THE HISTORY OF VICTORIA HIGH SCHOOL Victoria (population 323) is located in upper-western Illinois in northeastern Knox County. Illinois Route 167 is the main roadway leading to and from Victoria. The town is located 9 miles east of Wataga, 12 miles northeast of Galesburg. A branch of the Forman Creek flows by the northeast side of town. The history of the town begins in 1835. According to legend, George Reynolds stole the town and moved it to its current location where his cabin sat. This locale was important for the fact the stagecoach line between Burlington and Chicago went through this area. The Swedes who eventually settled in Bishop Hill first stayed in Victoria and is believed if they had converted Eric Janson to Methodism, Victoria may have been home to the Swedish Colony. A newspaper article from 1929 located in the Kewanee Star Courier stated that Victoria was first laid out in 1839, the same year that England crowned their Queen Victoria, hence the name. In 1949 the small town was moved one mile to the west. The first store and hotel were opened in 1837. The hotel was a well known stop along the Burlington to Chicago Stage Coach route from the late 1830s through the mid 1950s. At that time 4-horse stage coaches (Concord) would roll into town and travelers would spend the night in Victoria. Matt Smith adds this bit of historical background on VIctoria: “Victoria was once a booming city with a prosperous future due to its successful mining industry that lay south of town in an area now called Little John Conservation Club. Victoria’s historical significance is that it was a major Swedish Settlement in its day. It is home to the first Swedish Methodist Church in the world. A railroad also ran to Victoria from Wataga to transfer the freshly mined coal. This is significant because it was the Shortest Railroad in America at about 9 miles long. Once the train arrived in Victoria, it ran backwards back to Wataga due to the abrupt end of Americas Shortest Railroad! The railroad is no longer in use, and Victoria is no longer home to a great mining society.” An article located in an 1886 book quoted on the Knox County IL GenWeb Project website states the following about the Victoria school in 1886: “There is a very good school here, which is partially graded. A. W. Ryan is Principal, with Mrs. A. W. Ryan, Assistant. The enrollment in the upper department is 43, in the lower 42. The average attendance in both, 75..” In 1895, Victoria High School was established, and became a community high school in 1919 despite some opposition (see Principal’s questions below). It lasted until 1948 when the towns of Rio, Oneida, Victoria, and Altona formed R.O.V.A. High School located in Oneida. The grade schools in each town remained active at the time. The school building fate and a little history on the school in Victoria was provided to us by Matt Smith: “The Victoria school building is no longer used as a high school, nor is it used as the elementary school that it once was. It was sold to the village of Victoria by ROWVA school district for 1$ (practically given, but this gives financial record of the transaction) The Village of Victoria sold it to a man who now runs a business out of the building. The reason for the sale and closing of the Victoria school was a consolidation of the elementary schools of Rio, Oneida, Wataga, Victoria, and Altona. The consolidation formed ROWVA West Elementary (3rd and 4th grades in Wataga) ROWVA Central Elementary (1st and 2nd grades in Oneida) And ROWVA East Elementary (5th and 6th grades in Altona).” Victoria was featured in a 1920 Illinois schools journal. The following facts about the school were furnished: No. of districts consolidated: 3 Square miles: 11 Assessed valuation: $293,227 Annual tax levy: $4,536 Tax rate: 1.59 Annual tax levy before: $2,625 Teachers now: 5 Teachers before: 4 Enrollment now: 130 Enrollment in grade school: 98 Enrollment in high school: 32 Aid from vocational fund: No Public conveyance: No Years of high school course: 3 Months in year: 8.5 Knox County Superintendent of Schools W.F. Boyes commented in the article about the establishment of the consolidated school was a slow, but soon-to-be-effective one: “This is a school that will amount to a great deal in the comparatively near future, but it has not done all that it should have done since the consolidation. Of the three districts united, one was practically a unit in opposition to the plan. This was, however, due to an ill feeling in that district toward the village of Victoria because of telephone and road difficulties. The people of the district fought it all the way through the Supreme Court. The directors of the Consolidated district, with this in mind, have moved rather slowly and, I think, we are wise in doing so. A petition is circulating now for the proposed uniting of another district with the present consolidation. The plan this summer is to erect a new building that will serve as a real community building. As yet the community has not benefited particularly through the consolidation. The needs of the children are better met than under the old plan in this: formerly there were two teachers in the Victoria School and two outside, making it impossible to do any real satisfactory High school work. Under the new plan there are three teachers doing grade work and two doing High school work. The High school has provisional recognition from the State Department and receives $1,500 or $1,800 a year as tuition. The location of the village of Victoria, eight or twelve miles from the town nearest to it, makes it certain that this will be an important school some day.” —- The 1920 Victoria School Building is still standing as of 2021 however it does not appear to be in use..
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