West High School - EOS Yearbook (Aurora, IL)

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a growing need in the community, a high school was organized. An institution like the West High School of Aurora is a growth, and not a spontaneous creation. Only a few of the West Aurora High School alumni remember the attractive old stone school house of six rooms surrnounted by a belfry, containing a bell, which called the child- ren to school for more than thirty years. This historic structure was located on the site of the present Oak Street School building, in 1870. Soon after the civil war there arose much dissatisfaction concerning the management of the schools 3 and many of the older boys and girls were sent by parents to Q , fi H Fha- -KN N Clark fnow jenningsj Seminary. f ' ,AK M - ,ai WGA ' XV 2 Corporal and unusual punishment had QW ' 5 been carried to extreme. Illustrating one KJ? f mode of punishment, it was no uncommon El w f l1?iW7 jx vie! - thing to see a pupil stretched out full l ' ,.,, - ..1ML1-4fCf '5?.- length on a shelf of a bookcase, doing , V 4 .- xy, . , , gfsiiwi W :f penance for some misdemeanor. 4 A change in superintendents was A ai- - K ' thought advisable and the board of ai- ',i,,, -i rectors, Alonzo George, William Law- g 5 V rence, and Dr. Allaire selected Frank H. i t A 'n yr -, 'fjfggt if I NX Hall, a young man from Maine, less than - X i a li ,-Sl pn years of age, for the position in 297 1 Vi. 5 A-ff' ' J ' -. . ,nl 'vlff ff ' School conditions were entirely differ- - ,f ' Y ent in the seventies and eighties from F ' F ' what they are today. The school was ' ' 'ff1fQi3'sT surrounded by a high picket fence and W flbfmmn board sidewalk. A deep well with an old oaken bucket supplied the water, the rooms were heated by stoves, the young people were warmly clad. But two teachers were then employed in the high school besides the superintendent and the principal. There were no special teachers in those days. Su- perintendent Hall led the singing with the assistance of his pitch pipe, as there were no musical instruments in any of the schools. Then came Mr. Hastings with his flute. Professor Freeman put music in charge of regular teachers. T-oo much cannot be said in praise of Frank H. Hall and his untiring efforts in or- ganizing the West Aurora High School. He was remarkable in being able to keep the older boys in school and was loved and respected by every pupil. Both W. B. Powell on the east side and Frank H. Hall were instrumental in building up Aurora's schools and both received recognition and honors in greater fields of learning elsewhere. Fun in the Old Days consisted of picnics at Mill Creek in the summer, skating on the river above the dam, sleigh rides to Batavia with sleigh bells and buffalo robes follow- ed by oyster suppers in the winter, all of which afforded the students great joy. Due to fire a new building was erected in 1906 on Galena, Blackhawk, and Walnut Streets.

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ing heard glowing accounts of the then 0 INTIDDDUCTIDN S37 H AUIQUIQA S 1937 Today from an unconquered and un- developed land which echoed in turn Rx w if K :V . f- to the red-man's dance, the rattle of the Q,-w ' F V, X pioneers' musketry, the soft tug of the A: A 'fi 'ff-A Y ' low share as it cut the alluvial soil g 51-,f , f P , ' ff Bw-1 TL, j , I r the ax of the home builder, and the , -pe 925 - pl' grinding gears of the iirst mills and 4 f ,p, e23f .,tj5.l - 3 'I factories, Aurora, the city now named 3 'Q ' H 1, fgjz l f for the rosy-lingered goddess of the gig, Pr, - I' ' dawn, looks back on its first one hun- , dred years. ' .g,qfl,. g , - . , V 2 Any history of early Aurora, be it ' 'Q M ' .x I en. long or short, must necessarily be that r fl , of Samuel and joseph McCarty, who are credited with being the founders of Tvkcwy WL this community. The young men, hav- far West, decided to cast their lots in the new country. Joseph, choosing the town site, made friends with Waubonsie and his Indians and renamed the West Aurora and Bata- via region, then known as Big Woods, McCarty's Mills. These hardy, adventurous pio- neers, with character, education, and business acumen that presaged successful accomp- lishment, will have as their perpetual monument the city of Aurora. In 1837 Aurora was named, a post office secured, a new grist mill opened, the last oi the Indians were banished, new settlers received, business houses started and small fac- tories openedg the town was on its way up. It may be thought that the history of Aurora has been humble and commonplace, yet it has experienced within the life time of a few who are still with us the disappearance of the savage, the coming and passing of the pioneer, and finally the advent of a civilization not surpassed by that of the oldest communities in the world. Aurora was the first city in the world to light its streets by elec- tricity and the first municipality to own its electric lighting system. Foremost among Aurora's Firsts were Miss Angeline Atwater, who conducted a school for the west side, and Mr. Livings, who likewise opened classes on the east side. The lirst school was located on the Fox River near the foot of Spring Street. Then, due to

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yan- ---+------ -. i In 1870 four girls and one boy were gradu- ated from the west side school. They were Ella Stolp, Emma Stolp, Mary Judd, Frank Bradley 5 4 ' A fx , ,N and Naveda Hines. Also ranked in the list of 5 ,-2?-Q gk 1 ,X 'X .X Aurora's Firsts were Burr Winton, the lirst 5 ghd ,,-J- , .1 Z '- .U . to conduct a subscription library, and B. F. I fy X Hall, the first mayor of the combined villages l I, -K g , to be known as Aurora. l' ' ' X' Even in transportation as well as industry 235- xwaq xx Aurora has progressed. Browsing through - -1: 'jf ' some old laws we End that the people had 'f . jf traffic troubles in those days as we do today. -. 'I 1 if . ,' No horses, mules, or cattle shall be offered Q T i? if , for sale at auction on the streets, violators ft-.iv Qi! N shall be guilty-of nuisance. No person shall , 'f?g-Q i W drive over any bridge faster than a walk or - ...am . .gig X 3 Ci: .-- . 1-X 1 , -.,,, - X 1 uf-fs sexi-tw time drive more than ten head of cattle at a time. It seems ages and ages ago, almost legend- ary, since the little old one lunged Brush machine, Uhorseless carriages, used to spit and jerk along the streetg objects of interest and curiosity, targets of abuse, ridicule and derision 3 but it isn't so long ago as time i measured. The automobile passed through those three famous stages Cas did the moviesj, per- Sewtion, ridicule, and adoption. In Aurora our pioneer motorists carried on bravely through the first two stages. The first auto ever on Aurora Streets was a steam-powered locomobile owned by Hi Henry, the famous minstrel man, driven during the parade before his show. It attracted more attention than a herd of elephants, about 1897. O C. Miller drove an electric car about Aurora for a few days, presumably on trial, but Charles Phillips was the first Aurora man to own a machine. In the pioneer days of auto interest, a newspaper carried a column headed Buzz Buggies and Bugs that Drive Them. The first newspaper, the Aurora Democrat, was published by the Ingraham Bros., in 1846. It lasted but three weeks and was followed in 1847 by the Beacon, the lirst suc- cessful newspaper. It was published by M. V. and B. F. Hall over P. A. Hall's drug store on the west side of River Street. Moving pictures made their debut in Aurora at the Lyric, the first theater having been opened in a store building on the south side of Main Street in 1908. Since teddy- lgear dolls were then all the rage, the iirst show was just some scenes of animated teddy ears. Auwra has made many improvements, but one factor remains the same through the passing years-the great, natural beauty of the Fox River Valley, noteworthy for the love- liness of its scenery, beauteous woodlands, rippling WMCYWBYS-