It
is actually the front of a postcard sent by Bob's great aunt, Ada Runyon of Allerton, to her sister,
Dewey Runyon of Danville. The back of the post card explained that Ada would be attending
the first home game in Allerton's new gymnasium and would not make it to Danville until the next morning, on a Saturday. The
year of the postcard is illegible, however the card and writing are a treasure. You can view the back of the
post card at the bottom of this page. Thank you to Bob Hageman for sharing it with us!
The Allerton school building was used as a grade school for the A-B-L District until 1975. It was decided by the District to close the Allerton school after that school year. The building
was demolished in 1977."(Thank you to Sherry (Smith) Kamphaus for the
history of the Allerton school building.)
Further information was provided by Sally Duchow:
"The centennial history states that the old HS building burned Dec. 27, 1921 (story quoted from the _Allerton
Sun_ newspaper). After the fire, the high school students were taught in the opera house above Black's
store. The new building, built in 1922 (pictured above), opened with a four-year high school in September 1923.
The
first HS graduate was Hattie Black Goodall in 1898. An 1899 clipping from the _Allerton Times_ documents
a baseball team and notes an enrollment in the HS of 37. Teachers, school board members, and other details are listed
in this history.
Samuel Allerton (1828-1914), who platted the village, made his fortune in
Chicago after 1860 in agricultural investments, livestock markets, and banking. He founded First National Bank of Chicago
in 1863 and owned Allerton Packing Co. in Chicago. Allerton purchased a 4,400 acre tract of land in
1880 from the Singer Sewing Machine founder J.G. Clark. He had previously visited the area when
duck hunting with friends from Chicago. The Allertons also had substantial land holdings and made their
home in the Monticello IL area.
| Allerton High School Graduation - 1940s |
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| Courtesy of Sally Duchow |
After the building was not longer in use, my father Ernst Mohr purchased it so that it
would not be mis-used and linger in a deteriorated state. He platted the school ground for an addition to the town.
Nine homes built from ca. 1980 occupy the former school grounds. He also arranged for the tympanum to be built into
a brick arch on the grounds as a historical remembrance. Usable materials salvaged from the school building include
chalk boards, light fixtures, and the kitchen cupboard doors. The original schoolhouse cornerstone was placed in the
Allerton Historical Society museum. The town's centennial history, "A Century of Roots: Allerton, Illinois 1887-1987,"
has school history and many photographs on pp. 53-60 (photocopies can be obtained through interlibrary loan--ask at your local
library)."
Allerton High School Quick Facts
Year opened: late
1800s
First graduate:
1898
Year brick building built: 1923
Year HS closed: 1953
Allerton HS team nickname: the "Bulldogs"
Team colors: Red
& White
School Fight Song: unavailable
| Allerton High School Building |
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| Courtesy of John Cobb |
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Athletics
Allerton High School offered boys basketball and track for sure. We believe baseball was also offered. We
are in need of the school team fight song, coach's names, seasonal records, and conference championships won.
| Allerton High School District Champs - 1940s |
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| Submitted by Sally Duchow |
Boys Basketball
The boys basketball program of Allerton High had a nice run from the late 1930s to the early 1950s. During
this time period a total of FIVE District titloes were won by the Allerton hardwood court teams. Unfortunately
the team records and coach's names of these and other great AHS teams are not currently available. Scores from the website
titled "Illinois Postseason Basketball Scores" are listed below as well.
1933-34 Westville District Tournament Coach's
name & record needed
1st
Rd lost to Georgetown 32-13
Georgetown
beat Catlin in title game
1934-35 Westville District Tournament Coach's
name & record needed
1st
Rd Beat Scottland 33-26
2nd Rd lost to Catlin 32-16
Danville beat Sydney in title game
1935-36 Westville Regional Tournament Coach's
name & record needed
1st
Rd lost to Catlin 33-23
Danville
beat Catlin in title game
1936-37 Westville Regional Runner-Up
Coach's name & record needed
1st
Rd Beat Sidell 27-24
Semi-final Beat Danville 32-28
Title
Game lost to Catlin 37-18
1937-38 Sidell District Champions
Coach's name & record needed
Early
Rd Scores Needed
Title Game Beat Sidell 27-26
IHSA Regional Qualifier
Regional Score Needed
1938-39 Postseason scores, record, and coach's name needed.
1939-40 Postseason scores, record, and coach's name needed.
1940-41 Sidell District Tournament Coach's
name & record needed
1st
Rd Beat Fairmount 49-40
Semi-final lost to Hume 44-37
Hume lost to Indianola in title game
1941-42 Postseason scores, record, and coach's name needed.
