District History
History of Summit Hill School District 161 - 1870-1979
The first public school classes in Frankfort Township were taught by Mrs. Knight and Mrs. Hiram Wood, but no one can now tell who was the first teacher. Both Mrs. Knight and Mrs. Wood taught in a little log schoolhouse which was built on Section 19 of Frankfort Township about 1850. This log schoolhouse was the first building constructed for school purposes in Frankfort Township.
In 1870, Simon Hohenstien dedicated a small parcel of land located on 191st Street at about 84th Avenue for use for school purposes. A one room frame schoolhouse was constructed on the site shortly thereafter. The most prominent landmark in the area was the railroad station located at 92nd Avenue and the Chicago and Rock Island railroad tracks. This station was the highest point on the Rock Island Line, and was for this reason named the Summit Hill Station. The nearby school came to be known as the Summit Hill Country School.
An 1873 map contained in Robert Sterling's A Pictorial History of Will County (published in 1975) shows four country schools within District 161 boundaries. One of the schools was located at the Summit Hill site while others were situated at about 84th Avenue and North Avenue in Lincoln Estates, near 183rd and Harlem Avenue, and near Sauk Trail just west of Harlem Avenue.
The state of Will County Public Education in the 1870's can be described by reviewing a teacher workshop of the day. On August 4 through August 8, 1879, the public school teachers of Will County met at the high school building in East Joliet to take part in a Teachers' Institute for the purpose of preparing for the 1879-1880 school year. Workshop topics included the subject areas of Music, Arithmetic, Botany, History, Philosophy, Grammar, Art, and Penmanship. A specific workshop session was designed to show teachers how to use the globe in teaching map skills while another session was devoted to the "Metric System." A Mr. Davis exhibited Edison's recently invented "Phonograph, or Talking Machine," and explained its possible applications for school use. Workshop participants stayed at Joliet hotels during Teachers' Institute Week, as indicated by the program cover reproduced on the next page.
During the nineteenth century, Will County Public Schools, including those in Frankfort Township, were governed by a three member Board of Supervisors who were in turn supervised by the County Superintendent of Schools. The County Superintendent typically spent most weekdays visiting rural schools. He would meet with the Board of Supervisors in the evening to hear reports concerning the school and to make suggestions to the Board of Supervisors for the improvement of the operation of the school. On many Saturdays, the County Superintendent would conduct the examination of teacher applicants to judge their suitability for teaching in Will County's schools. On the Mondays following the teacher candidate examinations, the Superintendent would spend hours writing letters informing the teacher candidates of the results of their examinations. No person could teach in a Will County Public School unless they had passed the Superintendent's Examination and had their name placed on the Superintendent's List of Certified Teachers. Many public school teachers of the 1870's had attended few, if any, high school classes. The Board of Supervisors interviewed and chose their teacher from the List of Certified Teachers.
During the last quarter of the nineteenth century, there were eight school districts within Frankfort Township. Frankfort Township District #2 was served by the Gatter School which was visited by the County Superintendent of Schools as early as 1873. The Gatter School was located at 84th Avenue and North Avenue in what is now Lincoln Estates. The original school building has been remodeled and expanded numerous times; it now serves as a residence. The Gatter School attendance area consisted of all of present Lincoln Estates west to the present boundary with Frankfort District 157 on the south and east. Gatter also served most of the present area of Frankfort Square.
Immediately to the north of the Gatter School District #2 was the Frankfort Township District #3, served by the Summit Hill School. The boundaries of District 3 were Harlem Avenue and 183rd Street on the east and north and Mokena Districts 7 and 8 on the west.
In 1901 a county wide numbering system was instituted for all public school districts in Will County. The Gatter School District #2 became Will County District 156, and the Summit Hill District #3 became Will County District 161.
Christ Kohl was a student at the Summit Hill Country School in the 1880's. Herbert Kohl, a current resident of Frankfort, attended the Summit Hill School at about the time of World War I. The younger Mr. Kohl is pictured below with other members of the June, 1921 graduating class of Summit Hill School.
Mrs. Bertha Hecht, a current resident of rural 191st Street, recalls riding to the Summit Hill School during bad weather days of the World War I era. She would ride her father's wagon as he made his daily trip to the Summit Hill Station to drop off milk for shipment to Joliet. Mrs. Hecht's parents both went to the Summit Hill School in the 1890's.
