| Burnt Prairie School | |||||||||
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| Burnt Prairie, Illinois | |||||||||
The History of Burnt Prairie High School
Burnt Prairie (population 58!) is located in southeastern Illinois in northwestern White County. In terms of town size Burnt Prairie is #1,297 out 1,313 Illinois towns. It is actually the 14th smallest incorporated town in Illinois when you consider “ties”. The main road through town is White County Highway 20. Interstate Highway 64 sits just north of Burnt Prairie and U.S. Route 45 runs just 4 miles to the west. A branch of the Fred Creek runs to the south of town. Carmi is located about 12 miles southeast of Burnt Prairie and, more interestingly, Bone Gap is just 20 miles (as the crow flies, naturally) northeast of Burnt Prairie.
The history of the town and its high school has limited information available. There is only one mention of Burnt Prairie High School on the IHSA web site (www.ihsa.org). The boys basketball team won two District titles with the last one coming in 1940-41. It appears that in the summer of 1945 a consolidation agreement was reached with nearby Mills Shoals High School. The result was the creation of Mills Prairie High School. The Mills Prairie High School building was located in a country setting between Burnt Prairie and Mill Shoals. The fate of the Burnt Prairie High School building is not currently available.
Mills Prairie High School closed in 1977. The kids of Burnt Prairie now attend Fairfield High School.
Burnt Prairie High School Quick Facts
Year opened: late 1800s / early 1900s
Year closed: 1945
Consolidated to: Mills Prairie High School
School nickname: unavailable
School colors: Dark Blue & White
School Fight Song: unavailable
| Burnt Prairie Year Book Page |
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| 1945-46 School Year |
| AthleticsBurnt Prairie High School, as mentioned above, definately offered boys basketball. Most small schools also offered track and baseball. We are hopeful a person from the area can fill us in on the missing pieces of the Burnt Prairie High School athletics successes.
—————————————————————————————————– Boys Basketball The Burnt Prairie High School boys basketball team had two years of District title success. Unfortunately the team records and coaches names of these and other great BPHS teams are not available. Scores from Burnt Prairie participating in the IHSA State Tournament were located on a website titled “Illinois Postseason High School Basketball Scores” and are copied below. —– 1930-31 Eldorado District Tournament Coach’s name & record needed 1st Rd lost to Broughton 28-12 Equality beat Carrier Mills in title game. —– 1931-32 Eldorado District Tournament Coach’s name & record needed 1st Rd lost to Broughton 21-6 Galatia beat Harrisburg in title game. —– 1932-33 Fairfield District Tournament Coach’s name & record needed 1st Rd lost to Grayville 38-13 Flora beat Mt. Vernon in title game. —– 1933-34 Fairfield District Tournament Coach’s name & record needed 1st Rd lost to Fairfield 58-11 Mt. Vernon beat Fairfield in title game. —– 1934-35 Fairfield District Tournament Coach’s name & record needed 1st Rd Beat Geff 25-23 2nd Rd lost to Enfield 35-20 Fairfield beat Crossville in title game. —– 1935-36 Bellmont District Tournament Coach’s name & record needed 1st Rd Beat Browns 31-23 Semi-Final lost to Norris City 30-23 Bone Gap beat Norris City in title game. —– 1936-37 Bone Gap District Champions Coach’s name & record needed. 1st Rd Beat Parkersburg 33-22 Semi-Final Beat Keensburg 52-25 Title Game Beat Bone Gap 38-16 Mt. Carmel Regional Tournament 1st Rd lost to Bellmont 36-20 Carmi beat Albion in title game. —– 1937-38 Bone Gap District Tournament Coach’s name & record needed 1st Rd Beat Springerton 26-15 Semi-Final lost to Bone Gap 40-20 Bellmont beat Bone Gap in title game. —– 1938-39 Fairfield District Tournament Coach’s name & record needed 1st Rd lost to Cisne 26-23 Cisne beat Xenia in title game. —– 1939-40 Postseason scores, record, and coach’s name needed. —– 1940-41 Flora District Champions Coach’s name & record needed. 1st Rd Beat Calhoun 58-33 Semi-Final Beat Ingraham 38-25 Title Game Beat Mt. Erie 41-35 Flora Regional Tournament 1st Rd lost to Noble 37-35 Flora beat Clay City in title game. —– 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 Equality District Runner-Up Coach’s name & record needed. 1st Rd Beat Omaha 73-20 Semi-Final Beat Equality 27-24 **Title Game lost to Cave-In-Rock 65-29 **Final boys varsity basketball game for Burnt Prairie High School. —– —————————————————————————————————– Seeking Your Help If you have ANY information about Burnt Prairie High School we hope that you would share with this site. There may not be too many Burnt Prairie Alumni left, so please e-mail us so we can let BPHS memories live on forever. A photo of the school is eagerly sought. You can e-mail items to us at ihsgdwebsite@comcast.net.
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