Illinois Glory Days site marks 20th anniversary

Dave Nanninga never attended his hometown Mineral High School, its doors long closed before his time.

But he always held Mineral High School’s history and stories close to his heart.

He attended the former BCR’s Tribute to Sports program in June of 2004 to see the Mineral Leopards district championship basketball teams of yesteryear enshrined in the Bureau County Sports Hall of Fame. While the Tribute to Sports/Hall of Fame ceremony was regrettably discontinued the next year, the program sparked Nanninga’s interest in keeping alive the memory of the Mineral basketball teams and many other schools like it long closed.

He launched the Illinois High School Glory Days website Feb. 5, 2005, to memorialize the histories of closed or defunct high schools in the state of Illinois. For the past 20 years, the Glory Days staff has been collecting memories, photos, and facts regarding high schools that no longer are in service.

On its 20th anniversary, the Glory Days' site, https://illinoishighschoolglorydays.com, has grown beyond Nanninga‘s wildest dreams, featuring information on more than 1,200 now defunct or closed high schools in Illinois documented on the site with an excess of 5,000 photos.

“I never dreamed the site would reach 1,000,000 individual viewers or 10 million page views. However, I knew that my love for this subject would keep me motivated to add to the site as long as I am able to do so,” Nanninga said. “I hope the memory of the Mineral Leopards, Sheffield Cardinals, Neponset Zephyrs, Bureau Township Wildcats and the 1,200 other schools on the site will be memorialized forever.

“The most important aspect is sharing the memories that were made in these schools. Each school was an important part of their community. Though it seems that the impact on smaller towns has been most difficult, it is true that no matter the location of your high school, it is a devastating feeling to have it close.”

And it all started in his little hometown of Mineral, whose high school closed in 1961 as the district annexed into neighboring Annawan. The building served as an elementary school for the Annawan School District through 1974 and later was razed in 1998.

“Yes, I truly had a nostalgic feeling about these closed schools from a very young age,” he said. “It all started with the Mineral Leopards, of course, sneaking into the closed school gym as a kid and shooting baskets, fantasizing about leading the Leopards to the state title.

“However it wasn’t until I began the research in 2004 that I discovered the vast number of small towns that had high schools that had closed. It was the induction into the Bureau County Sports Hall of Fame of the six Leopards’ district championship teams in 2004 that made me realize the incredible support the alumni and families of alumni still had for their schools. This support has been experienced for each page on the site.”

On average, 115 people visit the site each day with about 400 pages being viewed. Among the most popular pages are the “Mascots & Nicknames” page and the “Closed Schools by County” page.

The Glory Days site added six new pages this past year with more to come. Freeport Aquin, Peoria Quest and Elgin Academy closed in 2024, while three schools that date to the late 1800s also were added. One addition was Batavia Academy, which was open in the 1860s. Nanninga said after it closed as a school, it became a psychiatric facility where Mary Todd Lincoln sought help in the 1870s. That building is still standing and used for apartments today.

The Glory Days website staff coordinates with the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association during events in which closed high schools are honored. One such event was held in Mineral in June 2023.

The site is considered a valuable resource by the IHSA regarding information about closed high schools.

Nanninga, a retired Illinois State Policeman, said one of their proudest moments was being named best historical website by the Illinois Historical Society in Springfield in 2022.

“I feel it verified the site as not only entertaining but as a useful tool for others to utilize,” he said.

The Glory Days site includes all the closed area schools, such as Bradford, Buda, Bureau Township, Manlius, Neponset, Sheffield Tampico, Tiskilwa, Walnut, Western and many more.

Nanninga said anyone who has information to add about the schools posted, may send an email to ihsgdwebsite@comcast.net.

• Kevin Hieronymus has been the BCR Sports Editor since 1986. Contact him at khieronymus@bcrnews.com