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Neponset’s last graduating class from 1999 #TBT

As graduates make the final walk with their classmates and step out into the world with their diplomas, News 8 is taking a look back at the final graduating cla...

As graduates make the final walk with their classmates and step out into the world with their diplomas, News 8 is taking a look back at the final graduating class of Neponset, Illinois' high school decades ago.

The Village of Neponset, located about eight miles northeast of Kewanee, closed its high school for good at the turn of the century.  News 8's Vanessa Van Hefte showed the emotional graduation back in 1999.

Graduating seniors were sad to see the school go. Village residents voted on whether the school should stay running or be shut down, since the student population was just so small. Students picketed to keep their school going, but in the end residents chose to close the school. The vote was won by just 55 votes.

Remaining students attending the school were split up among four area high school.

The school was established in the late 1800s and the building was built in 1926. The school has since been turned into a private residence.

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