Granite City High School - Warrior Yearbook (Granite City, IL)

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October of 1966. It was the second largest plant within their corporation. On July 1, 1970, the Shasta Beverage Com- pany opened its doors. It was located on Highway 3. Another new industry moved to Granite City. An ample supply of good houses were avail- able to the people of Granite City. The resi- dential section near Wilson Park had homes priced within a range of $20,000 to $75,000. These homes were approximately 15 to 25 years old. The newer split-level homes sold from $22,000 to $45,000. Residents of Granite City could expect to pay anywhere from $87.50 per month to $150. if they wanted to rent an appartment. Price, of course, depended upon the facility, location, and square area. The area around Granite City grew rapidly also. The 630-foot Gateway Arch in St. Louis was completed in 1965, and the impressive Busch Memorial Stadium (home of the St. Louis baseball and football Cardinals) came along in spring of 1966. Also a few miles from Granite City was Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. S.I.U. Edwardsville was one of the fastest growing commuter universities in the nation. Students from Granite City could receive quality college education just a few miles away from home. Granite City ' s population was growing so rapidly that another high school had to be built to house the many secondary students. In 1973, North High School opened. Many of the students had to seperate from their close friends. James Dumont was principal at South and Gilbert Walmsley at North. The North students became known as the Steelers and South students were still the Warriors. For the next few years, everything went smoothly. Enrollment was still up in both schools and businesses in Granite City main- tained a good existance. But things didn ' t remain the same — even for this industrial town. Businesses began to close. The foreign car market invaded the U.S. The little cars with good gas mileage were advertised on television, radio, and maga- zines. With the price of gasoline soaring, the small cars looked very appealing. Also, with the high sales of small foreign cars, the Ameri- can automobile industry suffered. People were being layed off from many of the Granite City plants. With no jobs available to these skilled workers, families began moving out of town. They looked for other industrial areas in the U.S. where they could put their talents to good use. The late 1970 ' s were not good years for Granite City. The once prosperous A.O. Smith plant closed. The plant that manufactured modern automobile frames was no longer in operation. Granite City Steel was forced to cut it ' s staff. Union Starch closed. The plant that con- verted corn into products such as corn syrups and sugars, starches, corn oil, and gluten meal and feed closed it ' s doors. Granite City Steel began to decrease the number of workers needed to keep the plant in operation. The once heavily-employed American Steel closed its doors in 1982. More families moved out of Granite City. Moving families meant children moving out of the area. Less and less students were at- tending the schools. In the spring of 1979, three elementary schools were forced to close. They were Mc- Kinley, Stallings, and Washington. The enrollment still declined. Because of this, and increasing costs, the school board needed answers to many questions. To be or not to be, to close or not to close, to tax or not to tax? These were some of the questions that faced the school board. They gathered statistics on finance and enrollment, and studied the maintenance, upkeep and en- ergy costs of the district. On February 1, 1983, the board announced to the citizens of Granite City it was necessary to close more school buildings. The buildings scheduled to close were North High School, Prather Junior High School (to be operated as an elementary school), Emerson, Lake, Logan, Nameoki, and Johnson elementary schools. It would become one big high school again — no North and South. The junior high school students would attend Coolidge and Grigsby, and the elementary students attend- ing the schools due to close would be dis- bursed among other elementary buildings throughout the district. 