1942-43 Hume District Champions Coach's
name & record needed
1st
Rd Beat Metcalf 43-30
Semi-final Beat Indianola 33-28
Title Game Beat Ogden 57-44
Westvoille Regional Runner-up
1st Rd Beat Westville 42-33
Semi-final Beat Ridge Farm 32-27
Title
Game lost to Danville 41-32
Danville lost in Sectional
1943-44 Sidell District Runner-Up Coach's
name & record needed
Early Rd Scores Needed
Title
Game lost to Indianola 26-25
1944-45 Sidell District Champions Coach's
name & record needed
1st
Rd Beat Fairmount 42-30
Semi-final Beat Sidell 25-24 (O/T)
Title Game Beat Ogden 58-25
Westvoille Regional Tourney
1st Rd Beat Oakwood 37-24
Semi-final lost to Westville 37-29
Westville lost to Danville in title game
Danville lost in Sectional
1945-46 Sidell District Champions
Coach's name & record needed
Early
Rd Scores Needed
Title Game Beat Fairmount 66-25
Danville Regional Qualifier
1st
Rd lost to Catlin 36-33
Danville
beat Catlin in title game
Danville lost in Sectional
1946-47 Sidell District Runner-Up
Coach's name & record needed
1st
Rd Beat Hume 60-31
Semi-final Beat Metcalf 33-30
Title
Game lost to Indianola 36-31
1947-48 Sidell District Runner-Up
Coach's name & record needed
Semi-final
Beat Metcalf 45-32
Title
Game lost to Hume 45-38
1948-49 Sidell District Tournament Coach's
name & record needed
1st
Rd Beat Metcalf 45-32
Semi-final lost to Indianola 52-34
Indianola beat Hume in title game
1949-50 Postseason scores, record, and coach's name needed.
1950-51 Hume District Champions Coach's
name & record needed
1st
Rd Beat Hume-Metcalf 76-72
Semi-final Beat Sidell
Title Game Beat Indianola 52-48
Westville Regional
1st Rd lost to Oakwood 53-48
Danville
beat Westville in Title Game
Danville lost in Sectional
1951-52 Metcalf District Runner-Up
Coach's name & record needed
1st
Rd Beat Ogden 81-50
Semi-final Beat Sidell 50-46
Title Game lost to Indianola 53-50
**Regarding one of Illinois' all-time leading scorers in high school basketball who played for Allerton High School from
1949 - 1952, Ken Martinie, from Joe Mulcahey:
| Allerton HS Basketball Team 1951-52 |
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| Courtesy of Merle & Earl Elston |
Front Row:
# 6 Earl Elston, #5 Merl Elston, #10 Glenn "Lefty" Rothmel, #13 Kenny Martini, #12 Roland Smith, #7 Terry McGargile,
Coach Watson
Back Row:
Charles Bostwick, Bob Chandler, Herbie Miller, Bill Courson, Keith Brown, John Morris & Bob Bailey
| Allerton HS Basketball Team 1951-52 Lockerroom |
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| Submitted by Merle & Earl Elston |
Row 1 - Bill Courson, Earl Elston, Herbie Miller, Keith Brown, John Morris
Row 2 - Bob Carlton, Glenn "Lefty" Rothmel, Merl Elston, Terry McGargile
Row 3 - Roland Smith, Kenny Martini, Gene Shunk
1952-53 Ridge Farm District Tournament Coach's
name & record needed
**1st
Rd lost to Metcalf Young America 71-55
Fairmount
beat SIdell in title game
**Final game for Allerton High School, merged with Broadlands and Longview in the summer of 1953 to form A-B-L High School.
Boys Track & Field
Two Allerton High School boys brought home medals from the IHSA State Track Meet. They earned the medals under
the old one-class system making their feat even more remarkable.
1938-39 Kenneth Brown DIscus
5TH Place
1939-40 Clarence Dunn 1 Mile Run 3RD Place
1941-42 Glenn Archer Pole Vault
6TH Place
1942-43 Glenn Archer Pole Vault
6TH Place
| Allerton Intrm Class of 1910 - Teacher Mary Hansen |
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| Provided by Don Archer |
Memories
From Don Archer:
"My father, Glenn Archer, and I built the brick structure that holds the tinpanum from the Allerton
High School featured on your web site (see above photo). My grandfather, Cecil Archer, helped build
the high school.
"The (photo to the right) is the 1910 Intermediated Class with Mary Hansen as the teacher.
I was born in 1944 and Mary Hansen lived to an old age and I remember her when I was a kid living
in Allerton in the 1950's. Also, the school mascot was the "Bulldog." I have some great aunts and uncles in the
picture of the class but do not know at this point exactly who they are."
| Allerton Grade School Christmas Pageant |
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| Submitted by Sally Duchow |
Seeking More Information
We are hopeful an Allerton High School fan will forward a photo of AHS building
to us. We are looking for any information to accent the information already on this page. There is NO information that
is too trivial for this site. You can e-mail us at ihsgdwebsite@comcast.net or you can write to us at:
Illinois HS Glory Days
6439 N. Neva St.
Chicago, Il. 60631
| Back of Post Card from Photo Above |
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| Courtesy of Bob Hageman |
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