Cave-In-Rock (population 346) is located in far southeastern Illinois on the banks of the Ohio River. Il. Route 1 is the only highway that connects Cave-In-Rock to the rest of Illinois. This southeastern Hardin County town is aptly named after, you guessed it, a “cave in the rock” along the Ohio River. The cave is a massive 55′ wide. It was created thousands of years ago by rushing water. The cave was a notorious hide-away for bandits and thieves of the late 1700s and early 1800s who would prey on innocent travelers and cargo hauling boats utilizing the river as a source of transport. An interesting web site to read about Cave-In-Rock’s history is listed here: http://peopleschoice2.homestead.com/CAVEINROCK.html .
The school system in Cave-In-Rock may have started in the early 1800s, though an exact year is not currently available. Cave-In-Rock did in fact support its own school system for many years. It was in 1980 that Cave-In-Rock High School closed and joined in a consolidation pact with its Hardin County neighbors Elizabethtown and Rosiclare. The Hardin County School District was formed. The Rosiclare High School building housed the Hardin County High School through the 1979-80 school year. In the summer of 1980 all grades, including those from the Cave-In-Rock High School, were located to a new school built near Elizabethtown.
Bill Logan, CIR HS Class of 1952, provided the following information on the history of Cave-In-Rock High School:
“Prior to the H.S. building in your picture the school was located in the downtown area. It was a two-story masonry bldg. The H.S. was upstairs; the grades 1 thru 8 were downstairs. The H. S. played their games outside (a dirt court). The only running water was a fountain in the front entrance, downstairs. There was no water upstairs because the lines would freeze. As for indoor plumbing, the WPA built nice outdoor “restrooms” with multiple seats (holes); one for the boys and another for the girls.
I am not sure but I think the school on the hill with the gym was built during the war because when the boys came home from the war they were allowed to return to school and play H.S. basketball in that gym. They also organized a town baseball team and played other towns during the summer. Still, there was no school baseball but the returning G.I.s made up the nucleus of the town team. Enrollment at that time was around 100 or so.”
Former Cave-In-Rock HS Building – 2010
Photo Taken by James Horaz
The status of the original Cave-In-Rock school building is a good one. The building has been converted to a private home. The photo to the right was taken by James Horaz in January of 2010.
Geri Brook adds the following about the fate of the Cave-In-Rock High School building:
“My mother graduated from this high school in 1961. I still have quite a bit of family in that town, too. The old high school building is still partially standing – the gym and the auto shop portions. It has been converted into a residence.
My oldest sister attended CIR during her junior year, 1979-1980, which was the last year the building was used as a school. The first graduation from the new Hardin Co. K-12 was June 1981.”
Cave-In-Rock High School Quick Facts
Year opened: possibly early 1800s
Year closed: 1980
Consolidated to: Hardin County School District (Elizabethtown)
School nickname: the “Eagles” (the “Cavemen” to some)
School colors: Red, White, & Blue
School Fight Song: unavailable
Athletics
One thing is for certain, Cave-In-Rock High School boys basketball teams were quite capable of shooting-the-rock! The Cave-In-Rock basketball prowess will be listed below. It is also believed that Cave-In-Rock HS offered baseball and track. We are hopeful a fan of the town or area will provide us with some more information regarding the athletic endeavors of the Cave-In-Rock students.
Boys Basketball
Cave-In-Rock High School boys basketball teams DOMINATED their area in the 1940s and early 1950s. Eight District titles were won in the 1940s and two Regional titles were won in the early 1950s. This was nothing short of an incredible run by the Cave-In-Rock boys! Unfortumately no records or coaches names are available at this time. Check out this run, 10 Championships in a 12 year period! Several scores from gams involving Cave-In-Rock High School in the IHSA State Tournament were located on a website titled “Illinois Postseason Basketball Scores.” These scores are listed below.
1921-22 through 1932-33 Postseason scores, records, and coaches’ names needed
1933-34 Metropolis District Tournament Coach’s name & record needed
1st Rd lost to Rosiclare 37-25
Rosiclare won District tourney
Rosiclare lost in semi-final of Sectional
1934-35 Metropolis District Tournament Coach’s name & record needed
1st Rd lost to Harrisburg 26-22
1935-36 Metropolis Regional Tournament Coach’s name & record needed
1st Rd lost to Golconda 31-29
1936-37 Postseason scores, record, and coach’s name needed.
1937-38 Postseason scores, record, and coach’s name needed.
