Northwest Border Conference
The Northwest Border Conference is a former high school athletic conference comprising small public high schools along the St. Croix River in northwestern Wisconsin. The conference existed from 1940 to 1955, and all member schools were affiliated with the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association.
History
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The Northwest Border Conference was founded in 1940 from a split of the ten-member Upper St. Croix Valley Conference.[1] The five smallest schools in that conference (Balsam Lake, Centuria, Luck, Milltown and Webster), joined with Siren (previously an independent) to form the original six-member roster.[2] Members were located in Burnett and Polk Counties, and all but one (Balsam Lake) were located along Wisconsin Highway 35. After only two seasons in the conference, Milltown returned to the Upper St. Croix Valley Conference in 1942,[3] leaving the conference with five members. That same fall, the Northwest Border Conference began sponsorship of eight-player football with all members participating.[4] Luck followed Milltown back to the Upper St. Croix Valley Conference in 1947[5] and were replaced by Somerset that same year,[6] though they didn't join for football until the next year.[7] The Northwest Border Conference competed as a five-member loop until Webster rejoined the Upper St. Croix Valley in 1953.[8] Solon Springs, who competed as an independent for other sports, was a football-only member of the conference for its final two seasons.[9] The conference continued with four members until its dissolution in 1955. Somerset immediately joined the Dunn-St. Croix Conference upon their exit,[10] while Balsam Lake, Centuria and Siren became independents. All three schools eventually joined the Lakeland Conference: Balsam Lake and Centuria in 1956[11] and Siren in 1959.[12]
Conference membership history
[edit | edit source]Final members
[edit | edit source]| School | Location | Affiliation | Enrollment | Mascot | Colors | Joined | Left | Conference Joined | Current Conference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Balsam Lake | Balsam Lake, WI | Public | N/A | Warriors | 1940[1] | 1955[11] | Independent | Closed in 1957 (merged into Unity) | |
| Centuria | Centuria, WI | Public | N/A | Raiders | 1940[1] | 1955[11] | Independent | Closed in 1957 (merged into Unity) | |
| Siren | Siren, WI | Public | 145 | Dragons | 1940[1] | 1955[12] | Independent | Lakeland | |
| Somerset | Somerset, WI | Public | 470 | Spartans | 1947[6] | 1955[10] | Dunn-St. Croix | Middle Border |
Previous members
[edit | edit source]| School | Location | Affiliation | Enrollment | Mascot | Colors | Joined | Left | Conference Joined | Current Conference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Luck | Luck, WI | Public | 118 | Cardinals | 1940[1] | 1947[5] | Upper St. Croix Valley | Lakeland | |
| Milltown | Milltown, WI | Public | N/A | Wildcats | 1940[1] | 1942[3] | Upper St. Croix Valley | Closed in 1957 (merged into Unity) | |
| Webster | Webster, WI | Public | 295 | Tigers | 1940[1] | 1953[8] | Upper St. Croix Valley | Lakeland |
Football-only members
[edit | edit source]| School | Location | Affiliation | Enrollment | Mascot | Colors | Seasons | Primary Conference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Solon Springs | Solon Springs, WI | Public | 81 | Eagles | 1953-1954[9] | Independent |
Membership timeline
[edit | edit source]Full members
[edit | edit source]<timeline> DateFormat = yyyy ImageSize = width:900 height:auto barincrement:20 Period = from:1940 till:1955 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal PlotArea = right:30 left:0 bottom:50 top:5
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width:14 textcolor:black shift:(5,-5) anchor:from fontsize:m
bar:1 color:tan1 from:1940 till:1955 text:Balsam Lake (1940-1955) bar:2 color:tan1 from:1940 till:1955 text:Centuria (1940-1955) bar:3 color:tan1 from:1940 till:1947 text:Luck (1940-1947) bar:4 color:tan1 from:1940 till:1942 text:Milltown (1940-1942) bar:5 color:tan1 from:1940 till:1955 text:Siren (1940-1955) bar:6 color:tan1 from:1940 till:1953 text:Webster (1940-1953) bar:7 color:tan1 from:1947 till:1955 text:Somerset (1947-1955)
ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:2 start:1940 </timeline>
Football members
[edit | edit source]<timeline> DateFormat = yyyy ImageSize = width:900 height:auto barincrement:20 Period = from:1942 till:1955 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal PlotArea = right:30 left:0 bottom:50 top:5
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width:15 textcolor:black shift:(5,-5) anchor:from fontsize:m
bar:1 color:lavender from:1942 till:1955 text:Balsam Lake (1942-1954) bar:2 color:lavender from:1942 till:1945 text:Centuria (1942-1944, 1946-1954) bar:2 color:lavender from:1946 till:1955 text: bar:3 color:lavender from:1942 till:1947 text:Luck (1942-1946) bar:4 color:lavender from:1942 till:1955 text:Siren (1942-1954) bar:5 color:lavender from:1942 till:1953 text:Webster (1942-1952) bar:6 color:lavender from:1948 till:1955 text:Somerset (1948-1954) bar:7 color:lavender from:1953 till:1955 text:Solon Springs (1953-1954)
ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:1 start:1942
</timeline>
List of conference champions
[edit | edit source]Boys Basketball
[edit | edit source]| School | Quantity | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Balsam Lake | 7 | 1944, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1955 |
| Luck | 5 | 1942, 1943, 1945, 1946, 1947 |
| Centuria | 2 | 1950, 1954 |
| Webster | 2 | 1947, 1948 |
| Milltown | 1 | 1941 |
| Siren | 0 | |
| Somerset | 0 |
Football
[edit | edit source]| School | Quantity | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Balsam Lake | 4 | 1944, 1948, 1949, 1953 |
| Webster | 4 | 1946, 1947, 1951, 1952 |
| Luck | 3 | 1943, 1945, 1946 |
| Siren | 1 | 1942 |
| Centuria | 0 | |
| Solon Springs | 0 | |
| Somerset | 0 | |
| Champions from 1950 and 1954 unknown | ||
References
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