| Kempton-Cabery High School Bldg – 2012 | |||||||||
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| Now Tri-Point Elementary School | |||||||||
| Kempton-Cabery HS Bldg 2012 – Front View |
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The History of Kempton-Cabery High School
Cabery (population 263) is located in the east-northeastern portion of Illinois. Cabery is unique in that it lies in two counties, Kankakee and Ford. Illinois Route 115 will take you to and from Cabery, and crosses paths with County Road E 4100 North in Cabery. The Illinois Central Gulf Railroad lays its tracks through town. The Crane Creek flows by the southeast side of town. A larger town near Cabery is Kankakee, which is 15 miles northeast of Cabery.
Kempton (population 235) is located in upper-eastern Illinois. The town was platted in the northwestern panhandle of Ford County. The town is about 20 miles southwest of Kankakee. The main road through town is County Road 3700 North, which connects Kempton to Illinois Route 115 one and a half miles to the west. A branch of the Kelly Creek flows to the south side of town. The Illinois Central Gulf Railroad travels through the heart of Kempton and was instrumental in its early growth.
Both towns supported their own high schools for several years. The school districts of Kempton and Cabery merged in 1946. The new district, the Kempton-Cabery School District, served both communities for several more years, until 1968 when Kempton-Cabery merged with their neighbor to the south, Cullom, to create the Tri-Point School District. The Tri-Point School sytem has since welcomed Piper City in 1992 as well.
The high school for the Tri-Point District landed in Cullom. Barry L. Williams tells us the town of Kempton still houses a PK-3 grade school in the former Kempton-Cabery High School building.
Kempton-Cabery High School Quick Facts
Year Kempton-Cabery HS opened: 1946
Year Kempton-Cabery closed: 1968
Consolidated to: Tri-Point School District (Cullom)
Kempton-Cabery HS team nickname: the “Komanches”
KCHS team colors: Red, Black, & White
School Fight Song: unavailable
Athletics We know that the Kempton-Cabery Komanches competed in boys basketball, football, and track. We believe that baseball was also offered at one time. School fight song, team records, and coaches’ names are all items we are seeking. Unfortunately, the Kempton-Cabery High School is not listed on the iHSA website (www.ihsa.org) as winning any IHSA hardware. The last year listed for Kempton High School is a District title in basketball in 1958-59. The first mention for the Tri-Point School District is the football team of 1968-69. If you have ANY information regarding the Kempton-Cabery High School athletic program, please write to us via e-mail. Football Tom Sikorski provided the following Kempton-Cabery Comanches football seasons through extensive research. 1955 1-6 First Team Coach John Lemantavich (first 5 weeks) Coach Arnold Stahl (last 3 weeks) First win–Beat Cullom 14-13 1958 4-4 Coach Robert Krones 1959 4-2-2 2nd place Vermillion Valley Conference Coach Les Conkling 1963 4-4 Coach Les Conkling 1964 4-3-1 Coach Les Conkling 1967 3-6 Last team Coach Les Conkling Last win in school history 27-20 over Onarga Military Starting in 1969, K-C consolidated with Cullom to form Cullom Tri-Point. In Need of Your Assistance As stated before, we are in dire need of assistance in researching Kempton-Cabery High School: does the school building still stand? Is it still in use? What were the school colors and school fight song? We are hopeful someone from Kempton or Cabery (or a neighboring town) can provide us with this information and possibly a photo of the old high school building. If you have this information to share please e-mail us at ihsgdwebsite@comcast.net or write us at: Illinois HS Glory Days 6439 N. Neva St. Chicago, Il. 60631
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