Lyons High School ~ A brief history of my alma mater...
Located on the west bank of the Mississippi River at the eastern-most tip of Iowa, the town of Lyons -- named after Lyons, France -- was founded in 1835 by a Mr. Elijah Buell. In 1855 the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad crossed the river about three miles south of Lyons where the town of Clinton -- named after the governor of New York, DeWitt Clinton -- was established. Because of the railroad, Clinton grew rapidly and eventually annexed Lyons to form one city. However, in spite of being annexed, the close-knit community of Lyons managed to retain its own identity and its own schools.
The first schoolhouse in Lyons, a three-room brick building, was built in 1847 when the town had a population of about 4000 people. Since that start, at least eight other school buildings were built in Lyons, most of which ended up being torn down. The first class to graduate from Lyons High School was the class of 1871 with two students. My class of 1951 had 70 students. The last class to graduate was the class of 1954. From then on, Lyons High School no longer existed and high school students who lived in Lyons attended Clinton High School. The school building at Main Avenue and North Third Street, from where the classes of '50 through '54 graduated, was demolished in 1985 to provide room for a senior-citizen apartment complex. In 1997 a memorial rock was placed at this location by alumni of the classes of '50 through '54 to commemorate their high school.
In September 2000, an all-class Lyons High School Y2K Reunion was held in Clinton. Over 600 graduates and spouses attended the three-day reunion events. Forty-one members from our class of '51 were present, many of whom I had not seen or talked to since graduation night 49 years previously. It was quite a time.
Our 50th-year class reunion was held September 15, 2001 in Clinton. My flight to Chicago was scheduled to leave Los Angeles on September 13th -- but it never took off. Because of the catastrophic east-coast attacks on September 11th, all flights were grounded and those of us from the west coast who had planned to attend the reunion could not get there. However, 27 members of our Class of 1951 were able to attend.
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