Albion Community High School “Lions”

Albion High School
Photo Courtesy of Michelle Abrajano

The History of Albion High School

Albion (population 1,933) is located in southeastern Illinois and is the County Seat of Edwards County.  The Illinois Routes of 130 and 15 intersect in the middle of Albion. The Southern Railroad makes its way through the south side of town.  There is also a creek that flows to the east of town and a lake that sits to the south of town.  For location sake, two towns of note in Albion’s area include Mt. Carmel 10 miles to the east and Mt. Vernon about 45 miles to the west.

According to the Illinois Trails web site, http://iltrails.org/edwards/index.html , Albion was “laid out” in 1830 by Morris Birkback and George Flower.  It was not until 1860 however that the town became officially incorporated.

Albion began making schooling available for its children in the late 1800s.  At some point Albion offered High School courses for its kids. The high school served Albion for about four decades. In the late 1940s all of the school districts in Edwards County agreed to consolidate their efforts to form one unified district in the county.  This would include the towns of Bone Gap, Browns, Ellery, West Salem, Albion, and several small country school districts.  It was decided to house the new high school in the town of Albion. The new district was named Edwards County School District and began operations in the fall of 1949 with the high school being located in Albion (see also www.echs.edwrds.k12.il.us/ for more information on this consolidation).

The Albion High School building pictured above was not the original, and has since been torn down.

Albion High School Quick Facts

Year opened:               late 1800s

Year closed:                1949

Building used for:         Edwards County High School

School nickname:        the “Lions”

School colors:             Red & Black

School Fight Song:      unavailable

AthleticsAlbion High School is only listed on the IHSA web site (www.ihsa.org) in one sport, boy’s basketball. We also know that Albion HS participated in football for a while. It is quite probable that baseball and track were offered at the school. School nickname, colors, fight song, team records, coach’s names, and conference affiliation all are items of interest for this site.

Boys Basketball

The Albion High School boys had some good court skills on the hardwood.  The only mention of the teams on the IHSA web site are the years and coach’s names for those years.  The school did win a District title and even a Regional title.  If you have any further information you can add to the Albion High basketball success please write to us via e-mail. Several basketball scores were found on a website titled “Illinois Postseason Basketball Scores” ( https://sites.google.com/site/xtmi2000/). The scores are from the annual IHSA State Tournament and are listed below.

1921-22   Olney District Tournament   Coach’s name & record needed

1st Rd lost to Fairfield 38-19

1922-23 through 1929-30  Postseason scores, records, and coach’s names needed.

1930-31    IHSA District Champions   Coach’s name & record needed 

District Scores Needed

Bridgeport Sectional Tournament

1st Rd Lost to Vandalia 34-25

Vandalia lost to Lawrenceville in semi-final

VANDALIA (34): Walker 14, Jones 6, Oglesby 5, Royer 4, Murray 3, Crawford 2.

ALBION (25): Aulyian 8, Carter 7, Reid 5, Lucas 3, Ewing 2.

1931-32  Postseason scores, record, and coach’s name needed.

1932-33  Postseason scores, record, and coach’s name needed.

1933-34   Fairfield District Tournament   Coach’s name & record needed

1st Rd lost to Mt. Erie 16-15

Mt. Erie lost to Mt. Vernon in semi-final

Mt. Vernon beat Fairfield in title game

1934-35  Fairfield District Tournament     Coach’s name & record needed

1st Rd Beat Dahlgren 48-11

                             Semi-final lost to Crossville 38-30

Crossville lost to Fairfield in title game

1935-36                Mt. Carmel Regional Tournament         Coach’s name & record needed

Albion did not compete in District

1st Rd lost to Crossville 40-35

Crossville lost to Mt. Carmel in semi-final

Mt. Carmel lost to Carmi in title game

1936-37                Mt. Carmel Regional Runner-Up        Coach’s name & record needed

