A forgotten family photo has revealed the precise location of the original burial site for one of the foremost figures of American history. The photo depicts the initial grave of Mary “Mother” Jones, the beloved labor crusader of the late 19th- and early 20th-centuries, who was buried in Union Miners Cemetery in Mt. Olive, Illinois, […]
Local History
Posted inLocal History
Pillsbury Mills: Exploring a Springfield legacy
Moving Pillsbury Forward has partnered with Preservation Inc. to host a three-part brown bag series at the Historic Ursuline Academy. The series will explore the full history of the Springfield Pillsbury Plant from the announcement to build in 1929 to the ongoing demolition this month where the last elements of the 26-building complex are anticipated […]
Posted inNews
Former Norb Andy’s under contract
The mansion built by Virgil Hickox in 1839 at 518 E. Capitol Ave. has been vacant since Anchors Away, the most recent restaurant to occupy the space, closed in 2023, but it is now under contract to a buyer who wants to renovate the historic building. It once housed the Sangamo Club, as well as […]
Posted inHistory
North end memories
The neighborhood on Springfield’s northeast side, just north of the one where African Americans lived before it was destroyed in the infamous Race Riot of 1908, was at its peak during the 1950s and early 1960s. It consisted mostly of Italian-Americans who owned businesses there, such as Coco Randazzo’s tavern, Coco’s Inn. When he wasn’t […]
Posted inLocal History
Clayville Fall Festival happens Sept. 19-20
Head out to Clayville Historic Site, just 20 minutes from Springfield on Route 97, for the Fall Festival on Saturday, Sept. 19, and Sunday, Sept. 20. Watch a Civil War reenactment and shoot off a cannon, just two of the many activities planned. Tour the oldest brick structure in Sangamon County, the Broadwell Inn, which has […]
Posted inLocal History
Illinois State Museum to host Free Frank Freedom Day event on Sept. 13
The Illinois State Museum is collaborating with the National Park Service, the New Philadelphia Association and the Springfield state historic sites to host Free Frank Freedom Day on Sunday, Sept. 13. The event commemorates the freedom of Frank McWorter, entrepreneur, freedom seeker and founder of New Philadelphia in Pike County. New Philadelphia was the first […]
Posted inLocal History
Beer, Brats & Beginnings to highlight brewery’s connection to medical district
The closure of Reisch Brewery in 1966 ultimately helped facilitate the creation of Southern Illinois University School of Medicine a few years later, an unusual connection that will be highlighted at a Beer, Brats & Beginnings event on Thursday, Sept. 10. The Reisch Brewery opened in 1849 and for 117 years operated on the exact […]
Posted inLocal History
“Three Hot Days in August”
Springfield is the home of Abraham Lincoln, known as the Great Emancipator. We should be proud of that. Yet, we must acknowledge that it was here, in his hometown, that a disturbing event occurred in 1908 – the race riot that lynched two innocent Black men, destroyed people’s homes and left a scar on our […]
Posted inLocal History
A historic undertaking
Springfield resident John Oxford once restored a 1,500-square-foot house built in 1903. He has now taken on a much bigger project as the new owner of the 8,600-square-foot red brick, Italianate mansion at Eighth and Cook streets, which was built in 1865. “This will be a much larger undertaking,” he said. “I’m newly married, […]
Posted inJuneteenth
“Battling the fires of racism”
New large mahogany doors and all-yellow brickwork on the façade of the Black Firehouse at 1310 E. Adams St. are the latest renovations expected to be completed by the end of August on this historic structure. The building, owned by the Central Lodge #3 Prince Hall Masons, was once Firehouse No. 5, known as the […]
Posted inHistory
Springfield’s Ted Eck and the golden age of U.S. soccer
With FIFA World Cup matches set to be played on American soil June 11-July 19, it is the perfect time to revisit the United States Men’s Team return to World Cup play 36 years ago. After a 40-year hiatus, Springfield native Ted Eck helped make U.S. soccer history. Eck grew up as the youngest member […]
Posted inCommunity & Lifestyle
“The finest thing ever done in Springfield”
The news last month about the sale of BUNN brings to mind stories about the Bunn family’s influence on Springfield’s development, dating back to since Abraham Lincoln lived here. It is only coincidental that 100 years ago, in 1926, four children of Jacob Bunn Sr. followed what he believed to be a moral obligation to […]
