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Coffeen's first school was established somewhere around 1885 and was located on Stoddard Street. The first schoolmaster was John Booher, and he had approximately 80 pupils under his direction. A new two-story school building was erected on the same site a few years later, but it seems that conditions were still crowded. One teacher had a total of 74 pupils in her room and another had to seat the children on the floor until new desks arrived. |
In 1897 Coffeen High School graduated its first class of seniors, thirteen in all. They were:
Llewellyn Traylor Susan Bee Smith Mabel Joyce Wood Hall Camilla Manley Charles Whitlock Baxter Nichols Edward Thacker Willet Nichols Oscar Edwards Lester McDavid Florence Brooks Tessie Murphy Mr. J. L. Traylor was principal.
The present school building was erected in 1912 at a total cost of $17,000.00. The original school had eight rooms, but was not wired for eletricity. In 1921, under the leadership of Board President, Dr. O. A. Wielgreffe, the basement was divided into classrooms and the building was wired. In 1929 a fire escape was added and in 1934 the gymnasium on the southwest side was built. In 1951 the new gym on the northeast side of the original building was added and the old gym was remolded. It now houses the homemaking room, shop, art room, and cafeteria.
The first class to graduate from the new building did so in 1913 when Laurel Elam was principal. The four graduates were:
Ruby Champe Cordah Baker Edgar Harris Barney Donaldson, Jr. Forty-three classes graduated from this building, the last one in 1955. Consolidation with the Hillsboro Community Unit District was effected in the 1955-56 school year and Coffeen students now attend Hillsboro High School.
The last graduating class had twenty-five members. They were:
Naomi Brewer Ronald Robertson Kenny Durbin Walter Schroedel Carl Gansner Kathryn Smith Naomi Garland Shirley Smith Elbert Grindley Ruth Ann Snider James Howard Bob Snow Jewell Harrison Ed Thacker Dean Huber Fred Traylor Neva Huber Richard White James Jones John Williams Theresa Limper Kay Young Johnny Logan Mary Smith Lila Malloy
Graduates from Coffeen High School number 641 and are scattered over some 24 states. The smallest class ever to graduate was in 1902, when Lyman E. Traylor was the only senior.
One of our outstanding educators was Mr. Calvin Satterlee, who spent a total of 32 years teaching, coaching and acting as principal in the Coffeen School. In the spring of 1964, he was honored by the Community for his many years of outstanding service. The community conferred upon Mr. Satterlee, the title of "Mr. Coffeen".
Last Updated: May 11, 2005 8:59 AM
History