The History of Sainte Marie High School Sainte Marie (population 261) is located in southeastern Jasper County in the lower eastern portion of Illinois. County Road 1900th Street E and 600th Avenue N intersect at Ste. Marie. A town of note near Ste. Marie includes Effingham just 30 miles to the northwest. Information on the history of Sainte Marie and its former high school is very limited to this date. The spelling of the town’s name is of French origin. According to a website found on the Peoria, Decatur & Evansville Railway: “Ste. Marie was settled by a group led by Joseph Piquet in 1837. It was also known as St. Mary’s and for a short time Colony Des Fresas. It was platted in June of 1847 and incorporated in 1870.” A nice history of the town of Ste. Marie and of Ste. Marie High School was located in a booklet titled “History of Sainte Marie, St. Mary’s Church AND Sainte Marie Township” found at the following web address: https://archive.org/details/historyofsaintem00hart The information regarding Ste. Marie High School is as follows: “The Ste. Marie High School opened its first year in the fall of 1916 in the old two-room Weber Hardware Store building. The elementary school building was becoming unsafe and four years later they moved the grades to the north room of this old store building. Local interest in the High School grew rapidly and had a strong local support. However, the District area was off-center for Ste. Marie and it was seen that the area would not justify the construction of a four year high school building. As the result of a petition the high school district was voted out in 1921 and the area reverted to non-high school territory.
Immediately the Public School directors proceeded to move on the construction of a two-room building. One room was for a two-year high school and the other for a public grade school. This building was occupied in the late fall of 1922 with Merle D. Yost Teaching the 9th and 10th grades of the high school and *Miss Christine Alblinger teaching the eight grades in the elementary school.
This organization continued until 1946 when the Newton High School District was incorporated into the Newton Community High School District.” *Note: Ms. Alblinger would teach at the Ste. Marie school district from 1922 through 1946, teaching the HS grades from 1926 – 1946.
Ste. Marie High School existed from the fall of 1916 through the spring of 1946 as a two-year high school. Ste. Marie students who wished to attend high school after their two years at Ste. Marie and after the spring of 1946 would begin attending high school in nearby Newton. The high school students of Ste. Marie continue today to attend school in nearby Newton. Sainte Marie High School Quick Facts Year 2-year HS opened: 1916 Year closed: 1946 Consolidated to: Newton School District Ste. Marie HS team nickname: “Saints” Ste. Marie HS team colors: unavailable School Fight Song: unavailable |
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