Stephen Decatur High School (Decatur, Illinois)

Last updated
Stephen Decatur High School
(orig. Decatur High School)
Stephen decatur hs illinois.jpg
Location
Stephen Decatur High School (Decatur, Illinois)
Decatur, Illinois, US
Coordinates 39°50′43″N88°57′08″W / 39.8452°N 88.9523°W / 39.8452; -88.9523
Information
TypePublic High School
School districtDecatur Public Schools
District 61
Color(s)Red and White
   
Team nameReds (until 1945)
Running Reds (after 1945 state basketball championship)
NewspaperThe Observer
YearbookThe Decanois

Stephen Decatur High School was a public high school in Decatur, Illinois, United States, which existed from 1862 to 2000. Stephen Decatur High School was simply known as Decatur High School until 1957, when the city's only high school was joined by Lakeview High School (a small rural district absorbed by consolidation), and MacArthur and Eisenhower High Schools, which were newly constructed to accommodate the student population that was exploding as a result of the post-World War 2 "baby boom".

Contents

The school, like the city, was named after Stephen Decatur, Jr. one of the great naval heroes of the post-Revolutionary War era. He battled pirates off the Barbary coast of Africa (twice), fought in the War of 1812, and at 25, is still the youngest person ever to achieve the rank of captain in the history of the U.S. Navy. He eventually attained the rank of commodore (a flag officer rank roughly equivalent to rear admiral) but was killed in a duel with a fellow naval officer.

Locations

Thirty-three years after the city of Decatur, Illinois began as little more than a log cabin settlement along the banks of the Sangamon River, its first secondary school opened to hold a six-month school year, at the height of the Civil War in 1862-1863. The students met in a room in a building known as the Church Street School. [1]

From 1863 to 1869, the high school held classes in the Baptist church on the northeast corner of East William and North Water Streets. The year 1867 saw the first graduating class from Decatur High School, which consisted of four girls who had completed the three-year course of study. [2]

The first official high school building opened on the northwest corner of East North and North Broadway Streets in the fall of 1869 (today Broadway Street is known as Martin Luther King (MLK) Drive). A class of eight graduated in 1870, but there were no graduates in 1871, because the course of study was lengthened to four years. The student population was expanding in the latter part of the 1800s, and building additions were made in 1892 and 1895. [3] A portion of this 19th-century building still existed into the late 1970s, when it was razed to make room for the grounds expansion of St. Patrick's Roman Catholic School, which stood between the two buildings.

By the year 1900, the school had grown to 731 students and 19 faculty members. [4] It was clear that a new Decatur High School would need to be constructed to keep pace with the demand for educational services in the growing city of Decatur, Illinois.

That replacement building opened in the fall of 1911 in the block to the west of the older high school building, at the northeast corner of East North and North Franklin Streets, with an address of 400 North Franklin Street. The original portion of the building was constructed of red brick and had marble columns on the main west entrance. An additional three-floor classroom wing was added on the north end of the building in 1932. It is this building that most older adults today associate with (Stephen) Decatur High School, as it was in use for more than 60 years.

For a school fight song, the high school adapted the Northwestern University fight song, "Go You Northwestern", restyling it as "Go You Decatur". A recording of the song, made in the 1960s by the school's Redcoat marching/concert band, can be found here [5]

The Gay Kintner Era

In the late 1940s, Decatur High School added on a much larger 4200-seat gymnasium to the east side of the school. Called by some the finest gymnasium between Chicago and St. Louis, the high school facility was larger even than the University of Illinois Huff Gymnasium, where the nationally known Fighting Illini basketball team played its games at the time.

The new Decatur gym was necessary to house the crowds packing in to watch legendary coach Gay Kintner chase his fourth state title at the helm of the Stephen Decatur basketball team, having guided the team to state championships in 1931, 1936, and 1945. No Illinois high school basketball team had ever won four state championships. Decatur High teams had traditionally been called the "Reds", but after the 1945 championship, the team was nicknamed the "Running Reds"—and the name stuck.

