| Enfield High School | |||||||||
|
|||||||||
| Enfield, Illinois | |||||||||
| Enfield College – Served as HS until 1935 |
 |
| Enfield, Illinois |
The History of Enfield High School
Enfield (population 794) is located in far southeastern Illinois in west-central White County. The city is located on U.S. Route 45 just north of Illinois Route 14. The Prairie Trunk Railroad intersects with the Louisville & Nashville Railroad in Enfield. The Gowdy Creek flows to the west of Enfield and the Lost Creek trickles to the north of town. Enfield is a quiet farming community, except for a week each summer when the residents celebrate the Enfield Mule Day. Enfield was first settled in 1850. It was named by an early settler, Dr. Martin Johnson, who chose the name from a story he recalled from his childhood. Enfield reached a U.S. census population high of 929 in 1920. In 2010 that number had slowly declined to 596. However Enfield has enjoyed a recent population increase of 33%, up to 794 residents in 2020.
Enfield and its school system date back to the mid-1800s. A report on the school system of Enfield can be read at http://www.rootsweb.com/~ilwhite2/wchs8_31_00.html. A two-story brick school building was erected in 1881 for $5,000 in Enfield. This building stood tall and served the community until 1935, when it was replaced by a newer building built as a WPA (Works Progress Administration) project. The original building remained as a educational outlet, as it was renamed Enfield College
By 1955 a newer school building was erected. The existing building was named the Booth School building and served as the home of the Enfield High School gymnasium for three decades. It was in the early 1980s’ that Enfield began talks with nearby Norris CIty-Omaha High School regarding consolidation. The 1984-85 senior class was the last to graduate from Enfield High. The Enfield HS-aged kids now attend high school in Norris City as part of the Norris City-Omaha-Enfield High School District.
The Booth school building still provides education for the Enfield students in grades PK-8.
Enfield High School Quick Facts
Year opened: 1881
Newer building opened: 1935
Year closed: 1985
School nickname: the “Trojans”
School colors: Red & Black
School Fight Song: unavailable, sung to the Notre Dame fight song
Athletics The Enfield High School Trojans enjoyed many years of great success and turned out many great athletes. The Trojan boys basketball and boys track programs had some very rewarding seasons. Unfortunately, they garner the only mention on the IHSA web site (www.ihsa.org). Enfield HS probably also offered baseball for the boys as well as volleyball, track, and basketball for the girls in the later years. If you have any information you can share regarding teams, coaches, and players of Enfield High School, please take the time to share it with us. —————————————————————————————————– Boys Basketball The Enfield High School Trojans won a total of EIGHT District Titles!!! One incredibly successful streak came from 1964 to 1970 when the Trojans won titles in five of the seven years! The years of the titles won at Enfield High are listed below. The records and coaches names are not listed on the IHSA web site. We are looking for these and the records and accomplishments of other great Enfield teams as well. One great basketball player for the Enfield Trojans was Ken Mitchell (Class of 1953). Ken’s basketball abilities were remembered by former Allendale great Franklin Pemberton: “I was a freshman in the fall of 1952 and my first experience in high school basketball was to guard Ken Mitchell. He was a senior and had played for Enfield for four years. Ken was the best ball handler and scorer that I ever saw in Southern Illinois (or at least that I had the difficulty in guarding). That senior “took the freshman to town” that night. He scored 38 points. I was later informed that Ken had averaged 30+ the year before. (By the way, Allendale did win the game.)” **The Enfield Trojans of 1972-73 are remembered for what they did in their season opener that year. The Trojans defeated Ridgway