For the Funeral Reenactment weekend, there is a lecture about 1860s underwear (3:10 p.m. Saturday at Benedictine) and another on how Springfielders did their laundry 150 years ago (3:40 p.m. Saturday at Benedictine). There is something scheduled for many interests, from historic home tours in Enos Park (see p. 38) to an Illinois Symphony Orchestra concert (p. 22). The only thing we haven’t seen on the schedule is a lecture or panel discussion on traffic and parking disruption during funeral day 150 years ago. Where did all those horses and buggies go when streets were closed for the funeral procession? Here’s some of what we know about this weekend. There’s no parking in Lincoln Park all weekend, but the Springfield Park District encourages people to use the Department of Agriculture employee lot at the fairgrounds Saturday and Sunday – enter through Gate 11. Oak Ridge Cemetery, where the procession will terminate Sunday afternoon, is closed to vehicles 5 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. From 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday Springfield Mass Transit District will operate bus shuttle service from Second and Jefferson to the Lincoln tomb, and return to Second and Jefferson, but with no stops along the route. Best advice is to relax about the traffic, enjoy as many events as you can get to, and cultivate a sense of history. –Fletcher Farrar, editor and publisher
This article appears in Apr 30 – May 6, 2015.
