Matherville High School

Matherville HS Student Body 1928
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Submitted by John Matazel from “Matherville History” by Vernon Anderson – 1983

The History of Matherville High School

Matherville (population 772) is located in upper west-central Illinois in the northeast portion of Mercer County. U.S. Route 67 travels by the east side of town. County road 130th Avenue is the main roadway that connects Matherville to U.S. Route 67. A small lake appropriately named Lake Matherville lies on the northwest portion of town. Matherville is located about 20 miles south of Rock Island. The town was named by the railroad after George Mather.  Mr. Mather sold articles at to the railroad workers in the late 1800s in exchange for the town being named after him. The town was first called Mather and eventually Matherville.

The history of Matherville High School is needed. We were able to locate very little information on the internet. One item we discovered was located on the web site titled “Illinois Post Season Basketball Scores” (http://sites.google.com/site/xtmi2000/ . It shows that in the 1935 District Tournament held in Moline the Matherville boys were defeated by Sherrard High School by a score of 39 – 18 in the first round.

Matherville Historical Facts
A picture containing text, receipt, newspaper

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Submitted by John Matazel from “Matherville History” by Vernon Anderson – 1983

At this time we can only speculate that Matherville High School was a two 0r three-year high school which was opened between the late 1800s and early 1900s. It is likely that Matherville High School existed through the late 1940s, possibly even through the early 1950s. We do know that Matherville High School closed and was merged into the Sherrard School District. Matherville still supports an elementary school which feeds into the Sherrard District.

Matherville High School Quick Facts

Year opened:                           late 1800s / early 1900s

Year closed:                            late 1940s / early 1950s

Consolidated to:                       Sherrard High School

Matherville HS team nickname: ??

Matherville HS team colors:      ??

School Fight Song:                  ??

ATHLETICS

The Matherville High School boys definitely competed in the sport of basketball. It is likely that baseball and track were offered as well. We are in need of the school’s team nickname, uniform colors, fight song, coaches names, and season records.

BASKETBALL

We found two post season scores which prove that the Matherville HS boys competed in the IHSA basketball tournament. They are listed below. Unfortunately this is currently the extent of information that we have.

1935 Moline District Tournament

Sherrard 39, Matherville 18

1936 Reynolds District Tournament

Cordova 27, Matherville 12

MEMORIES

**From John Matazel:

My father attended Matherville HS.  It was a three year school.  His ‘knee slapper’ joke was that no one ever graduated from his HS. After three years the students would transfer elsewhere to complete schooling.  It seemed they may have had a choice of where to attend. I do not know if my father ever transferred or finished HS.  He would have attended there around 1921-22?? He did leave Matherville to go to Chicago. He left on a Christmas Eve as one of his teachers was driving to Chicago to see his wife in a hospital.  The school building was standing empty and torn down maybe 20-30 years ago.”

OTHER EXTRA-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES

It is probable many other clubs and activities were made available to the Matherville HS students. GAA, FFA, FHA, and other activities were probably offered to provide a well-rounded experience for the MHS kis.

SEEKING MORE INFORMATION

If you have any further information regarding Matherville and its former high school please write to us at ihsgdwebsite@comcast.net . You can also write to us via real mail at the following address:

IHSGD Website

6439 N. Neva Ave.

Chicago, IL.  60631

 


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