The Associated Press

CHICAGO | David Nanninga grew up in the tiny town of Mineral hearing his grandparents and parents reminisce about their experiences at Mineral High School.

But by the time Nanninga was a teenager, the school in Mineral -- about 40 miles east of the Quad Cities -- had long been closed. He was bused to the nearby town of Annawan and played for a basketball team representing several towns, never getting to wear his hometown Leopards jersey.

So Nanninga has created a Web site to serve as a tribute to places like his alma mater and other high schools that exist only in the memories of their alumni. On the Illinois High School Glory Days site, illinoishsglorydays.com, visitors can browse through entries for more than 900 schools.

"These schools are a very important part of Illinois history, and to see them be forgotten would be a shame," said Nanninga, of Chicago, whose full-time job is as an Illinois State Police lieutenant.

Nanninga, 46, created the site more than three years ago. Some entries have more information than others, but most profiles list opening and closing dates and area history. Many entries feature the school's athletic accomplishments, photos of buildings and teams, and trivia such as the school fight song, colors and mascot.

Nanninga has no training in Web design and operates the site from his basement on a bare-bones budget out of his own pocket. He gets help from a few friends and site visitors. So far, the site has drawn more than 101,000 visits.

Given the number of visitors and comments, experts say the site has touched the heartstrings of people who miss the sense of community a high school can bring. In many towns, high schools aren't just centers of academic activity but serve as a base for meetings, polling sites and a place to catch up with friends and neighbors over ballgames.

Before World War II, Illinois had nearly 20,000 school districts, said William Phillips, an associate professor at the University of Illinois-Springfield and a leading authority on school consolidation in Illinois. Now, the state has about 870 districts.

Nanninga has answered more than 5,000 e-mails and keeps an 18-gallon bin full of newspaper clippings, photos and statistics people have sent him on their alma mater. He can't put all the information on the Web site but doesn't want to throw the material away, either.

"I had no way of knowing I'd reach (the number of) schools we're at now. I keep thinking the site is going to run its course, but it just keeps picking up steam," he said. "People really seem to enjoy it."