Springfield's West Side Christian Church, home to a large and thriving community of faithful worshipers, has been located on Cider Mill Lane since 1996. The capacious multi-wing facility stands like a]]> To celebrate its 50th anniversary, the Sangamon County Historical Society is having an author of books about early American history, including one about our area, come to Springfield and speak on Apri]]> When Abraham Lincoln, his father, stepmother, and step-brother first came to Illinois from Indiana, they settled in a log cabin about three miles west of Decatur on the Sangamon River. Th]]> “Frankly, it’s not the end of the world for me,” asserts Tony Kerasotes when queried about the January 2010 sale of all but three of his family’s 96-theater empire — incl]]> Last year, Dan Hillis — a local attorney who is originally from Binghamton, N.Y. — purchased a home on South Douglas Avenue that he is now in the process of renov]]> Springfield is known as the home of Abraham Lincoln, but a man from Lincoln’s neighborhood gets short shrift in our city’s legacy. Julius Rosenwald was born a block from Lincoln’s ho]]> Here’s a conversation starter for you: What do Rod Blagojevich and Mary Lincoln have in common? (It’s not good hair.) The two are an incongruous pairing: an impeached former gover]]> Since this year marks the sesquicentennial of the Civil War’s beginning, it seems appropriate to look back at how some of those soldiers spent their holidays. We begin with the accounts of two m]]> Tax Day is just days away. Nationally, April 15 is significant because that’s the traditional day when tax returns are due. This year we get a two-day extension, to April 17. Perhaps more locall]]> With all the hyperbolic and near-hysterical rhetoric flying around Springfield like so much chaff at a threshing party ("Is Springfield ready?"), one might be excused for thinking that never be]]> More than 60 years ago, a landmark ruling established a precedent that would permanently alter the relationship between religion and public education in America. And it happened right here in central ]]> Untitled Document Add President George Walker Bush to the list of top-tier U.S. politicians whose ancestors include slaveholders. U.S. Census records for 1790 to 1830 testify t]]> It’s easy in this Land of Lincoln Obsession to think that our area’s history began with the sixteenth president or with white settlers in general. But doing so ignores the many Native Amer]]> At the intersection of Lincoln Avenue and Edwards Street is a two-story building with a "For Lease" sign in the front window of the vacant first story. Until recently, the location served as a ]]> It’s like a long forgotten, 80-year-old scrapbook of our city. It shows a bustling downtown crowded with men wearing fedoras and women in fur coats, a family brewery preparing for the onslaught ]]> You could say William Stone has coal in his veins. After more than three decades working for Mr. Peabody's coal company and more than a decade in retirement, Stone opened a museum devoted to -- w]]> You’re an Illinois woman in the middle 1800s and you find yourself pregnant after your sweetheart — who promised marriage — left. Your reputation and chance of finding a husband are]]> I recently learned a new reason why I’m glad I didn’t live in the 1800s — 19th century cosmetics.I became enlightened about this topic after attending an interesting 3½-hour seminar ]]> Of the five senses, the olfactory sense is the most closely related to memory. All of us have experienced the phenomenon of being suddenly and almost magically transported back in time, in the ]]>