White Hall (population 2,629) is located in the lower-western portion of Illinois in north-central Greene County. U.S. Route 67 is the main roadway leading to and from town. Illinois Route 106 also takes you to White Hall. The Crooked Creek and Seminary Creek both flow through town. The Illinois Central Gulf Railroad and the At & St. Railroad lines both reach White Hall.
White Hall was settled in the 1820s and officially platted in 1833. A blacksmith shop, one of the very first structures in the area, was long and painted white. The name White Hall was given to the town. For a brief but informative history on the origin of White Hall please go to http://www.greene-county.com/whitehall.htm .
Original White Hall HS Bldg. / Served as WHGS
Submitted by Reta Martin Borg
A nice history of White Hall High School was provided to us by Reta Borg in the form of two articles. One article was prepared by Dennis Drake (WHHS Class of 1962) for the 2007 White Hall HS alumni banquet. The second article is from 1927 and is titled “The Manual of General Information and Course of Study” for White Hall High School and Grade School. A summary of the information found in both articles is as follows:
The first school was established in White Hall in 1835. This school served the community through 1868. At that time a new school building was constructed to accomodate the increasing student enrollment. The building was completed in 1869 with additions to the building constructed in 1889 and 1901. As this building grew older, and the student population began to swell, the need for a new building was addressed. In 1922 a modern brick building was constructed and served the White Hall High School district through its merger into the North Greene School District in 1963.
The first graduating class at White Hall High School was the class 1877. At that time White Hall High School offered a three year course of study. The school began offering a fourth year of high school studies in 1899. Enrollment steadily increased from 1877 (17 students) through 1928 (217 students). The school was well thought of in the area as in 1927 the school accepted 72 students from outside of the school district boundries.
White Hall High School continued on a solo basis through the early 1960s. It was then that the towns of Roodhouse and White Hall began school consolidation talks. This effort became a reality in fall of 1963 with the creation of the North Greene School District.
North Greene High School is located in White Hall. The original White Hall High School building has been torn down. A new school building was built in its place..
White Hall High School Quick Facts
Year opened: late 1800s
Year closed: 1963
Consolidated to: North Greene School District (White Hall)
White Hall HS team nickname: the “Maroons”
WHHS team colors: Maroon & Gold
WHHS School Fight Song: “Loyalty to White Hall”
Submitted by Reta Borg
Composed by George Turner in 1905
Rewritten by Clarence Whiteside in 1907
Oh! there’s a school that we all love best!
Its fame has spread through the East and West
Its glorious deeds are by all confessed
That’s White Hall – RAH!
Our boys are loyal, our girls are too,
Our friends are many, our enemies few,
Our teachers earnest and kind and true.
That’s White Hall – RAH!
(chorus):
White Hall! White Hall! school of gold and red,
School that has always led, school that is far ahead,
How we love the colors that float above,
And we will FIGHT and WIN for White Hall, RAH!
(2nd verse)
On football field and athletic track
For heroes many we never lack.
Each captain, pitcher, or quarterback
Loves White Hall – RAH!
We’ll cheer them on till their task is done,
We’ll give them praise when the victory’s won.
And work from morning till the set of sun,
For White Hall – RAH!
(repeat chorus)
Cheer after song is sung:
And a BEEVO, and a BIVO !
And a BEEVO, BIVO, BUM !
Come get a cat-trap, bigger than a rat-trap!
Come get a rat-trap, bigger than a cat-trap!
ZIZZ – BOOM – BAH!
ZIZZ – BOOM – BAH!
WHITE HALL HIGH SCHOOL
RAH! RAH! RAH!!
White Hall High School Fight Song
Submitted by Reta Borg
Athletics
The White Hall boys had some great athletic seasons to their credit. How about this for starters….a STATE CHAMPIONSHIP in the IHSA State Track & Field Meet in 1923. The team returned the next year and finished as Runner-up in 1924!! Boys basketball and the Speech Individual Events team also had some great seasons. Team records and coach’s names are also items needed for this site. White Hall was a member of the Illinois Valley Conference from 1928-1962.
Boys Track & Field
Can’t you just imagine the headlines in the local newspapers:
“White Hall Tracksters Crowned State Champions!!”
The folks who kept “track” of the White Hall track team of 1922-23 didn’t have to imagine it. They lived it! In fact besides the state championship effort of 1922-23, the track teams of 1920-21 and 1923-24 also brought home top-ten team finishes at the State Track Meet. These accomplishments were attained in the Class ‘B’, or smaller school, division of the time. Included were a total of 22 individual medals won at the meets with two gentlemen bringing home a total of three GOLD Medals!! The incredible success of White Hall boys thinclads are listed below (www.ihsa.org).
