Collinsville History

The village that first occupied the site that would eventually become Collinsville was initially called Downing's Station. In 1822 the Collins brothers changed the name to Unionville to emphasize harmony and unity in the town. Postal records show that the Unionville Post Office was discontinued December 13, 1823, as another Unionville Post Office already existed in Illinois. The residents petitioned for restoration of the Post Office. The resident's request was granted, but a new name was required. The name selected was Collinsville, which became the official villiage name on December 21, 1825.

In 1850 Judge D. D. Collins was chosen as the first village president. Although his family and the Collins family who first settled here were friends and fellow Presbyterians, they could not claim knowledge of any kinship. That is where Collinsville Came From...

Collinsville also has the distinction of being host to the only lynching of a German-American during World War I. On April 5, 1918, a group of Collinsville residents numbering in the hundreds took Robert Paul Prager from his home and paraded him barefoot and wrapped in an American flag through the streets of Collinsville, forcing him to sing patriotic songs. The Collinsville police interceded and took Prager into protective custody. A group formed outside of the city jail, however, and were permitted entry into the jail. Two men found Prager hiding in the basement in a pile of sewer tiles. These men took Prager outside and the group marched him to the outskirts of town, where they lynched him. His final request was to be buried in the American flag. Eleven men stood trial for the murder, but all were acquitted.

Collinsville High School, The Kahoks, named for a fictional Native American tribe, have won several Illinois State Championships, in 1961, 1965 (basketball), 1980 (baseball) and 1981, 1986, 1991, 1992 (soccer). Former Coach Vergil Fletcher, who was recently named one of the 100 "legends of Illinois high school basketball" by the Illinois High School Activities Association, won over 700 games in his career. Other famed Kahoks were Kevin Stallings, now coach of Vanderbilt University; Bogie Redmon, also a "top 100 legend," who played on the undefeated 1961 team; Tom Parker, a star at the University of Kentucky after his Collinsville High School days; and Richard Keene, a McDonald's All-American, who played at Illinois in the 1990s.