On February 15, 1960, the last game of the regular season, Kintner had coached what many observers said was his best team since the 1945 state championship team to an 8-point lead over the crosstown rival MacArthur Generals at the Generals' home court. [6] He had just emerged with the team from the locker room to begin the second half, when he collapsed from a heart attack and died on the court. The Stephen Decatur basketball facility was renamed Kintner Gymnasium in his honor. The 64-year-old Kintner (1895-1960) had coached the Running Reds for 32 years, through 948 games, winning over 68% of the time with a record of 649-299. The Running Reds finished that fateful 1959-1960 regular season with a 22-2 record, won the Regional, Sectional, Supersectional, and Quarterfinal rounds of the 1960 tournament, before falling to eventual state champion Chicago Marshall in the Semifinal round, and to West Frankfort in the consolation game, finishing fourth in the 1960 tournament.

Two years later, under Kintner's successor, Coach John Schneiter, the school won its fourth, and final, state championship, defeating a Chicago Carver High School team that featured future University of Michigan and NBA superstar Cazzie Russell. Decatur's Ken Barnes provided the winning margin on a free throw with six seconds left in the game. [7]

All four championships were won under the older unified system, where all state schools competed in the same state tournament, before the introduction of the current class system that divides the state's schools by enrollment size and results in multiple "state champions" each year. Stephen Decatur High School is one of only a handful of Illinois schools with over 1000 basketball victories in its history (W-1352, L-912 for a .597 winning percentage 1913 - 2000) [8]

Notable alumni

Closure of the 1911 building

After an arson fire in March 1970 destroyed classrooms and school offices in the southwest corner of the building, the facility reopened some weeks later, but after a study recommended replacing, rather than rehabilitating, the building, the building was scheduled for demolition in 1975. In the final school year for the original Stephen Decatur High School building (1974-1975), school class schedules were changed to accommodate the students from the crosstown Lakeview High School because of extensive damage that the Lakeview building received when a railroad car filled with isobutane exploded in a nearby railroad yard on July 19, 1974. [9] Stephen Decatur students attended the building in the mornings and Lakeview students used the facility in the afternoons. [10]

When the new Stephen Decatur High School campus opened in the fall of 1975 on the far north side of the city, it was the first high school in Decatur to be handicapped accessible (as it was all on one level) and the first to have air conditioning in the classrooms. The center jump circle from the old wooden floor at Kintner Gym was removed and hung on the wall in the new school's gym as a tribute to the original high school building. It could not be incorporated into the new gym's floor because the new gym floor's surface was rubberized rather than wood construction.

Final Closure

Stephen Decatur was closed as a high school when Decatur Public Schools consolidated from three high schools to two due to reduced enrollment in District 61. At the time of the closure in 2000, the Stephen Decatur High School newspaper, The Observer, was the oldest continuously published school newspaper in Illinois, with 106 years of issues (1895-2000).

The former high school building re-opened as Stephen Decatur Middle School in 2001. The athletic teams at Stephen Decatur Middle school are still called the "Running Reds", although the school did not adopt the high school's fight song, "Go You Decatur" but rather created its own school song.

A 2012-2015 renovation project for the Eisenhower and MacArthur high school facilities caused the Stephen Decatur building to be used as a high school once again, while "Stephen Decatur Middle School" met in another facility in the center of the city—ironically, just across the street from the former site of the original Stephen Decatur High School.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glenbrook South High School</span> Secondary school in Glenview, Illinois, United States

Glenbrook South High School, or GBS, is a public four-year high school located in Glenview, Illinois, a north suburb of Chicago, in the United States. It is part of Northfield Township High School District, which also includes Glenbrook North High School.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bishop O'Dowd High School</span> Private coeducational school in Oakland, California, United States

Bishop O'Dowd High School is a Catholic, co-educational, college preparatory school in Oakland, California, administered by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Oakland and named after the late auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of San Francisco, James T. O'Dowd (1907–1950). The school requires all students to attend school liturgies, to enroll in religious studies courses each semester, and to complete its 4-year service learning program. O’Dowd is a Catholic high school community of 1,250 students. The school has 129 faculty and staff members and more than 82 part-time coaches, teachers and moderators.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kenney Gym and Kenney Gym Annex</span> United States historic place

The Kenney Gym and the Kenney Gym Annex are two buildings located at 1402-06 Springfield Avenue in Urbana, Illinois, on the campus on the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Although the two buildings have been physically connected since 1914, they were built separately. They were jointly added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1986 under the name Military Drill Hall and Men's Gymnasium.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lincoln College (Illinois)</span> Private college in Lincoln, Illinois, US

Lincoln College was a private college in Lincoln, Illinois. The college offered associate, bachelor's, and master's programs. It maintained an extension site in Normal, Illinois that provided adults with Accelerated Bridge to Education bachelor's degree programs. The college closed on May 13, 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Calhoun Community College</span> Community college in Tanner, Alabama, U.S.

Calhoun Community College is a public community college in Tanner, Alabama. It is the largest of the 24 two-year institutions that make up the Alabama Community College System.

Glenwood High School is a public high school in Chatham, Illinois, United States. It is the only high school in the Ball Chatham Community Unit School District 5, which is in Southern Sangamon County, and includes Chatham, Glenarm, and the Southern portion of Springfield, Illinois.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fleming Gymnasium</span>

The Michael B. Fleming Gymnasium is a 2,320-seat multi-purpose arena in Greensboro, North Carolina, United States. It is located in the Health and Human Performance Building, a $16.2 million facility that opened on the University of North Carolina at Greensboro's campus in June 1989. Its street address is 1000 Spring Garden Street, Greensboro, North Carolina.

Burlington High School (BHS) is a public high school located in Burlington, Vermont, United States. BHS' current campus is its fourth. Two of the former buildings still exist, one (1900–1964) as the Edmunds Elementary and Middle School complex while the second one, used in the late 1800s, is now a private residence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Antioch Community High School</span> Public secondary school in Antioch, Illinois, United States

Antioch Community High School, Antioch, or ACHS, is a public four-year high school located in Antioch, Illinois, a far north suburb of Chicago, Illinois, in the United States. It is part of Community High School District 117, which also includes Lakes Community High School, a school that opened its doors and formed the district in 2004.

St. Joseph's High School was a four-year private high school founded in 1946 by St. Joseph's Catholic Church, Diocese of Camden, located in Camden, New Jersey, that was closed in 1979 in the face of declining enrollment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gerald Ratner Athletics Center</span> Sports complex at University of Chicago, U.S.

The Gerald Ratner Athletics Center is a $51 million athletics facility within the University of Chicago campus in the Hyde Park community area on the South Side of Chicago, Illinois in the United States. The building was named after University of Chicago alumnus, Gerald Ratner. The architect of this suspension structure that is supported by masts, cables and counterweights was César Pelli, who is best known as the architect of the Petronas Towers.

Thornton Township High School, often simply referred to as Thornton is a public high school founded in 1899, located in Harvey, one of the South Suburbs of the city of Chicago, Illinois, USA. The school is one of three administered by Thornton Township High Schools District 205. It is occasionally confused with the two other similarly named schools in the district, Thornridge High School and Thornwood High School.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clay High School (Portsmouth, Ohio)</span> Public, coeducational high school in Portsmouth, Ohio, United States

Clay Junior-Senior High School is a public high school in Clay Township, Ohio, United States, located four miles (6 km) north of the Portsmouth in Scioto County. It is the only high school in the Clay Local School District. Clay is a rural high school serving about 300 students in grades 7–12 in Southern Ohio. The first class graduated in 1940.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Monsignor Edward Pace High School</span> Private, coeducational school in Miami Gardens, , Florida, United States

