Northwestern Illinois Conference
The Northwestern Illinois Conference was a high school conference in northwest and north central Illinois. The conference participated in athletics and activities in the Illinois High School Association. The conference included small public high schools, and one small private school, with enrollments between 75-400 students in Carroll, Jo Daviess, Stephenson and Winnebago counties.
History
Originally known as the Stephenson County Conference, the first year of competition was 1958 with four charter schools: Dakota, Durand, Lena-Winslow and Orangeville. In 1959 Freeport Aquin, Galena, Stockton and Warren joined from the disbanded US Grant Conference. Pearl City joined the conference in 1960 increasing the total number of teams to nine. The last year of competition under the Stephenson County name was 1962.Based on the fact that the conference contained schools from Jo Daviess, Stephenson and Winnebago Counties, in 1963 it became known as the Northwest Conference. Additionally, in 1966, Lanark, from Carroll County, joined the conference, bringing the total number of schools to 10. In 1974 after Durand, Orangeville and Pearl City left for the Upstate Illini Conference, the remaining schools changed the name to the Northwestern Illinois Conference.
Officially formed in 1974, the 7 members were Dakota, Freeport Aquin, Galena, Lanark, Lena-Winslow, Stockton and Warren. In 1977, Orangeville returned to the fold increasing the total teams to eight. As the 1986 school year began, Lanark consolidated with Shannon, becoming Eastland High School. After 30 years of membership, in 1988 Warren dropped out of the conference. However, East Dubuque quickly replaced them in 1989, keeping the total number of teams an even eight. Unfortunately, in 1995 they decided to leave the conference. This left the conference in a situation they had not had not been in since 1976, an odd number of teams for which to schedule. The final season for the NWIC occurred in 1995. Beginning in 1996, this conference merged with the Upstate Illini.
Member schools
| School | Location | Mascot | Colors | Year Joined | Year Left | IHSA Classes A/AA | IHSA Music Class | IHSA Football Class |
| Aquin Catholic High School | Freeport, IL | Bulldogs | Navy Blue, Gold | 1959 | 1996 | A | D | 1A |
| Dakota High School | Dakota, IL | Indians | Maroon, White | 1958 | 1996 | A | C | 1A |
| Durand High School | Durand, IL | Bulldogs | Royal Blue, White | 1958 | 1974 | A | C | 1A |
| East Dubuque High School | East Dubuque, IL | Warriors | Royal Blue, White | 1989 | 1995 | A | C | 1A |
| Eastland High School | Lanark, IL | Cougars | Royal Blue, Orange | 1986 consolidated with Shannon High School | 1996 | A | C | 1A |
| Galena High School | Galena, IL | Pirates | Royal Blue, White | 1959 | 1996 | A | C | 1A |
| Lanark High School | Lanark, IL | Beavers | Blue, White | 1966 | 1986 | A | C | 1A |
| Lena-Winslow High School | Lena, IL | Panthers | Black, Gold | 1958 | 1996 | A | C | 1A |
| Orangeville High School | Orangeville, IL | Broncos | Purple, Gold | 1958 1977 | 1974 1996 | A | D | 1A |
| Pearl City High School | Pearl City, IL | Wolves | Red, White, Black | 1960 | 1974 | A | D | 1A |
| Stockton High School | Stockton, IL | Blackhawks | Maroon, Gold | 1959 | 1996 | A | D | 1A |
| Warren High School | Warren, IL | Warriors | Orange, Black | 1959 | 1988 | A | D | 1A |
Sources:IHSA Conferences, IHSA Coop Teams, and IHSA Member Schools Directory
Membership timeline
DateFormat = yyyy
ImageSize = width:1100 height:auto barincrement:20
Period = from:1958 till:1996
TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal
PlotArea = right:20 left:0 bottom:50 top:5 #> to display a count on left side of graph, use "left:20" to suppress the count, use "left:20"<#
Colors = id:barcolor
id:line value:pink
id:bg value:white
id:Full value:rgb # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports
id:FullxF value:rgb # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports except for football
id:AssocF value:rgb # Use this color to denote a team that is a member for football only
id:AssocOS value:rgb # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in some sports, but not all
id:OtherC1 value:rgb # Use this color to denote a team that has moved to another conference
id:OtherC2 value:rgb # Use this color to denote a team that has moved to another conference where OtherC1 has already been used, to distinguish the two
PlotData=
width:15 textcolor:black shift: anchor:from fontsize:s
bar:1 color:AssocOS from:1958 till:1959
bar:1 color:Full from:1959 till:1996 text:Freeport Aquin
bar:2 color:Full from:1958 till:1996 text:Dakota
bar:3 color:Full from:1958 till:1974 text:Durand
bar:3 color:OtherC1 from:1974 till:1977 text:Upstate Illini
bar:3 color:OtherC2 from:1977 till:1989 text:Northwest 8
bar:3 color:OtherC1 from:1989 till:1996 text:Upstate Illini
bar:4 color:FullxF from:1958 till:1989 text:Various Conferences/Independent
bar:4 color:Full from:1989 till:1995 text:East Dubuque
bar:4 color:OtherC1 from:1995 till:1996
bar:5 color:Full from:1986 till:1996 text:Eastland
bar:6 color:AssocF from:1958 till:1966 text:Blackhawk
bar:6 color:Full from:1966 till:1986 text:Lanark
bar:6 color:white from:1986 till:end text:
bar:7 color:AssocOS from:1958 till:1959
bar:7 color:Full from:1959 till:1996 text:Galena
bar:8 color:Full from:1958 till:1996 text:Lena-Winslow
bar:9 color:Full from:1958 till:1974 text:Orangeville
bar:9 color:OtherC1 from:1974 till:1977 text:Upstate Illini
bar:9 color:Full from:1977 till:1996
bar:10 color:FullxF from:1958 till:1960
bar:10 color:Full from:1960 till:1974 text:Pearl City
bar:10 color:OtherC1 from:1974 till:1977 text:Upstate Illini
bar:10 color:OtherC2 from:1977 till:1989 text:Northwest 8
bar:10 color:OtherC1 from:1989 till:1996 text:Upstate Illini
bar:11 color:FullxF from:1958 till:1977 text:Shannon Various Conferences/Independent
bar:11 color:OtherC2 from:1977 till:1984 text:Northwest 8
bar:11 color:OtherC2 from:1984 till:1986 text:
bar:11 color:white from:1986 till:end text:
bar:12 color:AssocOS from:1958 till:1959
bar:12 color:Full from:1959 till:1996 text:Stockton
bar:13 color:AssocOS from:1958 till:1959
bar:13 color:Full from:1959 till:1989 text:Warren
bar:13 color:OtherC1 from:1989 till:1996 text:Upstate Illini
ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:2 start:1958
TextData =
fontsize:L
textcolor:black
pos: tabs:
text:^"NWIC membership history"
- > If the chart uses more than one bar color, add a legend by selecting the appropriate fields from the following six options Leave a blank line after the end of the timeline, then add a line with the selected values from the list, separated by a space. <#