The History of Sugar Grove High School Sugar Grove (population 3,909) is located in northeastern Illinois in south-central Kane County. What once was a quiet country setting, far away from the hustle and bustle of the big city (Chicago), Sugar Grove is now a fast growing western suburb full of promise and history. Illinois Routes 47 and 56 intersect with U.S. Highway 30 in the city of Sugar Grove. The Burlington Northern Railroad runs through the south side of Sugar Grove. The town was incorporated in 1957 with a population of 125. As the town’s official website ( http://www.sugar-grove.il.us/history.htm ) reports, Sugar Grove’s history and that of its educational opportunities is long and storied. The aforementioned website page states that Sugar Grove: “..had its beginning in the Spring of 1834 at what is now known as Bliss Woods Forest Preserve. Six men, coming from different areas of the east, met at Black Swamp, Ohio, and decided to journey west together. These men, James and Issac Isbell, their nephew Parmeno Isbell, James Carmen and Mr. Bishop, were the founding fathers of Sugar Grove. ” Regarding its school history the website states: “In 1836 Mr. H.B. Densmore helped build a log house near the corner of Denny and Bliss Roads to be used as a school. He taught there for a time. This one burned down, and another was constructed just east of there, and was known as the Valley View School or Denny School. This one room school was to become one with the longest history of any of the numerous schools in the Township. By 1878 there were seven schools in the Township. A need for a school of higher education for the children of the area, became reality due to the vision and hard work of Thomas Judd and Professor Frank Hall. The Sugar Grove Normal and Industrial School opened for classes in the fall of 1875 with an enrollment of 100 students. This frame building burned to the ground in January of 1905 and was rebuilt of brick on the site. Students completing the course of study at this school were qualified to teach. With the consolidation of 1949, the school was incorporated into the newly formed Kaneland School District, where students today are enrolled at a central campus near Maple Park.” There really is no need to improve on what has been written. The children of Sugar Grove attend Kaneland High School near Maple Park to this day. |
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