3 Taxpayers voiced their ideas and opinions at several meetings. No teacher, student, or par- ent wanted their school to close. But there was no alternative. The graduating class of 1983 would be the last North and South class. Just as it was in the past, South would once again become Community High School. It would be a little more crowded in the halls, but the adjustment would have to be made. To successfully carry out this change, a combined effort of everyone would be neces- sary. 4 Granite City would still have one of the finest school systems in Illinois which would provide thorough and sound education for our children — whether it be in one or two high schools. Granite City, also, still had all the key elements necessary to producing another prosperous and industrial site here. Possibly if this combined effort was put to proper use, good fortune may once again be synonymous to Granite City — that Granite City would make a new beginning and that the most successful years in the history of this great city would still lie ahead. The yearbook staff thanks Mayor Paul Schuler for his help in gathering this information. 1. Madison Avenue 15th Street look- ing toward General Steel, American Steel, NESCO, National Leacf, and Hoyt Metal, during the 1903 flood. 2. Nine- teenth Street and State looking west between State and Grand. 3. Seibold’s Niedringhaus Avenue store in 1936. Mrs. Seibold, Mr. Seibold, and Miss Erna Christainson, sales girl. 4. Mem- bers of GCHS hold the flag honoring Granite City as one of the All Amer- ica cities in 1959. 5. Tri-City Grocery store. HISTORY OF GRANITE CITY 5

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LOOKING BACK It was in the spring of 1802 when the first settlers came to the area known as Granite City. A few years after that, a group of Penn- sylvanians boarded flatboats at West Virginia and drifted down the Ohio. They landed in St. Louis, but settled in sand-prarie land about six miles inward on the Illinois side of the Missis- sippi. They gave the name of Six Mile Prarie to their settlement of a few cabins. The year was 1817. By the time Illinois became a part of the Union on December 3, 1818, Madison County had 5,256 inhabitants and an acreage of 15,650 square miles. In the late 1850 ' s and during the Civil War, Six Mile Prarie became the home of scores of German immigrants who purchased much of the land. A man named Calvin Kinder was partly re- sponsible for one of the name changes of Six Mile Prairie. He was a prosperous farmer in the area and soon Six Mile Prairie was called Kinder Station, in respect to his success. About this time, the townspeople decided to construct a district schoolhouse. Mr. Kinder suggested that they construct a build- ing that could be used as a school and church. So, in 1858, a two-story structure was built, (the present site of Emerson School) Several years after that, industrialists F. G. and William F. Niedringhaus began their in- dustrialization idea of Granite City. The family was already well-known in St. Louis for their manufacturing of light-weight kitchen uten- sils. William F. Niedringhaus purchased 3,500 acres of land in Kinder Station in 1892. By 1893, he hired St. Louis ' s city engineer to lay out plans for a city. He filed the plat on May 20, in Edwardsville, the county seat. Also in 1893, the Post Office opened with ).S. Chase as the first postmaster, lames McRoberts patented a process for casting steel in green sand, a discovery that revolu- tionized the industry. Granite City was on it ' s way. The town site occupied what had been the corn field of William E. Barco. Each block was divided into lots 50 feet wide. Longitudinal streets ex- tended northeast and southwest in gridiron fashion, except Niedringhaus Avenue. It ran due east and west. Niedringhaus Avenue had the added dis- tinction of being the only street with a formal name; the others were given numbers or let- ters of the alphabet. Some of the major streets were renamed later and became known as Cleveland, Delmar, Grand, State, Madi son, etc. Several industries were established in 1894- the American Steel Foundries, the (now ex- tinct) Markle Lead Works, the St. Louis Stamp- ing Works (of Illinois), and the Granite City Steel Plant. The word granite was chosen to commemorate the principal product of gran- ite-ware. Because the Niedringhauses believed that good living conditions for the people who worked in their plants were essential to sound industry, they donated property on which churches, schools, a hospital, a Y.M.C.A., and other civic buildings were built. In laying out the town, they planted 14,000 trees, built 100 houses, made provisions for sewers, built a water works and a gas plant. They employed Professor L.P. Frohardt, gra- duate of Central Wesleyan College at Warren- ton, Missouri as the city ' s first teacher. Others employed were Miss Cassie Listman, Miss Emma Pettingill (Mrs. Petrie), and Mr. Grans. Also in the late 1890 ' s, the Niedringhaus brothers built a cross levee at a cost of one thousand dollars to protect the town from floods. A small Negro colony built their homes along the levee. A group of Magyars 1 settled an area on the west side ot town, soon to be referred to as Hungary Hollow. The influx of immigrants eager for work in industry continued. So, by the 1900 ' s, Granite City was a husky thriving place, a new bonanza for merchants and steelworkers. The mills hummed 24 hours a day and money jingled in every Granite Cityan ' s pocket. But soon a quick housing shortage devel- oped for Granite City ' s 3,122 inhabitants. Even sleeping rooms were scarce. Many single men lived in saloon-boarding houses. These estab- lishments carried unforgettable names such as the Yellow Dog, the Blue Goose, and the Big Four. Workers also resided in various rows of flats and cottages known as Big Six, Little Six, Big Ten, Ink Bottle Row, and the Fifty Brick. In the summer of 1901, lots were sold in a new subdivision called West Granite. In that same year, two new schools augmented the educational system, one near the levee for the blacks, and one for the whites on the west side of the tracks, near Lincoln Place. Viola Jones was Granite City ' s first black teacher; later a housing project was built which carried her name. In the spring of 1903, the Mississippi River rose suddenly. Pumps ran 24 hours a day to keep the siep water down. But on June 3, the pumps broke, and areas surrounding Granite City suffered severe flooding. Granite City itself remained comparatively dry except for the west end of town across the railroad tracks. Dr. Robert W. Binney made house calls dur- ing the great flood in a row boat. He also performed the first operation in the new St. Elizabeth Hospital. Dr. Binney was known as the Dean of our Physicians. Free mail delivery came about in 1906. The 2 year 1907 brought a Depression and Hungary Hollow became known as Hungry Hollow. In November of 1910, the McKinley Bridge was opened. It was named after the U.S. Senator of Illinois, W.B. McKinley. In the spring of 1911, Dr. F. E. Tully acquired a new combination touring, outing, and sleeping car. It had the speed of 40 horsepow- er, had its own electric clock, grademeter, pathfinder, and speedometer. Also in 1911, the Washington Airdome was built. It gave Granite City an outdoor theatre which allowed playgoers to remain comfort- able as well as entertained on the hot summer nights. St. Elizabeth ' s Hospital opened in the same year. It was operated by the Sisters of St. Fran- cis. It was previously known as the Lutheran hospital. The year 1912 brought an experiment with the 8-hour work day. It also brought about an increase in hourly wages. Between 1905 and 1915, three schools were built. They were Logan, McKinley, and Gran- ite City High School. In 1921 the Granite City Park District formed and Wilson Park opened. It offered approximately 72 acres of recreational park area for Granite City residents. In 1929, the public library and City Hall buildings were built. The Federal Housing Project was approved in 1940 so that Kirkpat- rick Homes were built. The building project contained 150 dwelling units. Granite City and Nameoki merged into one corporation in 1950. This gave Granite City the largest population of the Tri-City complex with 41,000 inhabitants. Madison and Venice were the two other components of this prin- cipal, industrial area. Granite City was known as the Pittsburgh of the West. This was due to its metal pro- ducing capacity. Granite City covered a land area of 7.4 miles, and it ' s proud slogan was We are the Industrial Magnet of the West. Do to Granite City ' s rapid growth, it was selected as an All-American City. It achieved this award in 1959. At that time Granite City had 21 schools and 64 churches. Granite City ' s impressive Chain of Rocks ca- nal and dual locks system established the city as an important river terminal. In the 50 ' s and 60 ' s, industry gave Granite City a name that was nationally known. It re- presented millions of dollars in investments and exchanges. Some of it ' s industries includ- ed Granite City Steel Company; A.O. Smith Corporation; General Steel Industries, Com- monwealth Division; and Miles Laboratories, Incorporated Marshall Division. A.O. Smith Corporation recognized the growth potential in Granite City and in 1954 erected a 320,000 square feet modern auto- mobile frame assembly plant. In 1971 another 24,000 square feet was added to the plant. Miles Laboratories, Inc. became affiliated with Union Starch and Refining Company in 4 HISTORY OF GRANITE CITY

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LATE AND GREAT By the end of our 1982-83 school year, many famous personalities were gone. Whomever they were, young or old, female or male, they all managed to leave an impression on today ' s society. STANLEY HOLLOWAY who played Alfred Doolittle in My Fair Lady was a stage and screen performer for 75 years. The wife of Harry S. Truman, BESS TRUMAN, died in her hometown of Independence, Missouri. ELEANOR POWELL tapped her way to fame and stardom in 13 movies. The good guy in most of his films, HENRY FONDA died after making 80 films. LEONID BREZHNEV ruled Russia for 18 years. Fans of early-morning television during the 50 ' s could not forget DAVE CARROWAY. LEE STRASEBERC directed the Actors Studio and helped hundreds of young people achieve their acting goals. INGRID BERGMAN played the beautiful lisa in the movie Casablanca with Humphrey Bogart. GRACE KELLY will always be remembered as her Highness of Monaco and also as The Country Girl. ROMY SCHNEIDER, who was once a child star, performed in 60 films. Country singer and country gentlemen MARTY ROBBINS left us all with many country ballads and gentle love songs. LEROY SATCHEL PAIGE pitched for 40 years and 2,600 games. JOYCE C. HALL, founder of Hallmark Cards, died at the age of 91. KENNY BOYER was a former Cardinal player and manager. He was only 51 when he died. One of the best-known fathers on television, HUGH BEAUMONT, died. He played Beaver and Wally ' s father in the series Leave It To Beaver. College football ' s winningest coach, PAUL BEAR” BRYANT of the University of Alabama, called it quits after many years on the football field. Several months after his retirement. Bear Bryant died of a heart attack. KAREN CARPENTER died at the early age of 32. Conservative novelist and philospher, AYN RAND, also died in this past year. She was the author of The Fountainhead. No longer with us is HARRIET ADAMS. She was the author who clued children in to adventures of Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys. JACK WEBB will always be remembered for his television shows Dragnet and Adam-12. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and Summer and Smoke were some of the classics written by TENNESSEE WILLIAMS. The king of jazz, EUGIE BLAKE, died. He was 100 years old. Arthur Godfrey died on March 16, 1983. PRICES McDonald ' s hamburger 50 t Warrior yearbook $15.00 Cigarettes in machine 90«t G.C. Press- Record 25 t G.C. Journal Free Gallon of 2% milk $1.89 Unleaded gas in G.C $1.17 Candy bar 30 t Movie ticket ... $3.50 Book rental $12.00 Sammy Hagar concert $12.50 Prom ticket .... $30.00 The Who concert $17.50 LITTLE PEOPLE AND BIG ACTS All the funny little people, cute frilly chil- dren, and the nice little fellows took their places in the hearts of America this year. E.T. was one of the biggest hits of all times. It earned more than $300 million in six months. The little girl from the comic strips came to the big screen as little ANNIE. There were 2,075 identically dressed cou- ples who were married by Reverend Sun Myung MOON. Frank Zappa and his daughter, Moon Unit, were responsible for the success of the VALLEY GIRLS. VIDEO GAMES became a billion dollar industry this past year. The little blue SMURF came to the U.S. and took over Saturday-morning television. MARY DECKER-TABB, 24, set seven world distance records in one year. WILLIAM ARTHUR PHILLIP LOUIS, heir to the British throne, arrived. The ST. LOUIS BASEBALL CARDINALS won the 1982 World Series. The WORLD ' S FAIR opened in Knox- ville, Tennessee on May 1, 1982. On July 10, MIGUEL VASQUEZ per- formed the first quadruple somersault proving to the world he was one of the best trapeze artists. 6 1982-1983 IN REVIEW