Burlington High School “Zephyrs”

Posted on by davenanninga in Uncategorized
Burlington HS Building in 2012
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Courtesy of Bruce Firchau

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The History of Burlington High School

Burlington (population 452) is located in northeastern Illinois in the northwestern area of Kane County.  Burlington is located on Plank Road about 3 miles west of Illinois Route 47 and 1 1/2 miles south of Illinois Route 72.  The Chicago, Central, & Pacific Railroad passes through Burlington as well.  The area around Burlington is QUICKLY losing its once solely country setting as Chicago suburbia now surrounds the area.

A history of Burlington Township and the city of Burlington can be viewed on the web page at http://genealogytrails.com/ill/kane/burlington.html.  It is likely Burlington residents began a high school for the children in their area by the early 1900s.  Burlington High School existed on a solo basis through the 1950-51 school year. In 1951 the school districts of Burlington and Plato Center, as well as many smaller country school districts in the area, agreed to consolidate their efforts. The Central School District was then established for the start of the 1951-52 school year. High school classes were housed at the Burlington High School building before the completion of Central High School in 1957.

Central High School is located in Burlington.  A web site with photos of the district’s school buildings can be viewed at

http://www.burlington.k12.il.us/d301/D301_2005.pdf#search=’burlington%2C%20illinois’.

Burlington High School Quick Facts

Year opened:                            late 1800s

Year consolidated:                    1951

Consolidated with:                    Plato Center

Consolidated to:                       Central High School (Burlington)

Burlington HS team nickname: the “Zephyrs”

Burlington HS team colors:       Red & Black

School Fight Song:                   unavailable

1936 Board of Education

Floyd L. Schairer – President

William J. Peploe – Secretary

Walter W. Seyller

William Van Dusen

M. Edward Lawrence

Leroy W. Thompson – Architect

Gust W. Nelson – General Contractor

Mueller Bros. – Mason Contractor

A.J. Ironside – Heating Contractor

Clifford Smith – Plumbing Contractor
Burlington HS Gym / Stage
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Photo by Bruce Firchau
Burlington HS Gym Center Circle
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Photo by Bruce Firchau
Burlington HS Gym Opposite of Stage
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Photo by Bruce Firchau
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Left Click on Photo for Larger Version

ATHLETICS

We know that Burlington High School competed in basketball.  We believe that baseball, track, and possibly football were offered as well.  Burlington High School team nickname, colors, fight song, team records and coach’s names are all items we are searching for.

BOYS BASKETBALL

The Burlington boys basketball program won a total of THREE District Championships.  Unfortunately team records and coach’s names of these and other great Burlington HS teams are not currently available.

The gymnasium photos on this page were submitted by Bruce Firchau. Please ‘left click’ on any of the smaller photos to view it in a larger version. The seating capacity of the Burlington High School gymnasium was about 300 people. The tight quarters made for some loud games back in the day though.

Several basketball scores from the IHSA Tourney were located on a website titled “Illinois Postseason Basketball Scores.” These scores and the location of the tournament are listed below.

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

                              1st Rd lost to Maple Park 32-10

Maple Park lost in 2nd Rd.

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

                              1st Rd lost to Maple Park 28-17

Maple Park lost in 2nd Rd.

1935-36              Hampshire District Champions!                 Coach’s name & record needed

                            1st Rd Beat Creston 30-25

                             Semi-final Beat Maple Park 16-9

                             Title Game Beat Plato Center 29-26

                             DeKalb Regional Tourney

                             1st Rd lost to Elburn 32-11

Elburn lost in Semi-final round

1936-37  Postseason scores, record, and coach’s name unavailable.

1937-38  Postseason scores, record, and coach’s name unavailable.

1938-39  Postseason scores, record, and coach’s name unavailable.

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

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

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

  

1942-43               District Champions!                                     Coach’s name & record needed

District scores unavailable

DeKalb Regional Tourney

                              1st Rd Beat Waterman 31-29 (O/T)

                              Semi-final lost to Oregon

Oregon lost in title game 

     

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

1944-45               Waterman District Runner-up                   Coach’s name & record needed 

                              1st Rd Beat Malta 34-33

Title Game lost to Waterman 40-33

                   

1945-46               Maple Park District Champions!                Coach’s name & record needed

Title Game Beat Maple Park 53-39

                              Sycamore Regional Tourney

1st Rd lost to Marengo 44-38

Marengo lost in title game

1946-47               Maple Park District Tournament                  Coach’s name & record needed

1st Rd Beat Kaneville 44-30

                              Semi-final lost to Big Rock 52-50

Big Rock lost in title game

1947-48               Maple Park District Runner-up!                 Coach’s name & record needed

Semi-final Beat Hinckley 51-38

                              Title Game lost to Big Rock 50-41

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

1st Rd Beat Plato Center 59-42

                              Semi-final lost to  Waterman

Waterman won District title

1949-50               Waterman District Runner-up!                  Coach’s name & record needed

1st Rd Beat Waterman 64-43

Semi-final Beat Big Rock 40-37

                              Title Game lost to Hinckley 61-41

1950-51               Hinckley District Tournament                      Coach’s name & record needed

1st Rd Beat Plato Center 49-48

                              **Semi-final lost to Hinckley 55-44

Hinckley won District title

**Final game for Burlington High School boys basketball. Burlington consolidated with Plato Center High School after the 1950-51 school year to form the Burlington Central School District.

Burlington HS Gym and Stage
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Photo by Bruce Firchau
Burlington HS Gym Bleachers 2012
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Photo by Bruce Firchau

If You Have ANY Further Information 

Do you have any information you can share about Burlington High School before its merger with Plato Center in the late 1940s?  We are interested in sharing this information on this site, especially photos of the original high school building.  You can e-mail items to us at ihsgdwebsite@comcast.net.  You can “real mail” items to us at:

Illinois HS Glory Days

6439 N. Neva St.

Chicago, Il.     60631 

Burlington HS Veteran’s Honor Roll
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Photo by Bruce Firchau
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Burlington, IL


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