Feature

For archaeologist Robert Mazrim, director of the Sangamo Archaeological Center in Elkhart, last weekend’s dig in downtown Springfield was simply another revelation of Illinois’ all-but-forgotten prairie past. But for city historians Curtis Mann and Linda Garvert, every turn of the trowel was nothing less than a miracle. The site was Second and Jefferson streets, the […]

The new mayor will have his hands full. The police department and the self-insurance fund will be immediate concerns. But what about the Eastside of Springfield? A recent city-funded study outlined many of the problems there, including sections of urban decay comparable to the worst parts of Chicago. Between 14th and Dirksen, Cook and South […]

Oddest LandmarkHilton Hotel 700 E. Adams, 789-1530 1. Deviating from what is ordinary, usual or expected; strange or peculiar. In defining the word “odd,” the American Heritage Dictionary could have used a photo of the Springfield Hilton. The hotel is modern and well-run, but over the last 30 years nearly everyone has wondered why it […]

For most of the past two decades Illinois Times has asked readers what they like most about Springfield. And each year hundreds of you are more than eager to tell us. This year is no different. About 500 of you filled out our ballots and told us about your favorite places, people, and things to […]

ORPHEUM THEATER Near the corner of Fifth and Washington once stood the Orpheum Theater, known for its lavish interior. It rivaled the big theaters of New York and then fell victim to “progress” in 1965, when it was demolished to make way for the Illinois National Bank. Historic preservationists still bemoan the loss of such […]

The drive-in movie is one of the few pleasures in life designed with the whole family in mind. Traditionally a double-bill, the first show targets the kids, after which they (theoretically) lapse into slumber. Intermission features the vintage concession promo with the dancing soda pops and acrobatic hot dog. The second flick is geared toward […]

The persistence of vision is a wonderful thing. I can still see my father handing over a few dollars to a man bathed in a single white light, his head swarming with moths and June bugs swirling up to the light and the neon sign above. We move into the darkness, slowly rolling into the […]

A lot happened in 1935: Amelia Earhart became the first person to fly solo across the Pacific Ocean; Bruno Hauptmann was sentenced to die for killing the Lindbergh baby; and, here in the Illinois state capital, people witnessed the dedication of Lake Springfield and the Vachel Lindsay Bridge, the planning of Lincoln Memorial Garden, and […]

Springfield District 186 has won awards. But it also has ten schools on the state’s Early Warning List–schools with more than half the students failing to meet state standards two years in a row. It routinely wins grants for reading, technology, science, and math. Yet most of its black students perform below state standards, while […]

On January 13 Governor Rod Blagojevich announced that the state was in danger of spending $5 billion more than it takes in this year. The next day a report appeared criticizing the state for having put hundreds of millions of dollars a year into feel-good economic development programs that aren’t paying off. Taxpayers, it made […]

November 8 was cold and windy, with gray, overcast skies threatening rain, but that didn’t stop a group of archaeologists and volunteers from walking over a tilled field about 65 miles west of Springfield. They were looking for remnants of the past. The field was once part of New Philadelphia, the first American town founded […]

On Sunday, March 16, George W. Bush flew home from the Azores Islands for a “last day of diplomacy” before starting his war against Iraq. The next day in Peoria, Illinois, Robert Wood faced a war of his own. “There are no jobs,” complained Wood, a 41-year-old general contractor, as he stood outside the office […]