Brocton High School “Purple Martins”

Brocton HS Building 1924-1952
A picture containing text, outdoor, old, white

Description automatically generated
Submitted by Tim Apgar
Brocton High School Building – 2008
A brick building with a tree in front of it

Description automatically generated with low confidence
Photo Courtesy of Gene Ogden

The History of Brocton High School

Brocton (population 322) is located in lower-eastern Illinois about 20 miles northeast of Charleston, home of Eastern Illinois University.  The road leading to and from Brocton is Illinois Route 49.  County Road 8 also leads to Brocton. The Norfolk & Western Railroad travels through town as does the Hog Branch of the Embarrass River.  Brocton sits quietly in west-central Edgar County. Brocton was established along the lines of the Toledo, St. Louis, & Western Railroad. It was named after Brocton, Mass., a town where many of the railroad workers originated from. The post office for Brocton was set up in 1882.

The history of Brocton High School is in need of research. A high school curriculum most likely was established by the early 1900s.  We do know that Brocton High School served the town for about five decades, possibly longer. The late 1940s saw the consolidation effort in Illinois take place. This brought the neighboring towns of Brocton and Redmon together for consolidation talks.  The result was the formation of the Brocton-Redmon School District.  This effort was finalized for the 1952-53 school year.

Brocton HS Building History
Text, letter

Description automatically generated
Submitted by Tim Apgar

Brocton-Redmon High School was located, we believe, in Brocton.  Brocton-Redmon HS served the area for 20 years before consolidation led to its closure in 1968.  The Brocton school building stood the test of time through the year 2017. That year, sadly, the school was deemed in a state of disrepair and was demolished..

Brocton HS Building Being Demploished – 4/10/2017
A building that has been destroyed

Description automatically generated with low confidence
Submitted by James Watson

Brocton High School Quick Facts

Year opened:                                      late 1800s / early 1900s

Year closed:                                       1952

Consolidated to:                                  Brocton-Redmon High School

Brocton HS team nickname:                 the “Purple Martins”

Brocton HS team colors:                      Purple & White (?)

School Fight Song:                              unavailable

Athletics

Brocton High School, like most small town schools, embraced its basketball team.  Baseball and track were probably offered as well.  School team nickname, team colors, school fight song, team records, and coach’s names are among the many items we are searching for.

Brocton “Midgets” Basketball Team – 1933
A group of people sitting on a bench

Description automatically generated with medium confidence
Coach Pete Van Horn, Ray Witt, Max Turnipseed, Jacob Housely, Paul Kiley, Gene Ogden, Roy Patchett

Boys Basketball

The basketball program at Brocton High was a force to be reckoned with in their neck of the woods.  A Regional title in the 1936-37 season was the hi-light of the school’s athletic history.  BHS followed this with a pair of Distict titles (www.ihsa.org).  All three titles were won in three consecutive seasons.  Great job Brocton High School boys of the late 1930s!!  Team records and coach’s names of these and other great BHS teams are being sought. Several scores from the IHSA Tournament involving Brocton were located on a site titled “Illinois Postseason Basketball Scores.” These scores are listed below.

Coach Pete “PJ” VanHorn was said to be the leader of several great teams in the 1930s at Brocton High School.  Coach VanHorn can be viewedin the picture to the right with his “midget” basketball team of 1933.

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

1st Rd lost to Westfield 25-15

Westfield lost to Kansas in semi-final

Kansas beat Charleston in title game

*Atwood HS lost in State Title Game to Centralia this year!

1922-23 through 1932-33  Postseason scores, records, and coaches’ names needed.

1933-34               Tuscola District Runner-Up               Coach’s name & record needed

                            1st Rd Beat Atwood 26-14

                            2nd Rd Beat Newman 38-9

                            Semi-final Beat Tuscola 35-23

                            Title Game lost to Longview 25-24

Longview lost Sectional Title Game to Champaign HS

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

1st Rd lost to Arthur 22-20

Arthur lost to Villa Grove in semi-final

Villa Grove beat Tuscola in title game

    

1935-36               Paris Regional Runner-Up                 Coach’s name & record needed

1st Rd Beat Metcalf 45-13

                            Semi-final Beat Kansas

                            Title Game lost to Paris 25-23 

1936-37              Tuscola Regional Champions            Coach Pete “PJ” VanHorn

             1st Rd Beat Hammond 33-24

                           Semi-final Beat Cerro Gordo 29-20

                           Title Game Beat Bement 26-22

                           Casey Sectional Tournament

1st Rd lost to Charleston 21-19

Charleston lost to Vandalia in semi-final

Vandalia beat Paris in title game

Vandalia lost in Elite 8 Rd.

