Arenzville High School "Raiders"

Arenzville High School

Courtesy of http://www.burgoo.org/schools/schools.html

The History of Arenzville High School

Arenzville (population 419) is located in western Illinois about 12 miles northwest of Jacksonville. The town was platted in 1839 by its founder, Francis Arenz. Arenzville sits quietly on Arenzville Road at Virginia Road in the southwestern area of Cass County. The At & St Railroad travels through town. A branch of the Indian Creek flows through Arenzville as well. The village was organized as an official town in 1853. Some EXCELLENT reading regarding Arenzville and its storied history can be found at the following web address: http://www.burgoo.org/schools/schools.html. Great work by site creator Molly Daniel!!

The school system was initiated shortly after the towns' establishment. A high school course of study was in place by the late 1800s. Arenzville High School served the town and its children with pride for several decades. It was in the late 1950s that consolidation talks arose between the school districts of Arenzville and the nearby towns of Concord and Chapin. The effort became a reality after the 1959 school year with the creation of the Triopia School District.

For more information on the Arenzville High School history check out http://www.burgoo.org/people/zusckha.html.

The high school for the new district is located in the tiny hamlet of Concord. The Arenzville High School building was phased out and eventually no longer used as a school. We believe the building has been razed, however we are in need of this information.

Arenzville High School Quick Facts

Year opened: 1892 - 2-year high school begun

Year closed: 1959

Consolidated to: Triopia School District (Concord)

Arenzville HS team nickname: the "Raiders"

Arensville HS team colors: Purple & White

AHS School Fight Song: unavailable

Athletics

Arenzville High School's Raiders competed in boys basketball for sure. As with most of the smaller schools on this site we believe that AHS offered baseball and track as well. School team colors, fight song, team records, and coach's names are all being sought at this time.

One interesting piece of Arenzeville HS trivia is that:

After the 1959 consolidation of Arenzeville with the districts in Concord and Chapin to form Concord Triopia, the sports teams competed under the Triopia banner that first year. However the students attended school in their old buildings until the new Triopia building was ready in 1960. Coach Don Kemp became the head football coach at Triopia and went on to a long and distinguished career coaching football at that school. He got his start at Arenzeville.

Boys Basketball

Boys basketball at Arenzville High School is the only sport covered on the IHSA website (www.ihsa.org). The Raiders had some real nice seasons including four District Championships and one UNDEFEATED regular season!! A great article on the first two District Championship seasons can be viewed at http://www.burgoo.org/stories/basketball.html.

The best of the Raider seasons as listed on the IHSA website are in turn listed below. As you can see, Coach Don Kemp did a real nice job guiding the program through its later years.

1946-47 32 - 2 District Champions Coach Jack Escorcia
1947-48 29 - 1 District Champions

Undefeated Regular Season!! Coach Jack Escorcia

Ranked #18 in Illinois (one-class)

http://www.burgoo.org/stories/basketball.html
1952-53 18 - 9 Nice Record

1953-54                                                                            Coach Don Kemp
1954-55                                                                            Coach Don Kemp
1955-56                                                                            Coach Don Kemp
1956-57                    District Champions                           Coach Don Kemp
1957-58   19 - 5                                                               Coach Don Kemp
1958-59   19 - 11     District Champions                           Coach Don Kemp

NICE JOB ARENZVILLE HS RAIDERS!!

Boys Football

The Raiders competed in football and set the groundwork for some great years ahead after the merger to Triopia. Some of the better grid iron seasons are listed below courtesy of Tom Sikorski:

1952 4-3 3rd place 3C's conference Coach Verdie Altizer

1953 4-3 4th place 3C's conference Coach Don Kemp

1954 3-3 4th place PMBC Conference Coach Don Kemp

1955 4-2 2nd place (tie) PMBC Conference Coach Don Kemp

1956 6-0-1 PMBC Conference Champs Coach Don Kemp

1957 7-0 PMBC Conference Champs Coach Don Kemp

1958 3-2-1 2nd place (tie) PMBC Conf. Coach Don Kemp

To read an excellent story on the life and coaching success of Don Kemp please click here: http://www.burgoo.org/stories/coach.html

Need More Information

If you have ANY further information to offer regarding the many accomplishments and achievements made by the students and townspeople of Arenzville and its original High School, please share it with us. School team colors, fight song, as well as other non-athletic related items are being sought. These items can be e-mailed to us at eganann@sbcglobal.net or real-mailed to us at:

Illinois HS Glory Days

6439 N. Neva St.

Chicago, Il. 60631