Fairbury High School

Fairbury High School

Fairbury, Illinois

The History of Fairbury High School

Fairbury (population 3,968) is located in east-central Illiinois. The city is located on U.S. Route 24, about 4 miles west of Illinois Route 47 in the southeastern portion of Livingston County. Fairbury is located about 30 miles on a straight line northeast of Bloomington. The Toledo, Peoria, & Western Railroad runs through town, while the Indian Creek flows to the south and east. Fairbury was established in 1857 by Octave Chanute.

The history of education in Fairbury is long and storied, and will quite likely be succeeding for many more years. It is believed that the Fairbury school system was established in 1835 when a school was opened in Indian Grove Township and later in the village in 1860. That site would also be the same for another school building, Izaak Walton School, which would later become Fairbury High School.

The high school was established in 1880 at a cost of $20,000. Land was donated for a new building in 1913 by Ella Beach Lewis, who was the daughter of Dr. Lorenzo Beach. The Beach family received a land grant in October 1854 for his services in Seminole Indian War, and the land was in their family for more than a century.

Followed a 1914 vote that approved a $60,000 bond to build a new school, the school was erected. The voters approved a $350,000 expansion in 1949 (at which time a community school district was approved), and another $250,000 expansion for a 2,400 seat gymnasium in 1951. During this time, Ella Beach Lewis' daughter, Alma Lewis James, donated land for the athletic fields that bear the family's name (Lewis Field) in 1948, and an additional 10 acres was sold to the school board in 1955.

Fairbury High School stood on its own for about six decades. It was in 1951 that Fairbury High School joined forces with a neighbor to the south, Cropsey High School (also on this site), to form the Fairbury-Cropsey school district. This arrangement lasted for 34 years until 1985 when a new school district was formed to welcome in other high schools in the consolidation effort. In 1985, the Prairie Central School District was formed, officially ending the Fairbury-Cropsey School District.

It is thought the original Fairbury High School building was destroyed in favor of a new building for the bigger Prairie Central consolidation effort. Fairbury is still home to the Prairie Central School District, hosting the high school and a grammar school in town.

Fairbury High School Quick Facts

Year Fairbury HS opened: 1880

Year Fairbury HS closed: 1951

Consolidated to: Fairbury-Cropsey High School

Fairbury HS nickname: the "Tartars"

Fairbury HS colors: Green & Gold

Fairbury HS Fight Song: unavailable

Old Fairbury High School & Izaak Walton School

1895-1965--Bell weighed 1,200 pounds

Athletics

Fairbury High School faired quite well in the boys sports of basketball, baseball, and track & field. Fairbury High was one of the charter members of the Mid State Conference, which was established in 1949. Fairbury student Margaret Cummins, was given credit for submitting the name for the new conference. After it's consolidation with Cropsey, Fairbury-Cropsey won the Mid-State Conference's sportsmanship award in the 1956-57 school year. The individual accomplishments and best seasons of the kids of Fairbury High as could be researched on the IHSA web site (www.ihsa.org) are listed below.

Boys' Baseball

The Fairbury boys baseball team won a total of three District titles. Included was one excellent season in 1939-40 which resulted in a trip to the state playoffs. This was the first state playoffs in Baseball for Illinois! The team record and coach's name of this team is listed. Unfortunately, the team record and coach's names of the other two District titlists are not listed.

1939-40 18- 2 District Champions Coach Burdell Smith

Qualified for State Tournament

1941-42 District Champions

1942-43 District Champions

1950-51 6- 3 Mid-State Conf. Champions (6-0) Coach Bob Hainline

Boy's Basketball

The Fairbury High School boys had some excellent success on the hardwood as well. The team won two District titles and three Regional titles and also put together a string of four nice seasons before the school was joined by Cropsey. The information as listed on the IHSA web site is listed below, and we invite anyone who has more details about these and other early Tartar teams to contact us.

1920-21 District Champions Coach Ned Whitesell

1923-24 Livingston Co. Tourney Champs Coach Ned Whitesell

1930-31 Livingston Co. Tourney Champs Coach unknown

1931-32 District Champions

1937-38 Regional Champions

1943-44 Regional Champions

1950-51 16-11 Coach Bob Hainline

Boys' Track & Field

The Fairbury boys could run, jump, and throw as well. The FHS thinclads won one District Championship and brought home six individual medals from the State Track Meet!

1904-05 James B. Walker Shot Put 3rd Place

Standing Broad Jump 2nd Place

1905-06 Harlen B. Bedell Hammer Throw 3rd Place

1925-26 Dean Carter 1 Mile Run 5th Place

1930-31 J. Clifford Henderson 220 Yard Hurdles 2nd Place

1931-32 J. Clifford Henderson 120 Yard Hurdles 5th Place

1931-32 Team Won District Championship

Football

The Faibury High School Tartars won one conference championship before merging with Cropsey. In its final season, the 1950 team was perfect at 9-0 to take the Mid-State Conference title. While it was a member of the Mid-State as either Fairbury or Fairbury-Cropsey, the Tartars sported a conference record of 40-12-2 (.769 winning percentage) from 1949-56!! The better FHS seasons are listed below.

1950-51 9-0 Mid-State Conf. Champs (6-0) Coach Bob Hainline

Need More Information

If you have ANY further information to offer regarding the many accomplishments and achievements made by the students and townspeople of Fairbury and its original High School, please share it with us. School fight song as well as other non-athletic related items are being sought. Photos of teams and prominent individuals tied to Fairbury High's history would especially be welcome. These items can be e-mailed to us at dr.veeman@gmail.com or real-mailed to us at:

Illinois HS Glory Days

6439 N. Neva

Chicago, Il. 60631