Camden High School “Wildcats”

The History of Camden High School

Camden (population 97) is located in western Illinois in the southwestern portion of Schuyler County.  Illinois Route 99 is the main roadway to and from Camden.  Laprairie/Camden Road runs just south of Camden.  MapQuest website shows the town of Camden to be 7 blocks long and 3 blocks wide. Camden is about 15 miles south and a little west of Macomb.

According to Rootsweb webpage of http://www.rootsweb.com/~ilschuyl/Camden1908.html :

“The village of Camden, which is situated on the southwest quarter of Section 17, was laid out by Robert Brown and Joseph N. Ward, January 28, 1831, and was surveyed and platted by Samuel McHatton, Deputy County Surveyor.”

The history of the Camden school district is in need of research.  We only have found out about the former high school when we were provided research material on Frederick High School by our good fan Patrick Kinn. On the basketball schedule of the 1941 Frederick High School team were the boys of Camden High School.  Not once, but twice (they split with each winning one game that year) did the two teams meet.

We sense that Camden and Frederick were likely three-year high schools through the 1940s, likely closing in the late 1940s.  This is currently the extent of information we have.  We acknowledge there may be errors in this report, but we hope if you have the correct information you will contact us to help us tell the real story of Camden High School.

From John Weatherby regarding the Camden school.

‘The Camden school was still in operation in 1980 I believe that they closed 80 or 81. The elementary school still shared classrooms. And their sports team was the “Wildcats.” The made it to regional or state in the early 60s for basketball. The old gymnasium is still standing and currently a farmers storage shed, the basketball hoops are still hanging.”

Camden High School Quick Facts

Year opened:                            late 1800s/early 1900s

Year closed:                              late 1940s?

Consolidated to:                       Rushville School District

Camden HS team nickname:    “Wildcats”

Camden HS team colors:          unavailable

School Fight Song:                    unavailable

Athletics

All that is really known is that Camden High School competed in basketball through the early 1940s.  This information was found while researching Frederick High School yearbooks.  It is not known what other sports were offered at Camden. Team records, coach’s names, school colors, fight song, team nickname, and any other items regarding the history of Camden High School would be welcome.

Boys Basketball

Camden High School did compete in boys basketball. We located two scores from Camden’s participation in the IHSA State Tournament on a website titled “Illinois High School Postseason Scores.” These scores are listed below.

1940-41                Browning District Tournament                Coach’s name & record needed

1st Rd lost to Versailles 41-23

Versailles beat Littleton in title game.

1943-44                Littleton District Tournament                  Coach’s name & record needed

1st Rd lost to Browning 51-17

Activities

Other Activities

The smaller high schools always seemed to try and keep up with the times and offer many activities that one might think could only be offered at the bigger schools.  Was there a chorus, band, FFA, FHA, school plays, school field trips, and other activities at Camden High?

Seeking Further Information

If you have any additional information you can share regarding Camden High School please write to us via e-mail at ihsgdwebsite@comcast.net, or write us a note to the below listed address.

Illinois HS Glory Days

6439 n. Neva. St.

Chicago, Il.  60631

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