During the early 1930's, the McIntosh Real Estate Company bought land along the Lincoln Highway east of the Village of Frankfort and subdivided the land before beginning to sell lots. As more people moved into the area, the Gatter School became overcrowded. A movement started for a new school, one on the south side of the Lincoln Highway, because it seemed that side of community was developing more rapidly. In 1932 Gatter School District 156 was divided into two school districts with the Gatter School District 156A serving the area north of Route 30, and the new Ann Rutledge School, built in 1932, forming the center of the new District 156, serving the area south of Route 30.
Mrs. Hilda Walker, a current resident of Lincoln Estates, served as the first teacher at the Ann Rutledge School from 1932 to 1949. Mrs. Walker's first teacher contract, dated September 24, 1932 provided that she be paid $75.00 per school month for the eight month term that ran from October 1932 to May, 1933. A portion of the contract stated that:
The teacher is to furnish the janitor work for school. To have the school house warm when the children arrive in the morning. To use the Common School System as recommended by the County Superintendent.
The members of the Board of Supervisors of the Ann Rutledge District 156 in 1932 were Zande Miles, President; Arthur C. Becker, Secretary; and William Lockwood.
On May 23, 1938, E.F. Booth, the Will County Superintendent of Schools, conducted the annual eighth grade final examination to determine which students in the rural schools of the county were prepared to be graduated. Russell Maatman, a student at the Ann Rutledge School answered 549 of the 577 examination questions correctly to earn the highest score on the examination in the county.
The population of Lincoln Estates continued to grow during the 1930's, 1940's and 1950's. Additions were made to the Ann Rutledge School periodically. It was not feasible to make additions to the old Gatter School.
In March, 1957 an election was held to consolidate the Ann Rutledge and Gatter School Districts. The consolidation, and with it the dissolution of the Gatter School, was implemented to eliminate the need to operate a school (Gatter) that was too small to serve its community's school needs. As a result of the consolidation of School Districts 156A (Gatter) and 156 (Ann Rutledge), the new School District 156C was organized to be operated through a Board of Education consisting of seven members.
The first Board of Education for School District 156C was elected on April 13, 1957. The members of the Board of Education were George Kaehler, Calvert Heath Jr., Donald Ball, Charles Jones, Lee Gericke, Frank Kovar, and President John Van Donk.
The Summit Hill School continued to function as a one room school serving a totally rural area through 1960. In 1948, the total enrollment in grades one through eight at the school was 12 students. In 1960, when Arbury Hills was first developing, the present Arbury Hills School was built by the subdivision contractor. The original building had eight classrooms. In 1963, four classrooms and a gymnasium were added. In 1966, another four rooms and office space were added. In 1965, Summit Hill District 161 had 321 pupils housed in twelve classrooms, at the Arbury Hills School. The old Country School, which burned in 1962 was no longer an attendance center.
In 1971, Ann Rutledge District 156C became a part of Summit Hill District 161, creating the School District boundaries as they exist today.
On June 3, 1973, the Frankfort Square Elementary School was dedicated. This school was constructed to serve the newly developing subdivision of Frankfort Square in the central area of District 161. As the Frankfort Square subdivision continued to grow, so did the facility needs of the District; additions were made to the Frankfort Square School in 1974 and 1975.
On October 30, 1975, the Summit Hill Junior High School was formally dedicated to serve the educational needs of District 161 seventh and eighth grade students, providing an opportunity for an expanded educational program at those grade levels.
The Frankfort Square subdivision continued to expand in the mid 1970's, creating the need for still more educational facilities within District 161. The Indian Trail Elementary School was constructed during the 1978-79 school year and opened to student use in the fall of 1979.
As this story is being written, an addition to the Summit Hill Junior High School, designed to house District 161 sixth grade students, is nearing completion, and plans are going forward to construct an addition to the Indian Trail School that will provide a gymnasium and additional classroom space.
Summit Hill School District 161 has evolved during its first hundred years into a modern, effective educational system containing five attendance centers housing more than 1,300 students.
Written by:
Julian Rogus, Administrative Assistant District 161
December, 1979
December, 1979