1913-14 Individual Medalists
?? Campbell 50 Yard Dash 3RD Place
?? Campbell 100 Yard Dash 4TH Place
?? Roodhouse440 Yard Dash 4TH Place
1919-20 Individual Medalist
?? Campbell 440 Yard Dash 4TH Place
1920-21 Team Finished NINTH in State Meet ‘B’ Competition!
Individual Medalists
Ray Goode Javelin STATE CHAMPION!!
Shot Put 4TH Place
Final Team Standings
1.) Forrest 19
2.) Carlinville 11
3.) Greenfield 10.5
3.) Greenville 10.5
4.) Wheaton (H.S.) 10
5.) Carrollton 9
6.) Woodstock (H.S.) 8
7.) Havana 7
7.) Dwight 7
9.) Wyoming 6
9.) WHITE HALL HIGH SCHOOL 6
9.) Berwyn-Cicero (Morton) 6
1922-23 Team Crowned STATE CHAMPIONS of Class ‘B’ Meet!! Coach Clarence Whiteside
Individual Medalists
L. Williams Pole Vault STATE CHAMPION!!
High Jump 2ND Place
Ray Goode Javelin STATE CHAMPION!!
Discus 4TH Place
W. Smith Shot Put 2ND Place
Javelin 5Th Place
Final Team Standings
1.) WHITE HALL HIGH SCHOOL 20.5 Coach Clarence Whiteside
2.) Bridgeport 15.5
3.) Hinsdale (Twp.) 15
4.) Carlinville 12
5.) Havana 11
1923-24 Team Finished SECOND in the Class ‘B’ State Meet!!
Individual Medalists
W. Smith Javelin 2ND Place
Shot Put 3RD Place
R. DeVault High Jump 3RD Place
L. Woolridge 440 Yard Dash 4TH Place
H. Wear 120 Yard Hurdles 5TH Place
Relay 880 Yard Relay 4TH Place
Final Team Standings
1.) Girard 20
2.) WHITE HALL HIGH SCHOOL 16
2.) Chesterfield 16
4.) Carlinville 15
5.) Gridley 13
5.) Hinsdale (Twp.) 13
1932-33 Individual Medalist
N. Miller Pole Vault 5TH Place
1935-36 Individual Medalist
Dean Fair High Jump 4TH Place
1936-37 Individual Medalist
Dean Fair High Jump 3RD Place
1946-47 Individual Medalist
Roscoe Orten 880 Yard Run 3RD Place
Boys Basketball
The boys basketball team had some excellent seasons as well. A total of FOUR Regional titles and one DIstrict title were won by the WHHS boys. Unfortunately this is the only information we currently have available to us regarding the boys basketball program. Team records and coach’s names are being sought.
1928-29 District Champions
1935-36 Regional Champions
1936-37 Regional Champions
White Hall HS Basketball Team Late 1930s
Submitted by B. David McCarthy (Possibly Team of 1936-37)
1941-42 Regional Champions
Lost 2nd Rd. Sectional Game to
Collinsville (event. Sectional Champs)
1944-45 Regional Champions
1956-57
White Hall HS Basketball 1956-57
Submitted by John Powell (Left click on Photo for Larger View)
1958-59 Coach Bill McCarthy
White Hall HS Basketball 1958-59
Submitted by John Powell (Left click on Photo for Larger View)
1959-60 2nd Place – Regional Coach Bill Rendleman
Beat Piasa Southwestern 69-55
Beat Roodhouse 72-54
Lost to Jerseyville 73-55
White Hall HS Team of 1959-60
Submitted by John Powell (Left click on Photo for Larger View)
White Hall HS Game Photo 1959-60 Season
Submitted by John Powell
White Hall vs. Roodhouse – 1960
Submitted by John Powell (Left click on Photo for Larger View)
White Hall HS Basketball Team Early 1960s
Submitted by B. David McCarthy
The Winchester Invitational Tournament
This annual tournament provided some great games and competition over the years. Here is some of the better success in this tournament of the White Hall boys as researched by Mark Jurenga:
The football program at White Hall was a competitive bunch as well. Two of the team records are listed below. One interesting story about the early days of White Hall High School was shared by Dennis Drake.
