| Beaverville Holy Family Academy Building | |||||||||
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| Beaverville St. Mary Catholic Church 2012 |
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The History of Beaverville Holy Family Academy
Beaverville (population 391) is located in upper-eastern Illinois, some might even say lower-northeastern Illinois. Beaverville sits in the northeastern portion of Iroquois County. Beaverville is located in a country setting at the intersection of County Roads 3000N and 2500E. Illinois Route 1 passes by about four miles to the west while U.S. Route 52 travels by Beaverville approximately four miles to the south. The Illinois/Indiana border is 8 miles east of Beaverville. The Kankakee, Beaverville, & Southern Railroad passes through Beaverville as well. Beaverville sits about 20 miles southeast of Kankakee.
A nice history of the town was found on a Rootsweb page that no longer exists. A brief summary of the history of Beaverville based on this article is as follows:
Beaverville first incurred the name of St. Mary’s. Upon the construction of the railroad through the area, it was discovered that the name of St. Mary’s was already in use. “Beaverville”, the name of a nearby post office, was then accorded the name of the town. The township of Beaverville was established in 1921. The town has had many successful businesses.
The catholic church had a very early presence in the town of Beaverville. The parish known as St. Mary’s was established in 1856. In 1895 the school known as Holy Family Academy was started. (http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/IL-Traces/1999-04/0924153497) .
Holy Family Academy began in 1895 and served as a co-educational grade school for grades 1 – 8 until 1966. The Academy offered a four-year high school for girls only through 1969. Courses were offered for training to become a nun. It was operated by the Provincialate and the Novitiate of the Servants of the Holy Heart of Mary. High school students came from the area and from Indiana, Chicago, and even from outside of the United States. Most were boarders during the week at the school.
The buildings that once housed Holy Family Academy were razed in the 1970s. Check out the St. Mary’s Church website at http://www.keynet.net/~stmarys/page7.html .
Holy Family Academy Quick Facts
Year opened: 1895
Year GS closed: 1966
Year HS closed: 1969
Year bldgs. razed: 1977
School Colors: Blue & Silver
School Mascot: 1964-1968 A Black Cocker Spaniel Dog
Sports in HS not offered
| Extra-Curricular ActivitiesIt is doubtful that inter-scholastic sports were offered at the Holy Family Academy high school level. Other activities and clubs likely were a part of the curriculum however.Special Gratitude
Thank you to Ed Kozak for bringing this gem to our attention! —– MEMORIES From JoAnn Warburton (Class of 1968) “I attended H.F.A. from 1964 through 1968. Our school colors were Silver & Blue. Our mascot was a black cocker spaniel dog. We had students attending from all over the world, We had many girls from Cuba. There were 5 floors and 3 dorms. Beaverville was a very small town with one grocery store, a hardware store, and one bar. The beautiful campus consisted of St. Mary’s Church. a rectory, and a beautiful grotto, all on more than an acre of land.” —– Please Write to Us…. …if you have any further information to share regarding Holy Family Academy of Beaverville. Our e-mail address is ihsgdwebsite@comcast.net. |
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