Albion did not compete in District

 1st Rd Beat Bone Gap 55-14

                             Semi-final Beat Mt. Carmel 31-26

                             Title Game lost to Carmi 37-28

1937-38                Albion Hosted Regional Tourney           Coach Harold Hutchins

Albion did not compete in District

Regional Scores Needed

Mt. Carmel beat Carmi in title game

1938-39                Mt. Carmel Regional Tournament          Coach Harold Hutchins

Albion did not compete in District

 1st Rd Beat Grayville 42-21

                             Semi-final lost to Carmi 40-32

Carmi lost to Mt. Carmel in title game

1939-40                IHSA Regional Champions                  Coach Harold Hutchins

                             Regional Scores Needed

Lawrenceville Regional Tourney

                             1st Rd Beat Fairfield 45-21

                             Semi-final lost to Casey 33-16

Casey beat Flat Rock in title game

  

1940-41                IHSA Regional Runner-Up                   Coach Harold Hutchins

                             Regional Scores Needed

Top two advance to Sectional

Lawrenceville Sectional Tourney

1st Rd lost to Flora 32-28

Flora lost to Paris in semi-final

Paris beat Mt. Carmel in title game

1941-42                Mt. Carmel Regional Tournament          Coach Chester Gillette

1st Rd lost to Allendale 42-30

Allendale lost to Crossville in title game

1942-43                Mt. Carmel Regional Tournament          Coach Chester Gillette

1st Rd lost to Mt. Carmel 32-19

Mt. Carmel beat Carmi in title game

1943-44                Postseason scores & record needed     Coach Chester Gillette

    

1944-45                Mt. Carmel Regional Tournament          Coach Chester Gillette

1st Rd lost to St. Francisville 24-20

St. Francisville lost to Grayville in semi-final

Grayville lost to Mt. Carmel in title game

1945-46      Carmi Regional Tournament                  Coach Byrl Jarrett

1st Rd lost to Grayville 30-23

Grayville lost to Mt. Carmel in semi-final

Mt. Carmel beat Allendale in title game

1946-47    Mt. Carmel Regional Tournament          Coach David Hart

1st Rd lost to Allendale 39-28

Allendale lost to Crossville in semi-final

Crossville lost to Mt. Carmel in title game

1947-48        Carmi Regional Tournament                  Coach David Hart

1st Rd lost to Mt. Carmel 56-43

Mt. Carmel lost to Carmi in title game

1948-49       Mt. Carmel Regional Runner-Up        Coach’s name & record needed

1st Rd Beat Enfield 66-40

                             Semi-final Beat Allendale 55-44

                             Title Game lost to Carmi 38-28

**Final season as Albion High School. Became Edwards High School in the summer of 1949.

Football

From Dave Rigg:

“This (photo below) is the first football team at Albion High School in 1923-24. I have the names of the backfield and 6 or the 7 linemen. Still trying to get the missing name. Here’s what I have:
Line: Cyril Pierce, Gilbert Colyer, Wilbert Rigg, Wilmer Rigg, Harold Smith, and Glen Bunting.
Backfield: Quarterback (no helmet) Harold Hutchins (who later coached at Albion, Carmi & Mt. Vernon), Virgil Hortin, Warpy Longbons, and Lyman Racster.”

Albion HS Football Team of 1923
Submitted by Dave Rigg

Extra-Curricular Activities

The Albion Community High School kids joined in many activities that provided for a well-rounded education. The school had a strong music program including band and chorus, as well as many other clubs and organizations.

Albion High School Spring Concert – April 1933
Submitted by Mike Grace

Seeking Your Assistance

If you have ANY further information about Albion High School before it became Edwards County High School, please share it with us.  Photos and information can be e-mailed to us at ihsgdwebsite@comcast.net.  You can write to us via real mail at:

Illinois HS Glory Days

6439 N. Neva Ave.

Chicago, Il.    60631

Albion Community HS Class of 1934
Submitted by Mike Grace
Albion HS Class of 1934 at 50th Reunion
Submitted by Mike Grace

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