Rossville High School

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Rossville High School
A large brick building with trees in front of it Description automatically generated with medium confidence
1898 – 1946

The History of Rossville High School

Rossville (population 1,217) is located in far eastern Illinois in northeastern Vermillion County. It sits on Illinois Route 1 (Dixie Highway) about 12 miles north of Danville and 6 miles west of the Indiana / Illinois border.  The town was founded in 1859.  In 1872 the Chicago, Danville, & Vincennes Railroad laid its tracks through town. This railroad is now owned by the Louisville & Nashville Line. Remnants of a train engine “roundhouse” still remain on the southside of Rossville, a reminder of its historic past.  A branch of the North Fork of the Vermillion River flows through town as well. Rossville is named after Jacob Ross, a sawmill operator in the area from the mid-1800s.

The educational system began shortly after the town was established.  A high school was established early on and the first graduation class of Rossville High was the class of 1878.  A “new” high school building was built in 1898 (pictured above) and served Rossville until 1946.  The high school in Rossville was a solo venture until probably the late 1940s. It was in 1948 that Rossville began accepting students via tuition from and nearby Alvin. In 1951 both towns agreed to consolidate there school districts permanently. They named the district the Rossville-Alvin School District.  The high school for the new district was located in Rossville.

Rossville-Alvin High School served its district until 2005 when the high school was discontinued.  The students of Rossville, upon graduating from 8th grade at Rossville-Alvin, originally had the option of attending Bismarck-Henning or Hoopeston Area High Schools. In 2018 Rossville-Alvin entered into a cooperative agreement with Bismarck-Henning and created the Bismarck-Henning-Rossville-Avlin Cooperative High School.

The original Rossville High School building pictured above has been demolished.

Rossville High School Quick Facts

Year opened:                      1874

First graduating class:         1878

First Brick HS building built: 1898 (razed in 1946)

Year consolidated:               1951

Consolidated to:                  Rossville-Alvin School District

School nickname:                unavailable

School colors:                     unavailable

School Fight Song:              unavailable
Athletics

Rossville High School offered the boys sports of basketball and track.  It is believed that baseball and possibly football were also offered.  Unfortunately the only sport recognized on the IHSA web site (www.ihsa.org) is boys track.  If you have ANY other information regarding the great teams in Rossville High School history please share with us.

Boys Basketball

   

1931-32                     Danville District Tourney Runner-Up     Coach’s name & record needed.

1st Rd Beat Danville 20-16

                                  2nd Rd Beat Westville 24-14

                                  Semi-Final Beat Metcalf 30-22

Title Game lost to Fairmount 26-17

1932-33     Record, tournament scores, and coach’s name needed.

1933-34     Record, tournament scores, and coach’s name needed.

1934-35                     Danville District Tourney Runner-Up     Coach’s name & record needed.

1st Rd Beat Rankin 35-23

                                  2nd Rd Beat Cissna Park 25-16

                                  Semi-Final lost to Potomac 24-14

Milford beat Potomac in title game

1935-36                     Milford District Tournament                        Coach’s name & record needed.

1st Rd lost to East Lynn 38-22

East Lynn beat Cissna Park in title game.

1936-37                     Hoopeston Regional Tourney                     Coach’s name & record needed.

1st Rd lost to Henning 28-22

Cissna Park beat Milford in title game.

1937-38   Postseason scores, record, and coach’s name needed.

1938-39                     Hoopeston District Tourney                         Coach’s name & record needed.

  1st Rd Beat East Lynn 27-21

                                  Semi-Final lost to Armstrong 36-21

Cissna Park beat Armstrong in title game

1939-40                     Hoopeston Regional Tourney                     Coach’s name & record needed.

1st Rd lost to Potomac 22-18

Hoopeston beat Watseka in title game.

1940-41                     Hoopeston Regional Tourney                     Coach’s name & record needed.

1st Rd lost to Armstrong 20-18

Hoopeston beat Potomac in title game.

1941-42  Postseason scores, record, and coach’s name needed.

1942-43                     Watseka Regional Tourney                        Coach’s name & record needed.

1st Rd lost to Watseka 44-23

Cissna Park beat East Lynn in title game.

1943-44  Postseason scores, record, and coach’s name needed.

1944-45                     Hoopeston Regional Runner-Up              Coach’s name & record needed.

1st Rd Beat Bismarck 58-28

                                  Semi-Final Beat Hoopeston 25-22

Title Game lost to Milford 27-26

1945-46                     Milford Regional Tourney                            Coach’s name & record needed.

1st Rd lost to Milford 40-39

Cissna Park beat Milford in title game.

1946-47                     Hoopeston Regional Runner-Up              Coach’s name & record needed.

1st Rd Beat Armstrong 48-16

                                  Semi-Final Beat Milford 24-23

Title Game lost to Hoopeston 42-32

1947-48                     Milford District Tourney                                Coach’s name & record needed.

  1st Rd Beat Rankin 67-29

                                  Semi-Final lost to Hoopeston 51-41

Hoopeston beat Bismarck in title game

1948-49                     Hoopeston District Tourney                         Coach’s name & record needed.

  1st Rd Beat Milford 63-38

                                  Semi-Final lost to Potomac 34-33

Potomac beat Hoopeston in title game

1949-50                     Milford Regional Runner-Up                     Coach’s name & record needed.

Semi-final Beat Hoopeston 43-38

                                  Title Game lost to Armstrong 47-45

1950-51                     Hoopeston District Tourney                         Coach’s name & record needed.

  1st Rd Beat Milford 69-54

                                  *Semi-Final lost to Watseka 51-47

Hoopeston beat Watseka in title game

*Final varsity basketball game as Rossville High School, Officially became Rossville-Alvin High School in the summer of 1951.

                   

Boys Track & Field

Three male athletes brought home a total of four medals from the IHSA State ‘B’ Meet.  Their excellent accomplishments are listed below.

1913-14    Individual Medalist

                ??  Strickler            High Jump            2ND Place

1918-19    Individual Medalists

                ??  Thomas             Discus                   3RD Place

                                               Shot Put                3RD Place

                ??  Schmate           High Jump             4TH Place

Boys Basketball

We were not able to find any other information of the Basketball program at Rossville High School other than the fact that they did offer it. On February 4, 1930 the RHS team had a hard fought game with Catlin in which the score at the end of regulation was 0-0! In the overtime play, Rossville was able to score five points to win the game 5-0!

Searching For More Information

There are a lot of untold stories and memories regarding Rossville High School that need to be researched by a local resident or alumnus.  The great athletic teams and many accomplishments attained at Rossville High should be recorded and remembered forever.  Please e-mail information to us at ihsgdwebsite@comcast.net. You can also write to us via real mail at:

Illinois HS Glory Days

6439 N. Neva St.

Chicago, Il.    60631


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