St. Charles Banner-News, September 7, 1939
Francis Howell High School
SCHOOL NOTES
Francis Howell High School, Consolidated District No. 2, St. Charles County, officially opened the 1939-’40 school term Tuesday, September 5 with an all-time record enrollment of one hundred and thirty-three students. Forty-six freshmen comprise the largest class. Only six years ago, thirty-five students made up the entire student body of the school.
Grade schools: Howell 36, Hamburg 17, Weldon Spring 32, Enterprise-Junction 16; for a total of 101.
Six-man football is being introduced into the athletic department. Mr. [Raymond] Sparks, [Athletic Director and teacher of Social Science] is giving fundamentals of the game preparatory to future competition provided a league can be formed…
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Mr. Sparks did not return to FHHS for the 1940-’41 school year which was the last year Francis Howell High School was located in Howell, MO. In late 1940 the War Department took over 20,000 acres in St. Charles County to build a munitions plant to support the war effort. This included the town of Howell, and everything in it.
Consolidated School District No. 2 Superintendent of Schools C. Fred Hollenbeck: “The government allowed us, with certain restrictions, to finish the 1940-’41 term of school in the buildings on the reservation. We had to shorten our term. We had to give up our gymnasium for a storehouse. We had to confine our activities to our buildings. As a result, it was necessary for the school district to rent buildings outside of the reservation for school gatherings such as school plays, commencement activities, etc. We had to cancel our scheduled athletic program…”
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FHHS during WWII. No longer a school. Surrounded by Weldon Spring Ordnance Works buildings.
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Photos courtesy of former FHSD Superintendent of Schools, Daniel T. Brown, Ph.D.
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