The year was 1923 and an early afternoon game with the boys from Beardstown was scheduled. The Beardstown boys were traveling by train which on this day was running an hour late. At 4:30pm in the fall, the game waws begun with dusk starting to settle. The score was even at 0 – 0 after three quarters of play. Darkness had settled on the field for the start of the fourth quarter so the fans at the game circled their cars around the playing field and turned on their headlights to help the boys finish the fourth quarter. White Hall would win the game 6 – 0 when a completed pass from Ray Goode to Hugh Greer resulted in a touchdown. Some say that the pass was not actually completed, rather “Goode retreated into shadows and threw the football away. Somebody near the goal line tossed another football to Greer” for the win!
You gotta love the ingenuity of the good old days.
1957 6-2-1 2nd place Illinois Valley Conference Coach Billy McCarthy
1958 5-3-1 3rd place Illinois Valley Conference Coach Billy McCarthy
Ivy League Football Conference Standings
1930
White Hall Football vs. Jerseyville
1930
Speech Individual Events
The academic aspect of White Hall High School was competitive as well. One student, Sondra Search, placed 2ND in the Verse Competion at the State Speech Meet. Sondra’s effort landed the White Hall Speech Team a TENTH Place Finish in 1954-55. Sondra’s memorable accomplishment is documented below as seen on the IHSA website (www.ihsa.org).
1954-55 Team Finished TENTH in State Competition!
Individual Medalist
Sondra Search Verse 2ND Place
Final Team Standings
1.) Champaign (H.S.) 10
2.) Calumet City (Thornton Fracti) 9
2.) Granite City 9
4.) Freeport (H.S.) 7
5.) Pekin 6
6.) Rockford (East) 5
6.) Roodhouse 5
6.) Chicago (Morgan Park) 5
6.) Paris 5
10.) WHITE HALL HIGH SCHOOL 4
10.) West Chicago (Wheaton Academy) 4
10.) Waukegan (H.S.) 4
10.) Jacksonville (H.S.) 4
10.) Peoria (Woodruff) 4
White Hall School Teachers of the 1930s
The followinig photo depicts the teaching staff of White Hall schools in the 1930s.
Top (left to right) Norma Hicks (later Wald), Miss Vedder, Mary Callans, Nellie Gibler, Edith Hyatt, Irene Livingston, Mae Nichols and Miss Baker.
Bottom (left to right) Miss Doyle, Miss Mary Evans, Naomi Hudson, Nellie Steelman, Mr. Whiteside, Lena Gibler, Miss Ridings and Sylvia Painer (later Smith)
White Hall School Teachers of the 1930s
Courtesy of Reta Borg
Need More Information
White Hall High School must have some incredible stories of success still available. Great teams and team records, school nickname, school colors, school fight song, ect., are all items of interest that should be shared. A photo of the original high school building is especially being sought. You can e-mail information and photos to us at ihsgdwebsite@comcast.net. You can also write to us at:
Illinois HS Glory Days
6439 N. Neva St.
Chicago, Il. 60631
WHITE HALL HS GRADUATE, COACH AND PURPLE HEART RECIPIENT BILLY MCCARTHY
Billy D McCarthy and Howard Berline
Submitted by B. David McCarthy
Billy D McCarthy, or Diz as he was better known, was a graduate of White Hall HS. He would later go on to coach at White Hall, Roodhouse, and North Greene as well as four years at Auburn in the mid-60’s where he won an MSM title in football. After high school McCarthy enlisted in the USMC the day after Pearl Harbor and served in the Pacific theater—earning the Purple Heart for wounds in battle. Later he attended Illinois College.
McCarthy enjoyed teaching, but he loved coaching. In high school he was awarded 12 varsity letters—a four year letter winner in football, basketball, and track. This feat was also accomplished by his granddaughter—who was a four year letter winner in volleyball, basketball, and softball—not at WH-NG however. She later graduated from Illinois College.
Coach McCarthy taught at White Hall from 1955 thru 1962. He then taught at Roodhouse in the 1962-63 school year. When coloration between White Hall and Roodhouse into North Greene occurred I believe was the 1963-64 school year, he lost his position due to the switch the previous year caused him to no longer have seniority or tenure. Coach McCarthy worked for the IL Secretary of State in 1963-64 and then took a teaching and coaching position at Auburn HS in Auburn, IL He left Auburn in 1969 to return to White Hall North Greene HS.
To read an oral interview and history given by Coach Billy D. McCarthy please click on the following link:
