The Tri-County Conference is a
high school
A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...
conference
A conference is a meeting of two or more experts to discuss and exchange opinions or new information about a particular topic.
Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always decisions, are the main p ...
in north central
Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...
. The conference participates in athletics and activities in the
Illinois High School Association
The Illinois High School Association (IHSA) is an association that regulates competition of interscholastic sports and some interscholastic activities at the high school level for the state of Illinois. It is a charter member of the National Fed ...
. The conference incorporates 8 small public and 2 small private high schools, with enrollments between 82-428 students in
LaSalle,
Livingston
Livingston may refer to:
Businesses
* Livingston Energy Flight, an Italian airline (2003–2010)
* Livingston Compagnia Aerea, an Italian airline (2011–2014), also known as Livingston Airline
* Livingston International, a North American custom ...
,
Marshall,
Putnam, and
Woodford Woodford may refer to:
Places
Australia
*Woodford, New South Wales
*Woodford, Queensland, a town in the Moreton Bay Region
*Woodford, Victoria
Canada
* Woodford, Ontario
England
*Woodford, Cornwall
* Woodford, Gloucestershire
*Woodford, Greate ...
counties.
History
The first year of competition for the Tri-County was 1927 with ten charter schools: Hennepin, Henry, Hopkins Township in Granville, Lacon, Lostant, Magnolia, Senachwine Township in Putnam, McNabb Swaney, Tonica, and Varna. During the lifetime of the conference, most of these ten very small rural schools have remained in the league in one form or another. Some have left and returned and many of them have consolidated to become new entities. Regardless, the conference has changed many times over the years.
The first two schools to consolidate were Henry and Senachwine Township High Schools. The new high school became known as
Henry-Senachwine Consolidated High School beginning in the fall of 1947 and would be located in
Putnam, Illinois
Putnam is an unincorporated community in Putnam County, Illinois, United States. The community is located to the west of Senachwine Lake along Illinois Route 29, north of Henry
Henry may refer to:
People
*Henry (given name)
* Henry (surname ...
. The following year, Magnolia High School merged into Swaney High School near the town of
McNabb, ceasing the existence of the Magnolia Pirates. In 1949, Varna High School consolidated with Lacon High School to create Mid-County High School, located in Varna. Sparland, a team that was part of the Tri-County but left for the
Little 6 Conference in 1958, consolidated with Mid-County High School to form
Midland High School in 1995.
Rutland joined the Tri-County in the early 1930's, however, they would leave for the
Mid State Conference
The Mid State Conference was a high school conference in central Illinois. The conference participated in athletics and activities in the Illinois High School Association. The conference comprised 15 small public high schools, with enrollments ...
during a consolidation with the Minonk-Dana School District in 1956. This new high school would be known as Minonk-Dana-Rutland. Toluca and Wenona High Schools joined the Tri-County in the early 1930's, however, in 1992 they consolidated with Minonk-Dana-Rutland to create
Fieldcrest High School
The Cannon Mills Company was an American textile manufacturing company based in Kannapolis, North Carolina, that mainly
produced towels and bed sheets. Founded in 1887 by James William Cannon, by 1914 the company was the largest towel and sheet ...
located in
Minonk, Illinois
Minonk is a city in Minonk Township, Woodford County, Illinois, United States. The population was 2,078 at the 2010 census, down from 2,168 in 2000. It is part of the Peoria, Illinois Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Geography
Minonk is located ...
. Fieldcrest remained in the Mid State Conference.
Some small schools would cease operations during the course of time. Original member, Lostant High School in
Lostant, Illinois
Lostant is a village in LaSalle County, Illinois, United States. The population was 423 at the 2020 census, down from 498 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Ottawa Micropolitan Statistical Area.
History
A post office has been in operation at ...
, remained a member of the conference until 1958 when it would join the
Little 6 Conference. They would return to the Tri-County in 1961, however, in 1993 the school closed due to financial constraints. Students from Lostant were given options to attend one of four nearby schools;
Fieldcrest
The Cannon Mills Company was an American textile manufacturing company based in Kannapolis, North Carolina, that mainly
produced towels and bed sheets. Founded in 1887 by James William Cannon, by 1914 the company was the largest towel and she ...
,
Putnam County,
Streator
Streator is a city in LaSalle County, Illinois, LaSalle and Livingston County, Illinois, Livingston counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. The city is situated on the Vermilion River (Illinois River tributary), Vermilion River approximately so ...
, or
LaSalle-Peru.
During the 1950s and 60s, there was a push in the state to consolidate rural districts. Several schools in the Tri-County followed the initiative and either merged or consolidated. In 1956, the high schools of
Roanoke and
Benson Benson may refer to:
Animals
*Benson (fish), largest common carp caught in Britain
Places Geography
Canada
*Rural Municipality of Benson No. 35, Saskatchewan; rural municipality
*Benson, Saskatchewan; hamlet
United Kingdom
* Benson, Oxfordshire ...
, long-time rivals, consolidated to form
Roanoke-Benson High School and continue to be a member of the conference. Washburn High School, located in
Washburn, Illinois
Washburn is a village mostly in Woodford County, with a small northerly portion in Marshall County, Illinois, United States. The population was 1,158 at the 2010 census, up from 1,147 in 2000. It is part of the Peoria, Illinois Metropolitan Stati ...
was a school that had existed in the league since 1929, however, it would consolidate with the high school from
Lowpoint to create
Lowpoint-Washburn High School
Lowpoint-Washburn Junior/Senior High School is a public junior-senior high school in Washburn, Woodford County, Illinois. It handles seventh through twelfth grade and is in the same building as the Lowpoint-Washburn Community Unit School Distric ...
in 1952. In 1966, two charter schools, Hennepin and Hopkins Township, would consolidate with previously consolidated Magnolia-Swaney High School to form
Putnam County High School.
During the tenure of the Tri-County, schools like
Eureka,
Bureau Valley, and
Peoria Christian joined and left. Another example of a school that would join the league and leave is
DePue High School
DePue High School, or DHS, is a public four-year high school located at 204 Pleasant Street in De Pue, Illinois, a village in Bureau County, Illinois, in the Midwestern United States. DHS serves the community and surrounding area of DePue. The c ...
. DePue would leave the
Indian Valley Conference in 1994, join the Tri-County, only to leave in 2020 to join the
Little Ten Conference
The Little Ten Conference is the oldest continuous high school athletic conference in the state of Illinois. Founded in 1919, it comprised the following small high schools in northern Illinois: Earlville, Hinckley, Leland, Paw Paw, Plano, R ...
.
Bradford High School, who joined the league in 1994, was deactivated in 2001 based on low enrollment. Students from
Bradford
Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 ...
were given the choice of attending Bureau Valley, Henry-Senachwine, or
Stark County High School
Stark County High School, or SCHS, is a public four-year high school located at 418 S. Franklin Street in Toulon, Illinois, a village in Stark County, Illinois, in the Midwestern United States. SCHS is part of Stark County Community Unit School ...
s.
For nearly a century, the Tri-County has remained in operation with at least six high schools. Currently the league consists of six full members and four partial members, the full members are;
Putnam County,
Henry-Senachwine,
Roanoke-Benson,
Streator Woodland,
Varna Midland, and
Lowpoint-Washburn. Beginning in 2023-24 school year,
Peru St. Bede,
Dwight Dwight may refer to:
People
* Dwight (given name)
* Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969), 34th president of the United States and former military officer
*New England Dwight family of American educators, military and political leaders, and authors
* ...
and
Ottawa Marquette will compete in the Tri-County for all sports except football, which will compete in the newly formed
Chicago Prairie Football League
The Chicago Prairie Football League is a high school football only conference in northern Illinois. The conference participates in the Illinois High School Association. The conference includes five small public and three small private high schoo ...
.
Seneca
Seneca may refer to:
People and language
* Seneca (name), a list of people with either the given name or surname
* Seneca people, one of the six Iroquois tribes of North America
** Seneca language, the language of the Seneca people
Places Extrat ...
, also a partial member of the Tri-County, plays in the Vermilion Valley (South) Conference for football.
Member schools
Previous Members
''Sources:IHSA Conferences, and IHSA Member Schools Directory''
Membership timeline
DateFormat = yyyy
ImageSize = width:1100 height:auto barincrement:20
Period = from:1927 till:2023
TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal
PlotArea = right:20 left:0 bottom:50 top:5 #> to display a count on left side of graph, use "left:20" to suppress the count, use "left:20"<#
Colors = id:barcolor
id:line value:pink
id:bg value:white
id:Full value:rgb(0.742,0.727,0.852) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports
id:FullxF value:rgb(0.551,0.824,0.777) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports except for football
id:AssocF value:rgb(0.98,0.5,0.445) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member for football only
id:AssocOS value:rgb(0.78,0.391,0.654) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in some sports, but not all (consider identifying in legend or a footnote)
id:OtherC1 value:rgb(0.996,0.996,0.699) # Use this color to denote a team that has moved to another conference
id:OtherC2 value:rgb(0.988,0.703,0.383) # Use this color to denote a team that has moved to another conference where OtherC1 has already been used, to distinguish the two
PlotData=
width:15 textcolor:black shift:(5,-5) anchor:from fontsize:s
bar:1 color:Full from:1927 till:1947 text:Henry (1927–1947)
bar:1 color:White from:1947 till:end text:(1947) Consolidated with Senachwine to form Henry-Senachwine HS
bar:2 color:Full from:1927 till:1947 text:Putnam Senachwine Township (1927-1947)
bar:2 color:White from:1947 till:end text:(1947) Consolidated with Henry to form Henry-Senachwine HS
bar:3 color:Full from:1947 till:end text:Henry-Senachwine (1947-Present)
bar:4 color:Full from:1927 till:1993 text:Lostant (1927–1993)
bar:4 color:White from:1993 till:end text:(1993) School closed
bar:5 color:Full from:1927 till:1939 text:Hennepin (1927–1939)
bar:5 color:White from:1939 till:1948 text:(1939) B-L-P Conf
bar:5 color:White from:1948 till:1966 text:(1948) Little 6 Conference
bar:5 color:White from:1966 till:end text:(1966) Consolidated with Magnolia-Swaney and Hopkins to form Putnam County HS
bar:6 color:Full from:1927 till:1948 text:Magnolia (1927-1948)
bar:6 color:White from:1948 till:end text:(1948) Consolidated with Swaney to form Magnolia-Swaney HS
bar:7 color:Full from:1927 till:1948 text:McNabb Swaney (1927-1948)
bar:7 color:White from:1948 till:end text:(1948) Consolidated with Magnolia to form Magnolia-Swaney HS
bar:8 color:Full from:1948 till:1966 text:Magnolia-Swaney (1948–1966)
bar:8 color:white from:1966 till:end text:(1966) Consolidated with Hopkins Township and Hennepin to form Putnam County HS
bar:9 color:Full from:1927 till:1966 text:Hopkins Township (1927–1966)
bar:9 color:White from:1966 till:end text:(1966) Consolidated with Magnolia-Swaney and Hennepin to form Putnam County HS
bar:10 color:Full from:1966 till:end text:Putnam County (1966-Present)
bar:11 color:Full from:1927 till:1990 text:Tonica (1927-1990)
bar:11 color:White from:1990 till:end text:(1990) School Closed, students attend LaSalle-Peru HS
bar:12 color:Full from:1927 till:1949 text:Lacon (1927-1949)
bar:12 color:white from:1949 till:end text:(1949) Consolidated with Varna HS to form Mid-County HS
bar:13 color:Full from:1927 till:1949 text:Varna (1927-1949)
bar:13 color:white from:1949 till:end text:(1949) Consolidated with Lacon HS to form Mid-County HS
bar:14 color:Full from:1949 till:1995 text:Mid-County (1949-1995)
bar:14 color:White from:1995 till:end text:(1995) Consolidated with Sparland to form Midland HS
bar:15 color:Full from:1939 till:1958 text:Sparland (1939-1958)
bar:15 color:White from:1958 till:1995 text:(1958-1995) Little 6 Conference
bar:15 color:White from:1995 till:end text:(1995) Consolidated with Mid-County to form Midland HS
bar:16 color:Full from:1995 till:end text:Midland (1995-Present)
bar:17 color:Full from:1929 till:1952 text:Washburn (1929-1952)
bar:17 color:White from:1952 till:end text:(1952) Consolidated with Lowpoint to form Lowpoint-Washburn HS
bar:18 color:Full from:1952 till:end text:Lowpoint-Washburn (1952-Present)
bar:19 color:Full from:1930 till:1956 text:Roanoke (1930-1956)
bar:19 color:White from:1956 till:end text:Consolidated with Benson to form Roanoke-Benson HS
bar:20 color:Full from:1939 till:1956 text:Benson (1939-1956)
bar:20 color:White from:1956 till:end text:Consolidated with Roanoke to form Roanoke-Benson HS
bar:21 color:Full from:1956 till:end text:Roanoke-Benson (1956-Present)
bar:22 color:Full from:1932 till:1956 text:Rutland (1932-1956)
bar:22 color:White from:1956 till:end text:Consolidated with Minonk-Dana to form Minonk-Dana-Rutland HS
bar:23 color:Full from:1932 till:1992 text:Toluca (1932-1992)
bar:23 color:White from:1992 till:end text:(1992) Consolidated with Wenona and Minonk-Dana-Rutland to form Fieldcrest HS
bar:24 color:Full from:1932 till:1992 text:Wenona (1932-1992)
bar:24 color:White from:1992 till:end text:(1992) Consolidated with Wenona and Minonk-Dana-Rutland to form Fieldcrest HS
bar:25 color:Full from:1994 till:2001 text:Bradford(1994-2001)
bar:25 color:White from:2004 till:end text:School Closed
bar:26 color:Full from:1994 till:2020 text:DePue (1994-2020)
bar:27 color:Full from:1994 till:end text:Marquette (1994-Present)
bar:28 color:Full from:1994 till:2010 text:St. Bede (1994-2010)
bar:28 color:White from:2010 till:2023 text:(2010) NCIC
bar:28 color:Full from:2023 till:end text:(2023-Present)
bar:29 color:Full from:1995 till:2006 text:Eureka(1995-2006)
bar:30 color:Full from:1997 till:2006 text:Bureau Valley (1997-2006)
bar:31 color:Full from:1997 till:2021 text:Peoria Christian (1997-2021)
bar:32 color:Full from:2006 till:end text:Woodland (2006-Present)
bar:33 color:Full from:2018 till:end text:Seneca (2018-Present)
bar:34 color:Full from:2021 till:end text:Dwight (2021-Present)
ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:3 start:1927
TextData =
fontsize:L
textcolor:black
pos:(0,30) tabs:(400-center)
text:^"Tri-County all-time membership history"
#> If the chart uses more than one bar color, add a legend by selecting the appropriate fields from the following six options (use only the colors that are used in the graphic.) Leave a blank line after the end of the timeline, then add a line with the selected values from the list, separated by a space. <#
''Sources:Illinois High School Glory Days,
Boys Basketball Tournament Championships
Tri-County Conference Tournament Championships
References
2015 Championship Game story from Ottawa Times{{Illinois High School Association
Illinois high school sports conferences