handing the Eagles their only loss during their state championship run! 1927-28 Harrisburg District Champions Coach’s name & record needed. Semi-Final Beat Galatia 30-8 Title game Beat Broughton 35-26 Benton Sectional Tournament Semi-Final lost to Carbondale 25-24 Benton beat Carbondale in title game. —– 1941-42 Equality District Champions Coach’s name & record needed. Early Rd Scores Needed Title Game Beat Norris City 30-28 Harrisburg Regional Tournament 1st Rd lost to Galatia 47-30 Marion beat Galatia in title game. —– 1956-57 Enfield District Champions Coach’s name & record needed. Semi-Final Beat Crossville 58-48 Title Game Beat Mills Prairie 65-45 Carmi Regional Tournament 1st Rd lost to Mt. Carmel 95-77 Mt. Vernon beat Carmi in title game. —– 1963-64 Enfield District Champions Coach’s name & record needed. Semi-Final score needed. Title Game Beat Mills Prairie 74-69 (O/T) Mt. Vernon Regional Tournament 1st Rd lost to Albion 73-64 Carmi beat Mt. Vernon in title game. —– 1964-65 Enfield District Champions Coach’s name & record needed. Semi-Final Beat Dahlgren 84-46 Title Game Beat Mills Prairie 59-55 Fairfield Regional Tournament 1st Rd lost to Mt. Carmel 70-67 Mt. Vernon beat Fairfield in title game. —– 1966-67 Enfield District Champions Coach’s name & record needed. Semi-Final Crossville 99-66 Title Game Beat Mills Prairie 73-71 Mt. Carmel Regional Tournament 1st Rd lost to Mt. Carmel 67-63 Mt. Carmel beat Fairfield in title game. —– 1968-69 Enfield District Champions Coach’s name & record needed. Semi-Final Crossville 76-63 Title Game Beat Mills Prairie 75-61 Albion Regional Tournament 1st Rd lost to Albion 78-63 Mt. Vernon beat Fairfield in title game. —– 1969-70 Enfield District Champions Coach’s name & record needed. Semi-Final Crossville 77-65 Title Game Beat Mills Prairie 80-46 Carmi Regional Tournament 1st Rd lost to Edwards County 80-47 Mt. Vernon beat Carmi in title game. —– 1971-72 27- 1 Carmi Class ‘A’ Regional Runner-Up Coach’s name needed 1st Rd Beat Mills Prairie 69-51 Semi-Final Beat Cisne 96-91 Title Game lost to Carmi 60-48 —– 1984-85 Norris City Class ‘A’ Regional Coach’s name & record needed. **1st Rd lost to Johnson City 48-41 McLeansboro beat West Frankfort in title game. **Final varsity boys basketball game for the Enfield High School “Trojans.” ———————————————————————————————————– Boys Track & Field In the 1927-28 school year, the Enfield Trojans took fifth place overall in the state tournament! 1 – Chicago Tilden 22 2 – Urbana 17¼ 3 – Evanston 12 4 – West Frankfort 11 5 – Carbondale 9 5 – ENFIELD HIGH SCHOOL 9 7 – Oak Park-River Forest 8 9 – Lostant 6 One throwing power for the Enfield Trojans was an athlete by the name of P. Thompson. In 1927, Thompson placed second in the shot put, an event that he would win the following year in 1928! Thompson also placed second in the discus throw in 1928. What an effort! Individual Medalist at State Meet 1926-27 P. Thompson Shot Put 2nd Place —– 1927-28 P. Thompson Shot Put STATE CHAMPION! Discus 2nd Place ——————————————————————————————————————— Memories From Tony Cox (Class of 1973): “I am especially proud of the overall accomplishments of the student body while I was a student (class of 1973). During school year 1971-72, we sent a team to the Evansville TV program ‘Klassroom Kwiz’, and had the first (and as far as I know) undefeated team, retiring after seven consecutive wins. On this team were Cindy Birk, Brian Lewis & Tony Cox. Also, the 1971-72 Trojan Basketball team was the Little Ten Conference champs at 25-0. We also had a great jazz band that went on tour in the area and our marching band, though small, was very talented and produced some extremely talented musicians.” Seeking Further Information If you have ANY further information on the many great accomplishments achieved at Enfield High School please drop us a line. All information is welcome. We are especially interested in adding a photo some of the great Enfield High School teams to this page. You can e-mail your items to us at ihsgdwebsite@comcast.net |
||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||