Monsignor Edward Pace High School is a Catholic secondary school in the Opa-locka North neighborhood of Miami Gardens, Florida. It was named a Blue Ribbon School in 2002 and one of the top 50 Catholic high schools in the country in 2004 and 2005 by the Catholic High School Honor Roll. Pace is a member of the National Catholic Educational Association (NCEA). This school is part of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Miami.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Herron Gymnasium</span> Former gymnasium at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, USA

Herron Gymnasium was a gymnasium and classroom building on the Miami University campus in Oxford, Ohio. Later known as Van Voorhis Hall, it was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in November 1979. Originally conceived in 1893, it was constructed in 1897 and named for John W. Herron, a Miami alumnus and Cincinnati judge. It was Miami University's first gymnasium, and would serve as the main recreational center until the construction of Withrow Court in 1932, which led Herron to become a women's gym. Except for an interlude during World War II when it served as a Navy barracks, it served as a women's gym until the construction of "New Herron" in 1962. In the late 20th century its use diminished to AFROTC and men's intramural sports, and the gymnasium was demolished in 1986 and replaced with a parking lot.

Stephen Decatur High School is a four-year public high school in Berlin, Worcester County, Maryland, United States. With the grades of 9–12 the school is a part of Worcester County Public Schools. It is one of four public high schools in Worcester County along with Pocomoke High School, Worcester Technical High School, and Snow Hill High School. The school was opened in 1954.

New Castle High School is a public high school in New Castle, Indiana whose name is commonly abbreviated to NCHS. It is part of the New Castle Community School Corporation and has an enrollment of approximately 900 students. NCHS is the largest high school in Henry County.

Frankfort Community High School (FCHS) is a public high school located in West Frankfort, Illinois serving grades 9 to 12. The campus consists of five buildings: FCHS Main School Building, Max Morris Gymnasium, FCHS Vocational Building, Johnson Field, and the FCHS Weight Training Facility. The school's annual enrollments include about 100 per grade. FCHS serves as the only local high school for the neighboring communities of Orient, Pershing, and Deering. Being an iconic symbol of the city for over 100 years, the school still serves the community as the only High School.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Old Crawfordsville High School</span> United States historic place

Old Crawfordsville High School is a former public high school erected in 1910 on East Jefferson Street in Crawfordsville, Montgomery County, Indiana. It was a part of the Crawfordsville Community Schools. The old building was expanded in 1914, 1921, and 1941 to provide additional classrooms, an auditorium, and a gymnasium. A new Crawfordsville High School facility opened at One Athenian Drive in 1993. In 2000 the old school building was converted to a multi-use facility of offices, residential housing, and a fitness center. The former high school building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2003. The former high school became a senior living facility and in 2019 was converted into 99 apartment units called The Laurel Flats.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lakeview Fort Oglethorpe High School</span> Public school in Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia, United States

Lakeview Fort Oglethorpe High School (LFO) is a public high school located in Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia. It is one of three high schools in Catoosa County, and is operated by the Catoosa County Schools district.

References

  1. ↑ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-08-05. Retrieved 2016-05-25.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. ↑ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-08-05. Retrieved 2016-05-25.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. ↑ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-08-05. Retrieved 2016-05-25.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. ↑ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-08-05. Retrieved 2016-05-25.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. ↑ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine : Stephen Decatur High School Fight Song. YouTube .
  6. ↑ "The Legacy of Coach Gay Kintner | Lisa McCubbin". Archived from the original on 2013-06-16. Retrieved 2013-07-04.
  7. ↑ "1962 basketball state titlists, volunteers being honored".
  8. ↑ "Decatur/Stephen Decatur High School".
  9. ↑ "Memories still strong of 1974 rail explosion".
  10. ↑ "Decatur Lakeview High School "Spartans"".
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.