1937-38              IHSA District Champions                    Coach Pete “PJ” VanHorn

                           District Scores Needed

                           Paris Regional Tournament

                           Title Game lost to Paris 43-18

Paris placed 3rd in IHSA Tournament

1938-39              IHSA District Champions                    Coach Pete “PJ” VanHorn

                           District Scores Needed

                           Matoon Regional Tournament

                           1st Rd lost to Windsor 42-28

Windsor lost to Charleston in semi-final

Charleston beat Matoon in title game

1939-40  Postseason scores, record, and coach’s name needed.

1940-41  Postseason scores, record, and coach’s name needed

1941-42  Postseason scores, record, and coach’s name needed

1942-43  Postseason scores, record, and coach’s name needed

1943-44  Postseason scores, record, and coach’s name needed

1944-45              Ashmore District Tournament                Coach’s name & record needed

1st Rd lost to Newman 26-24

Newman beat Oakland in title game

1945-46              Kansas District Tournament                  Coach’s name & record needed

1st Rd Beat Ashmore 46-35

                           Semi-final lost to Kansas 53-33

Kansas beat Redmon in title game

   

1946-47              Brocton District Runner-Up                Coach’s name & record needed

Early Round Scores Needed

Title Game lost to Kansas 33-28

1947-48  Postseason scores, record, and coach’s name needed.

1948-49              Brocton District Tournament                  Coach’s name & record needed

1st Rd Beat Westfield 51-49

                           Semi-final lost to Chrisman 43-40

Chrisman lost to Redmon in title game

1949-50              Newman District Tournament                Coach’s name & record needed

1st Rd lost to Longview 56-41

Longview lost to Newman in semi-final

Newman beat Chrisman in title game

1950-51  Postseason scores, record, and coach’s name needed.

1951-52              Newman District Tournament                Coach’s name & record needed

**1st Rd lost to Chrisman 51-46

Chrisman lost to Kansas in title game

**Final game as Brocton High School, became Brocton-Redmon High School in the summer of 1952.

Need Your In-put

If you have any information regarding the Brocton High School athletic program and other school programs offered there, please share them with us. We are especially interested in sharing photos of the old high school building and great teams and coaches.  Please share with us by completing a School Submission Form or a Guest Commentary Form.  You can also reach us by the following means:

E-mail – ihsgdwebsite@comcast.net

Written –  Illinois HS Glory Days

                6439 N. Neva St.

                Chicago, Il.  60631

Alumni of Brocton High School

The following names of Brocton High School alumni were submitted to us by our good friend Gene Ogden:

Class of 1933

Esther England

Irma Witt

Waneta Vaught

Helen St. Clair

Robert Patchet

Kathleen Hickey

Della Gillis

Bruce Calvin

Ken Gardner

Class of 1934

Thomas Kelly

Merna Elliot

Everett Duncan

Dorothy Delap

Neva Babb

Fred Wilson

Alice Weis

Charles Bailey

Robert Tucker

Robert Payne

Rosalee Miller

Mary Kearns

Thomas Heggerty

Sylva N. Hall

Naomi Geiling

Mary Fortune

Paul Cummins

Gleason Bailey

James Ashbaugh

Class of 1935

Thelma Bray

Helen Calvin

Hazel Church

Myrtle Fite

June Howe

Theda Humphry

Waneta Miller

Veda York

Weldon Snider

John Richeson

Max Turnipseed

Mary Shoot

Robert Walker

Gene Ogden

Class of 1936

James Cooley

Virginia Daugherty

Gene Foster

Martha Hall

Kerrick Helton

Georgann Luttrel

Izola Lycan

J.R. McHenry

Dora Martin

Sarah North

Jacob Housely

Roy Patchet

Hannah Roll

Louise Thornton

Charles Wendell

Pauline Williams

Mary Alexander

Barbara Marquewit

Gene Pigg


Leave a Reply

%d bloggers like this: