Pulaski County, Illinois
Genealogy Trails
Submitted & Wrote by; Paul E. Echols
ULLIN SCHOOLS
1917-1974
As the population of Ullin continued to grow in the early 1900’s and the condition of the old wooden school continued to deteriorate, the need for a modern school became apparent. By 1916, money was appropriated and the Ullin School Board voted to build a new school. In 1917-1919, a brick two-story school was constructed on the Butterridge Road or what was also called the Big Creek Road.
Today the street is called Ullin Avenue, but the building is no longer there. Students who once attended Ullin schools, merged with Grand Chain and Karnak to form Century School District #100 in 1963. The old Ullin brick school building was used for several years as a grade school, until 1974. The only thing left at this site are the ball park, lots of memories, and the old brick gymnasium, which was dedicated as the Leona Brust Civic Center in about 1980.
There are not many former students living who would remember what the original red brick building looked like when it was first constructed. Some will remember the two brick diamond designs, accented by white bricks, centered on the left and right façade on the front of the building. By 1974, the year the building was finally abandoned, the brick building and those structures built around it looked much different than the simple rectangular two-story brick building that opened for classes in 1919. The only part of the building that remained unchanged was the front facade (south side), including the two diamonds designs. The front of the building, with two entry doors, never changed and was probably the side most photographed during its existence.
The original dimensions of the building constructed in 1917, were that of a long and narrow brick building. It measured 100’ feet long and 35’ feet wide. Within a few years, an addition was made on the northeast corner adding another 35’ foot wide by 50’ foot long addition. This made the building an “L” shape structure. After the second phase of construction, there were 8 classrooms; 4 downstairs and 4 upstairs. The new school was equipped with electricity, something fairly new to the region. Heat was provided by a coal fired boiler and steam system. Through out the life of the Ullin brick school, it was always heated by steam although the coal fired boilers were changed to natural gas about 1971. The original lights were incandescent, and ceilings in the classrooms were 12’ high. The tall ceilings and transoms over the classroom doors helped keep the rooms cool during warm days. Air conditioning was never added to the building. The school was equipped with many large windows, which allowed teachers to capture whatever air was stirring during the day.
Graduation ceremonies for the Ullin High School were held at various locations through the years. Graduating classes generally ranged from about 15 to 20 students. The Ullin Methodist Church was host to almost all ceremonies until the first gymnasium was built. The class of 1927 was the first to utilize the new gymnasium added that year. Even after that, some were held in the Methodist church for unknown reasons. After the second gymnasium was built in 1941, it offered much more space and graduation ceremonies were held there. A graduation invitation from the Ullin High School Class of 1931 indicates the ceremony was the 23rd annual commencement. This indicates the first official commencement was in 1919, the year the brick school opened for classes.
While the initial construction during 1917-1919 did not include a gymnasium, the original plans may have included it. By 1927, a gymnasium was added on the north side of the building, in the natural void of the “L” shaped building. This addition completed the structure into a rectangular building measuring 100’ feet long and 80’ wide (it is important to note, this gym was added to the existing structure, and was not the same gym that most remember and know today as the Leona Brust Civic Center). By 1941, the new gym was built and the old gym was converted into classrooms.
In 2002, I interviewed my Uncle William H. Echols (born in Ullin in 1919), who attended the brick school from about 1925 until 1938. Here are some of his memories.
The second floor {of the brick school} was mostly identical to the first floor. The building was “L” shaped before the gym was built. I don’t remember the date when the gym was built, but I do remember when the first trailer load of bricks arrived by truck one evening. It was evening and my friend Vincent Ledbetter (Vincent was one of five Ullin boys later killed in WWII) and I, who were in grade school, were playing along the street that led toward the school. The driver asked us where the Ullin School was located. After we told him, he asked us if we wanted to earn a little money by helping him unload the bricks. It was a summer evening and we unloaded the bricks by moonlight. I think the tongs held about 8 bricks and we stacked them near the northeast corner of the building.
There was a stairway that led under the 7-8th grade room located on the northeast corner of the building. Those stairs led down to a boiler room in the basement. It was a hand-fed, coal fired steam system. Pipes carried the steam to cast iron radiators with vents to allow the air to circulate and carry the heat from them. The vents did not always work too well and the building was sometimes cold.
In the years I attended the Ullin School, there was no lunch room. At lunch time, those who lived in town went home for lunch, and those who lived outside of town brought their own lunch or went home with a friend in town.
Originally, there were no indoor bathrooms in the brick school. The toilets were located outside, behind the school building. These were of course the old wooden “outhouses” of the day. The boy’s toilet was located to the east, and girl’s toilet was to the west of the gym. As I remember the boy’s outhouse, it was at least a two seater. I was never in the girls, but assume it was similar in design. The outhouses would have to be moved from time-to-time and placed over a new hole dug into the earth. Every so often, someone would step into the old holes and that was not a very pleasant experience as you can imagine. After the first gym was built we had indoor bathrooms. The bathrooms were located on the north side of the gym on each side of a stage that existed along that wall. The gym was relatively small, but in a lot of ways similar to the gym that exists there today. There was not much room between the small stage and the gym floor. There were bleachers for fans to sit on the south side of the gym. I can remember about three plays performed on the stage in the gym.
I remember going with my father to a basketball game held in the old M. E. Church building which had been converted into a gymnasium. One of the players I remember seeing was Clifford Needham who was later president of the Ullin and Dongola Banks. The old wood gym had been moved to Dale Street, which is north of the present day Ullin Catholic Church. I never played basketball in the old wood building, but did play basketball in the new brick gym from grade school through high school. I never played basketball in the gym that was later built separate from the school. I have many good memories that were made at the Ullin School.
A group photo taken of the 1937-38 Ullin High School Basketball Team reveals a daunting story of things to come. The picture included Ullin High School Principal Guy Runyan, Bill Echols, Clyde Day, Herman French, Sam Ulen, Ray Brust, Leroy Hoffmeier, Lawrence Brust, Vincent Ledbetter and Coach Armstrong. World War II was looming over the horizon and later claimed the lives of three of the UHS team members. Clyde Day, Herman French and Vincent Ledbetter were three of five Ullin boys killed during the war. The other five members of the team survived the war and lived long lives. Three members are still alive today.
In the early 1900’s most small towns like Ullin provided only three years of high school. Graduates of the three year Ullin High School, during the 1920’s, received diplomas or certificates that would dwarf the ones handed out today. A diploma in 1923 measured 15 ½” inches by 20” inches and included a small ribbon on the certificate. Students who wished to finish the fourth year were required to attend a school in a larger town whose curriculum included all four years. Many of the Ullin students completed their final year in Mounds. Leona Brust finished her senior year in Cobden. Finally, in 1937, under the guidance of school board President Lon Dale, Ullin received permission from the State of Illinois to extend their curriculum to a full four year high school, ending the need for students to travel to other towns to finish that fourth year.
The earliest yearbook or school paper I have collected of the Ullin School is 1931. The 1931 yearbook was named the Ullin Pyramid. One page from this yearbook reads:
The Ullin Pyramid was brought into existence during the school year 1929-1930. It was the first paper to be published at the Ullin High School and has been quite a success. It is published once monthly and contains all the school news and announcements. The idea of school papers is gaining ground in Pulaski County as was shown by the press conference held at Mound City this year, and to which the entire staff of the Ullin Pyramid was invited. We are quite proud of our paper. The staff for this year are as follows: Frances Hileman, Orlan Parker, Harold Hart, Gerald Walker, John Miller, John Mathis, Ruby Watkins, Wilda George, Viola George, Eileen Ulen, Wilmont Crippen, and Faculty Advisor—Mr. Edwards.
The 1931 yearbook included group photos of all the students in high school and photos of the sport teams. No individual student photos were included. The yearbooks and school newspapers at Ullin High School carried various names through the years. Some of the names included, The Pyramid, Hi-Lites, Spot Light, Chieftain, Echo, Treasure Chest and the Indian. While not politically correct today, the Ullin High School sports teams typically were named the Indians. The front of the basketball uniforms in 1948 were adorned by a figure of an Indian head in full headdress. The UHS school colors through the years were traditionally gold and black. For many years the Ullin Grade School teams were known as the Ullin Panthers, although the colors remained gold and black. The first Ullin High School baseball field on campus was located behind the current gymnasium. The ball park included a wooden backstop and bleachers built by Porky Johnson and Carl Wilkins, owner and manager, respectively, of the Ullin Aces, Ullin’s semi-pro, independent league team. The Ullin Aces and Ullin’s school teams used the park.
In the mid 1950’s the ballpark was moved west of the playground where it exists today. It was used during the summer for independent league teams including an Ullin Women’s softball team during the 1960’s. In about 1966, Ullin joined other local communities and created a Khoury Baseball League. The president of the Ullin League was Maurice “Baldy” Echols who died in 1972. In honor of his dedication and hours of service in organizing the Ullin Khoury League (which continues today), the ballpark was dedicated in 1973 in his memory. Also in the 1960’s the ballpark was the site of the Ullin Labor Day Celebration, which included carnival rides, food vendors and live music.
In the winter of 1937, Southern Illinois suffered a catastrophic flood. The Ullin area was significantly affected by the rising flood waters as the Ohio River escaped its banks and back flowed into the Cache River basin. The Ullin High School campus was spared as it was on high ground—but just barely. The Cache River bottoms located just south of the school were completely flooded and threatened the entire community. The Ullin School was forced to cancel school for about 6-8 weeks during January and February 1937. When school resumed after the flood waters receded, some students did not return because of the work involved in repairing and clearing flood debris.
As the threat of war loomed over the country in 1941, several improvements to the Ullin School were either in progress or being completed. The new gymnasium, which was a separate structure, was built east of the main school building. The gymnasium was dedicated on February 4, 1941. A story found in the 1941 Ullin High School yearbook stated:
In one of the most brilliantly played ball games of this season, the Indians out-played and overpowered the strong Mound City quintet to open the new gym with a victory. The grand opening night was February 4. The victory was surprising to many because the Ohioans had won the MCCHS Tournament the preceding week. The odds were with the opponents, but they couldn’t withstand the pressure released by the Indians and were subdued in a 28-20 defeat. Ullin took an early lead and never lost control of it during the game. The official line-up and points scored: Scanlin, 5, and R. Brown, 4 forwards; Lynch 2, center; Payne, 16, and Mowery, 1, guards. WOW! What a victory.
In May 1941, a caption under a photo, found in the Cairo Evening Citizen made reference to the construction underway at the Ullin High School. It stated:
In keeping with the modern educational trend, the Ullin High School Board, under the supervision of Charles Mayfield is rapidly nearing completion of a $54,507 building improvement program which will make their school a top ranking contender with other county schools.
The top floor of the new addition will give the Ullin School a modern study hall and library, private administration office and outer office. On the first floor improvements include two large classrooms, complete and modern toilets, showers and fire proof hallway and stairs.
The building will be equipped with hardwood floors, florescent lighting, with new equipment in the superintendent’s office. The present improvements will increase the school plant fifty percent and, including the new gym completed in February, the plant increase will reach one hundred and fifty percent.
Outside of the building program, the school grounds will be landscaped with new improvements on the baseball diamond, outdoor basketball court as well as ground improvements on the grade school playground.
A. J. Coffman is construction superintendent and is at present working eighteen men on the building.
Another related article found in the 1942 Ullin High School yearbook stated:
The students of the Ullin High School are very proud of the new addition which has been added to the school. One of the new features of the new building is the fluorescent lights. The whole building will have them. They are new in the schools of Southern Illinois. It has been said that they will pay for themselves in about eighteen months. Another feature is the new heating system. Instead of steam radiators, we have the unit blower system. While two sets will keep the gymnasium warm very easily, we have two sets in the new assembly. Also there is the new fire-proof hallway downstairs. In case of fire, the students can escape easily and without danger. The upstairs contains the offices and the new assembly. The outer office is the first door to the left upon entering the upstairs hall. The inner office opens into the assembly. The downstairs contains two classrooms and two toilets. New seats were ordered and have recently come and are now in use. We are all very proud of this great improvement.
Also constructed in the 1940’s was the Agricultural Building. Located northwest of the school, this structure included a classroom on the east end and areas for woodworking and industrial arts in the rest of the building. The building had two wooden sliding garage doors, one located on the west side and one located on the south side. Most would remember the Agricultural building for its red asphalt type exterior siding.
The last significant improvement made to the UHS Campus was the addition of a separate lunch room. In about 1950, the school began to serve hot meals inside the school and employed a cook. The first lunchroom was located inside the main building on the first level near the northeast corner of the school. In about 1956, a wooden lunchroom was built. It was painted white and located behind the school on the north side. Inside, two rows of tables with benches ran toward the front of the building. The serving tables and kitchen were located on the east end. One of my personal memories is that of teacher Mrs. Beatrice Ragsdale who monitored the lunch room. It was common practice for Mrs. Ragsdale to send students back to their seat until they “cleaned” their plate. If you wanted to go out and play and you had food on your plate you did not like, you had to be very creative to get past Mrs. Ragsdale. Some students learned to swallow more than their pride! Both white and chocolate milk were available from chest type coolers up front near the serving area. Eventually, a covered walkway was built so students could go to lunch without getting wet during bad weather.
Ullin Schools 1917-1974 (Page 2)
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