The History of Keyesport High School
Keyesport (population 481) is located in south-central Illinois in the southeast corner of Bond County. The
town actually sits right on the Bond County/Clinton County border, with half of Keyesport located in each county.
The Carlyle Lake is a large body of water that Keyesport is located on and sits on the town's east site. The Burlington
Northern Railroad passes by the northeast side of town. County Highway 10 leads you to Keyesport from the north
while County Highway 1 / 2 leads you to Keyesport from the west.
According to www.rootsweb.com/~ilclint2/commer/keyes.htm the town of Keyesport was platted in 1846, and incorporated as a village in 1897. Its first
settler was Thomas I. Keyes. Due to its location on the Cahokia Lake and Kakaskia River, early on Keyesport was
a place where rafts were made to ship items such as hogs to the Mississippi River and on down to New Orleans. A
railroad was built through town in 1883 which assisted in making Keyesport a fast growing town.
The first school was built in Keyesport in 1859. We know that at some point the Keyesport school began offering
high school courses. Our guess would be that this occurred in the late 1800s. though it may not have occurred until
the early 1920s. Keyesport may also have never been more than a three-year high school, however this, too, is in need
of research.
We know that Keyesport was going strong in the 1931 according to a yearbook of Greenville High School which
lists the scores of the District Basketball Tournament that includes Keyesport High School. Our best
guess at this time is that Keyesport High School probably closed in the late 1940s. We do know that the Keyesport children
of high school age attend Carlyle High School today. Keyesport continued to support a grade school until it, too, was
closed in the 1980s.
The photos below are of the Keyesport School building taken in the 2000s. The front of the building states
the school was known as District 115.
