Former high school in Greenup County - Wurtland is a little town about a mile or two northwest of Raceland. It merged with Greenup High School and McKell High School to become Greenup County High School in 1972.

 

I think it was August of 1973-74 school year when they merged. 1973 was the last Graduating class of Wurtland high school.

The good old days when Holy Cross beat Trinity.

Ahhh, the good ole days...when everyone didn't get a trophy and winning a State Championship was very impressive and even more diffucult imo...:thumb:

It really hasn't been that long since Jefferson County finally allowed its public schools to play in other classes rather than making them all play in the largest class.

 

If I'm not mistaken, it was 1995 when schools in Louisville went into their appropriate enrollment class. Prior to that, the only Jefferson County schools to not play in AAAA were Kentucky Country Day (Class A) and Beth Haven (intermittent program during the 1970s, 80s, 90). Both schools struggled to field teams and many times didn't. Beth Haven ultimately dropped football, brought it back, then dropped it for good a few years ago.

Ashland was the first At-Large champion in 1975. Greenup won it in '77. I'm not quite sure when they stopped crowning At-Large champions.

 

This may be a dumb question, but do those teams celebrate those as championships? That was before my time but I always assumed that the Jefferson County and At-Large championships were basically just semifinals with the championship the next week.

Christian County is the only school outside Louisville to win the 4A title twice (82&84) and still haven't been a team outside Louisville to win the highest classification since moving to the 6 class system. Total dominance by the Louisville schools.

This may be a dumb question, but do those teams celebrate those as championships? That was before my time but I always assumed that the Jefferson County and At-Large championships were basically just semifinals with the championship the next week.

 

Yeah, Ashland and Greenup both recognize those teams as state champions. I'm with you, though, I consider those games to be glorified semifinals. You can't really claim to be the 4A champion if you lose your last game, which Ashland and Greenup both did in '75 & '77, respectively.

I believe that only twice has no Louisville school played in the big division championship game.

 

1996 Nelson Co d. Dunbar and 2013 Scott Co d, Meade Co

So I coached at Beth Haven their last time around. First 8-man and then 11-man. Their last Head Coach is actually Fairdales Head Coach, Matt Wright. Also, up until recently you could have 2 Jefferson County teams playing in the championship, that can't happen now.

I think it was August of 1973-74 school year when they merged. 1973 was the last Graduating class of Wurtland high school.

 

1973 for McKell as well, I believe.

So I coached at Beth Haven their last time around. First 8-man and then 11-man. Their last Head Coach is actually Fairdales Head Coach, Matt Wright. Also, up until recently you could have 2 Jefferson County teams playing in the championship, that can't happen now.

 

Actually it depends on how the regions are set up. I believe next year the Male/X district is on the opposite side of the Trinity/Ballard district so it could be an all Louisville final.

Lots of schools in Class A that I've never heard of previously. Sturgis, Hopkinsville Attucks, Franklin Lincoln, Henderson Douglass, Bowling Green High Street, Murray Douglass, Owensboro Western, Paducah Lincoln, Providence, Lebanon Rosewald, Mt. Sterling Dubois, Paris Western, Benham, Black Star, Rosenwald, Lily, Loyall and Wallins ring no bells at all. I'm guessing a few were black only schools. Anyone able to shed any light on any of them?

Lots of schools in Class A that I've never heard of previously. Sturgis, Hopkinsville Attucks, Franklin Lincoln, Henderson Douglass, Bowling Green High Street, Murray Douglass, Owensboro Western, Paducah Lincoln, Providence, Lebanon Rosewald, Mt. Sterling Dubois, Paris Western, Benham, Black Star, Rosenwald, Lily, Loyall and Wallins ring no bells at all. I'm guessing a few were black only schools. Anyone able to shed any light on any of them?

 

I think most of that group were all-black schools. If it's the same as in Danville, anything with Lincoln attached to it was Lincoln Institute. Crispus Attucks was a common name for black schools, as was schools with Frederick Douglass' name attached. I want to say it's the same for the Rosenwald schools. Mt. Sterling (W.E.B.) DuBois was a black school as well. It's all in the name for most of them.

 

BG High St. was a black school, and I believe that was the case for Benham-Lynch, but I may be wrong there. I know those areas in Harlan Co. were settlement areas for African-American coal miners.

 

As far as the "Western" school name, I guess it depends on what the demographics looked like in those parts of Paris and O'boro.

 

Lily, Loyall, Providence and Sturgis are all small towns that had schools that later consolidated. Not sure about Black Star.

Many of the mining champs in Eastern Kentucky were just large enough to have their own tiny school. Black Star was one of them.

Edited November 23, 20169 yr by broadcaster
adding info

I was thinking J.C. Penney, but the following excerpt tells about the founding of many schools for African Americans during segregation: "Julius Rosenwald, a millionaire Jewish high-school dropout and Sears executive, teamed with Booker T. Washington in 1913 to promote philanthropy for education...."

 

Crispus Attucks...the first American killed in the Revolutionary War... was of African-American descent.

 

Frederick Douglass was a famed abolitionist...who later became one of the first blacks appointed to high federal office. (Just found out a new high school planned for Lexington in the next year or two will bear his name.)

 

Lynch East Main was the white school; Lynch West Main was for blacks. Benham (white) and East Benham (black) both existed in that town.

 

Providence and Providence Rosenwald were separate schools in the same Western Kentucky town in Webster County.

 

Paris Western and Owensboro Western were, indeed, for African-American students.

 

Class dismissed.