1938-39 Eldorado Regional Tournament Coach’s name & record needed
1st Rd lost to Norris City 36-25
1939-40 IHSA District Champs Coach’s name & record needed
District Scores Needed
IHSA Regional Scores
Regional Scores Needed
1940-41 IHSA District Champs Coach’s name & record needed
District Scores Needed
IHSA Regional Scores
Regional Scores Needed
1942-43 IHSA District Champs Coach’s name & record needed
District Scores Needed
Eldorado Regional Scores
1st Rd Beat Norris City 48-29
Semi-final lost to Harrisburg 57-40
1943-44 IHSA District Champs Coach’s name & record needed
District Scores Needed
IHSA Regional Scores
Regional Scores Needed
1944-45 Equality District Champs Coach’s name & record needed
1971-72 Vienna Class ‘A’ Reg. Runner-Up Coach’s name & record needed
1st Rd Beat Pope County 88-72
Semi-final Beat Rosiclare 87-65
Title Game lost to Carrier Mills 88-85
1972-73 Postseason scores, record, and coach’s name needed.
1973-74 Postseason scores, record, and coach’s name needed.
1974-75 Postseason scores, record, and coach’s name needed.
1975-76 Postseason scores, record, and coach’s name needed.
1976-77 Postseason scores, record, and coach’s name needed.
1977-78 Postseason scores, record, and coach’s name needed.
1978-79 Postseason scores, record, and coach’s name needed.
1979-80 Postseason scores, record, and coach’s name needed.
(Last season for Cave-In-Rock H.S.)
There has GOT to be a “great coach” story in there somewhere!!! Great job Cave-In Rock boys of the 1940s / early 1950s!! We do know that one of Illinois’ top 100 winningest coaches, Glen Oxford, started his coaching career at Cave-In-Rock. He had a career coaching record of 515-278.
The following memories and information was submitted to us by Bob Lingle, a long time fan of the Glory Days website:
“During their heyday in the late 40s and the early 50s (the Eagles) were coached by Lowell Oxford. Then in the 60s and 70s his brother Glen was the coach and he also coached Hardin County when Cave-in-Rock and Rosiclare consolidated.
I believe it was in 1949 Paducah Tilghman Christmas Tournament that the Eagles surprised everyone. Tilghman would invited the top schools from Western Kentucky and then usually one school from southern Illinois. The invitations would go out after the season started. They knew little about “the cave men” but they had a good record. The western Kentucky schools were shocked when Cave-in-Rock easily won the tournament.”
More great memories and information from Bill Logan :
“I was a member of one of the best teams the school ever had (the 1950-1951 team). This team was 27 – 2 for the season. Wimpy Willis, #40, was probably the best H.S. basketball player to have ever played the game in southern Illinois (South of Mt. Vernon).
He was a year older than all the rest of us and was facing the draft upon graduating. The Korean War had escalated and he was due up. Therefore, he joined the Air Force and made a career out of it, playing on championship teams at U.S. Bases here and oversees. He is one of the three best I ever played with or against.
Dale Cruse, #55, went on to play at McKendree College in Lebanon, IL. Millard Davis, #50, and Junior Austin went on to play at Holmes Jr. College in Goodman, MS. with Davis continuing his college career at Memphis State.
I had one more year of H.S. then faced the draft like Wimpy and was able to get in the U.S. Navy Seabees as a Field Engr. After the war I went to the Univ. of Tn. on a baseball scholarship—–a pitcher with a lot of wicked junk and a fast ball about the speed of a change-up. This was a great group of guys and very tough-minded.
Across the river, Tulu (Kentucky) didn’t have a gym (outside court, only) nor did they have gym shoes, so when they earned a birth in the Kentucky State Tournament (1939 +/-) some of them couldn’t adjust to the new fangled shoes so they pulled them off and played in their bare feet. This, I heard a long time ago——I can’t vouch for its authenticity.
I am making an attempt to contact someone from Brookport and Golconda so they can tell you about the gyms they had in the basement. I played in those facilities. The floors were of wood but they were warped due to the water leaking into the floors of both gyms. The ceiling was about 18′ to 20′ high. You couldn’t shoot farther out than about 15 feet. The court was so short they painted two center-lines on them.
At the age of 75, I am still playing basketball. My team plays two times a week, the year round. We will be playing in the National Senior Olympics in San Francisco come August-Sept. of ’09.
We hold a national record of eight 3-pointers in a national tournament game. This happened at San Antonio in 1995, then repeated it in just 10 minutes of playing time at Pittsburgh in 2005.”
Baseball
From David (Punky) Barnard:
“Cave started baseball in 1972. coached by Hambone Oxford. I was honored to be the leadoff batter in our first game @ Shawneetown. I was hit in the jaw by a fastball (I thought it was going to be a curve ball that Coach had showed us in practice) that gave me a black eye. next day at school a fellow student seen my eye and said ” that baseball looks rough. lol ! Thanks for the time to look back.”
If You Have ANY More Information regarding Cave-In-Rock High School and its many successes, please send us the information so we may share it with others. There are a lot of missing pieces to this fun story. We are especially interested in photos of the school building and great teams and personalities that made up Cave-In-Rock High School. You can send us this information via e-mail at ihsgdwebsite@comcast.net or via real mail at:
