The History of Batchtown High School
Batchtown (population 218) is located in southeastern Illinois in the south central portion
of Calhoun County. County Highway 6 (aka Batchtown Road) and the Mississippi River Road lead you to and from Batchtown. The
mighty Misissippi RIver flows just to the west of town, while the Illinois River flows about a mile or so to the east. Batchtown
is located about 25 miles west, and a little south, of Jerseyville. A brief history of the town is found at the Great River
Road web address of http://www.greatriverroad.com/Cities/Batchtown/batchtownCover.htm. It states the following:
"The village was originally named Richwoods, then Sam White's, before becoming Batchelderville, in honor
of William Batchelder, a justice of the peace, merchant, and mill operator. When the post office was established
in 1879, the town's name was changed to Batchtown.
A history of the former schools located in Calhoun County was found at the Rootsweb address of http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~ilcalhou/Education/ruralschools.pdf . A brief summary of this article states that Batchtown started a 2-year high school in the early 1920s.
Batchtown High School continued to function until the Calhoun School DIstrict was formed for the 1951-52 school year.
At this time Batchtown High School students were then bused to the new school's location near Hardin to complete their high
school requirements. Batchtown supported a grade school through at least 1967.
This page was made possible through the excellent research once again by Roberta VanBriesen!!
Batchtown High School Quick Facts
Year Opened: early 1920s (2-year HS)
Year Closed: 1951
Consolidated to: Hardin Calhoun High School
Team Nickname: unavailable
Team Colors: unavailable
School Fight Song: unavailable
