Mount Morris is located on Illinois Route 64 west of Oregon in Ogle County. Mount Morris is home to a number of news publication companies, including the Kable Printing Company. The town was also home to Mount Morris College, closed in 1932, and it has a population of about 2,500.

 

Mt. Morris residents organized a school system in their town in 1868. The first school building constructed was a four-room, two-story structure whcih housed all classes, including a high school curriculum.  In 1918 a second building was constructed and seperate school districts were formed for the Mt. Morris Grade School and Mt. Morris High School.  Two great websites to visit regarding Mt. Morris High School can be visited at www.mmhs1965.com and www.mmhs.ws . 

 

Mt. Morris High School was a landmark  in the town until 1994, when the school district merged with Oregon after talks of merging Mount Morris and Leaf River (also featured here) failed. Students from Mt. Morris now attend Oregon High School.

 

Lenny Wells provided the following synopsis of the final year of Mt. Morris High School:

 

"The high school was suppose to close in 1993, but the state did not come through with enough incentive money for Oregon High School to agree with the merger so we had to stay open another year longer. The school board wanted a normal school year so our football team had to scramble to get teams to play in that 93 - 94 school year. We played teams from Chicago,Wisconsin and Iowa since we were not in the conference anymore and other area teams had their schedules already completed." 

 

The former Mt. Morris High School building is currently called Black Hawk Junior High and is used for as part of the Oregon School system. It is the only school currently located in Mount Morris as a 2004 fire burned Rahn Elementary School.  A nice Facebook page for Mt. Morris High School alumni to reminisce on can be viewed at the web address of http://www.facebook.com/pages/Do-You-Remember-this-in-Mt-Morris/277773599389?ref=nf

 

 

Year Opened:       1868
Year Deactivated: 1994

Annexed to:         Oregon High School 
Nickname:           The "Mounders"
School Colors:      Red & Black

School Song:       "Mounders"

 

                                  Mounders Red and Black
                                  Don't Give up the Game 
                                  Yeah team strong attack
                                  Carry on to fame
                                  Mounders Drive 'em back 
                                  While we cheer our name

 

 

Mount Morris High School was very successful in athletics. Boys Basketball was their top sport, as is the case in most small schools in Illinois.

 

 

The Mounders Boys Basketball team won three IHSA District Championships in 1924-25, 1926-27 and 1970-71. They also won an outstanding eight Regional Championships and won four in a row from 1973-1976. The other championships were won in 1939 and 1941 and 1985. In 1983, they not only won a Regional Championship, but also captured the Sectional Championship ending with a 19-9 record. In a Jan. 5, 1968 game against Polo, the Mounders prevailed in SIX overtimes in beating the Marcos by the score of 79-77. Doug Shank was the coach of the Mounders in the 1970's and 1980's.

 

1924-25    N.R.A.     District Champions   Coach's names unavailable

1926-27    N.R.A.     District Champions

1938-39    N.R.A.     Regional Champions

1940-41    N.R.A.     Regional Champions

1970-71    N.R.A.     District Champions

1972-73    N.R.A.     Regional Champions

1973-74    N.R.A.     Regional Champions

1974-75    N.R.A.     Regional Champions 

1975-76    N.R.A.     Regional Champions

1982-83    N.R.A.     Regional/Sectinal Champions

                                    Lost to Tiskilwa 65 - 55

1984-85    N.R.A.     Regional Champions

 

When girls sports became a reality in Illinois high schools, the Mount Morris Girls Bowling team was one of the top teams in Northern Illinois, winning District Championships and qualifying for the State Tournament in 1974, 1975, 1977, and 1978. The team achieved a Fourth-place state finish in 1974. Information is needed on the team members of these teams, as males were very common in Girls Bowling (et al Dixon's state championship in 1975).

 

1973-74    District Champions/Team Finished 4th in State Tournament!!

 

                    1)  Arlington Heights (Forest View)
                    2)  Hoopeston (H.-East Lynn)                
                    3)  Schaumburg (H.S.)                       
                    4)  MT. MORRIS HIGH SCHOOL

 

1977-78    District Champions   

 

 

Information is needed on past football teams at MMHS. We do know that they qualified for the Class 1A playoffs in 1991 and 1992 (their last two years of existance) under coach Vern Welp. Tom Sikorski provided some of the better seasons in Mt. Morris HS football history.  Great job boys! 

 

 

In the mid-1970's, Mount Morris won three consectutive IHSA District Championships, coming in 1975-1977 in Class A. In 1976, they qualified for the State Tournament.

 

1974-75   District Champions                                    

1975-76   District Champions/State Meet Qualifier     

1976-77   District Champions  

 

 

Mount Morris won three District Championships (1976, 1979 and 1981) and a Regional Championship in 1982 playing in Class A.

 

1975-76   N.R.A.  District Champions     

1978-79   N.R.A.  District Champions

1980-81   N.R.A.  District Champions

1981-82   N.R.A.  Regional Champions 

 

 

Mount Morris was a Girls Basketball hotbed in the late 1970's and early 1980's, winning four Regional Championships (1976-77, 1979-80, 1981-82 and 1982-83).

 

1976-77  N.R.A.   Regional Champions   

1979-80  N.R.A.   Regional Champions

1981-82  N.R.A.   Regional Champions

1982-83  N.R.A.   Regional Champions

 

 

A District Championship was won by the Mounders Boys XC team in 1971. Leading the way individually was Jim Buell, who placed third in the state meet.

 

 

 

The Lady Mounders also competed in Field Hockey in the 1970s under the guidance Coach Sally Wessels.  Mt. Morris was one of the very few teams outside of the Chicago area who offered this sport.   

 

Mount Morris also had their share of activity clubs. In 1942, Mt. Morris student James Asp won first place in Comedy Reading at the IHSA Individual Events tournament. Feats like this are very big due to the domination from bigger schools (like Chicagoland) and achievments like Asp's and other small school champions in activity events are very special.

 

The biggest rivals of Mount Morris was Oregon. When the merger happened in 1993, people were unsure about a stability of a combined high school. However, times and feelings get better: as displayed in a poem written in the Mount Morris Times by Oregon alum and Mount Morris resident Marni Heller in 1997:

 

 

 

Sally Wessels was an excellent Coach and mentor for the kids of Mt. Morris and Oregon High Schools.  She also coached girls basketball and boys golf for many years.

 

 

More information is being sought about Mount Morris High School; use the Guest Commentary Form or the School Submission Form to submit. If you have more Information about Mount Morris High School, including a photo of the school, school colors and especially win-loss records and other great teams you would like to share please e-mail this website at eganann@sbcglobal.net .

 

You may also write us at:
 
Illinois HS Glory Days
6439 N. Neva St.
Chicago,  IL  60631