The History of Kirkland High School Kirkland (population 1,166) is located in north-central Illinois in the northwestern portion of DeKalb County. The town was named after the man who donated the land for it to be platted, William T. Kirk. The town was first called Kirkwood and later changed to Kirkland. It was officially recognized as a town in August of 1882. More can be read about the history of the town at the town’s officially webiste page of http://villageofkirkland.com/history.htm. Illinois Route 72 is the main roadway leading to and from Kirkland. The South Branch of the Kishwaukee River flows to the north of town and the Bull Run Creek flows by the west edge of of Kirkland. The Soo Line Railroad runs through the town of Kirkland as well.
The following information was sent to us by Wayne DeMunn regarding the history of the Kirkland School buildings: “The school you have pictured at the top of the Kirkland page was built and opened in 1938. It was an all in one school similar to the old country school’s. The grade school (probably grades 1-4, 4 class rooms; 2 upstairs 2 down) was in the north wing (Left in your pic), the higher grades (5-12) were in the south wing (Right in your pic) and the gym was indeed in the center. Kirklands first high all inclusive high school was built and opened in 1958 on the east end of the same property lot. The former building then became the grade school & middle school, grades K-8. I dont know for sure when the football field was built but my guess about the same time period around 1938 and since the newer high school was built so close their was probably no reason to change it. The mascot of the original Kirkland High School was the Kirkland Komets spelled with a ‘K’. It changed to the Kirkland Hiawatha Hawks in 1958. The school system Dist 426 is known as the Kirkland Hiawatha School Dist since the latter 50’s and was known as simply Kirkland Schools before that. All of Kirkland’s first 4 schools like country schools were multi-grade schools until the Kirkland Hiawatha High School was built in 1958. Having that said, their were high school graduates from these early schools and once graduated they were said to be graduates of Kirkland High School. I suspect this would have been the same policy throughout small communities all over the country. The photo to the right is of the 3 Schools scanned from a single page of a locally published book: “Recollections of Forgotten Day’s, Kirkland, Illinois” written by George Gibson {1888-1972}. The first of these 3 schools was Kirkland’s first Public School built in 1879 and opened that fall. This school was built before Kirkland became a Village in 1882 but served after that date, thus becoming Kirkland’s first official school. I don’t have the book but think I remember reading that this first school survived in the neighborhood of 10 years before it burned down. The school was located on the south west corner of South St and 4th Street, one block north of IL Rt 72 is today. The building was 40′ x 60′ and had 4 classrooms downstairs, Mrs E.A. Hatch was the first Principal. The upstairs was one large open room and was used by the Methodist Church for services before their church was built. Some time after this school burned down, a home was built where it stood and still stands on that location today. School’s no 2 and no 3 were were built on the south side of Kirkland. The location was on the south end of 5th St and on the south side of Hortense Drive. School No 2, I believe is the same old school you have pictured on your site. I’m not sure when it was built but 1891 sounds about right. However it survived passed 1908 as it is well documented that it burned down on May 13 of 1910. According to the May 14, 1910 issue of the Sycamore Daily Republican, the school burned the day before. It was reported that the school was “totally destroyed” and that no children died because it was at the “noon hour.” School No 3 was built about 1911 on the same exact foundation as school no 2. My niece who is planning on becoming a history teacher found info showing regarding the cost and contracts for building this 3rd Kirkland School: C.O. Lewis of Belvidere, Illinois was awarded the building contract for the “new school” for $10,460. The plans were drawn by an architect in Rockford, IL named Scheurman. This 3rd school survived until 1938 when the 4th Kirkland school was built. From what I remember reading, after it was no longer needed, it was dismantled and the lumber was sold to a local who used it to build a house. Its possible the old school building may still be standing, in a different form, somewhere in the area.” The earliest roots of the educational exploits in Kirkland history are in need of research. We believe the folks of Kirkland established a school shortly after the town was incorporated. It is probable that a high school was established in the very early 1900’s. Kirkland High School served the town on a solo basis for about sixty years. A consolidation effort for the small schools in the northwestern DeKalb County area took place in the late 1950’s. We believe this effort was realized after the 1958-59 school year as the new Hiawatha High School building was dedicated in August of 1959. This resulted in the creation of the Hiawatha School District. The high school for the Hiawatha District is located in Kirkland. The Kirkland High School building is now used as the Hiawatha Grade School building. Kirkland High School Quick Facts Year opened: late 1800s Year consolidated to Hiawatha: 1959 Kirkland HS team nickname: “Komets” Kirkland HS team colors: Purple & Gold Kirkland HS Fight Song: unavailable |
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