Category Archives: Amusements

Root beer stands

Posted on August 6, 2019 by editor

This entry has been edited to add photo above. Root beer stands first appear in Springfield city directories in 1931, with three outlets mentioned: A&W Root Beer, 408 E. Adams St; Icy Root Beer, Fifth Street and South Grand Avenue; … Continue reading →

Posted in Amusements, Business, Restaurants | 3 Comments

Basketball tournament in Illinois State Fairgrounds Coliseum, 1933

Posted on July 18, 2019 by editor

Repairs to the Illinois State Fairgrounds Coliseum, under way in summer 2019, will include heating and air-conditioning systems. But the building was unheated in the winter of 1933, when the Coliseum played host to a boys high school basketball tournament. … Continue reading →

Posted in Amusements, Buildings, Depression, Schools and school districts, Sports and recreation | 2 Comments

LincolnFest (1981-93)

Posted on July 3, 2019 by editor

LincolnFest, Springfield’s Fourth of July street festival, lasted from 1981 through 1993. Aside from fireworks, the free two-day festival offered games, parades, carnival rides, and activities for kids and seniors. Highlights of each year’s event were free performances by nationally … Continue reading →

Posted in Amusements, Celebrations, Local government, Spectacles | 1 Comment

Charles Wood/Carlo Modini, operatic tenor

Posted on June 1, 2019 by editor

A torrential rainstorm beat down on Springfield the evening of Sept. 16, 1886. But the weather didn’t stop local opera aficionados from packing the Chatterton Opera House at Sixth and Jefferson streets to hear tenor virtuoso Carlo Modini. “Nearly every … Continue reading →

Posted in Amusements, Arts and letters, Prominent figures, Social life | Leave a comment

Fortune-teller scandal, 1897

Posted on April 18, 2019 by editor

A fortune-teller with a gift of gab went to prison in 1897, thanks partly to an investigation by Springfield’s first woman dentist. Arthur A. Waite went by the name of “Luke Leslie” when he set up shop at Second and … Continue reading →

Posted in Amusements, Crime and vice, Law enforcement | Leave a comment

The Sazarac

Posted on January 4, 2019 by editor

The Sazarac, a bar, restaurant and center for political intrigue, was a fixture in the 200 block of South Sixth Street in Springfield for more than a century. The Sazarac was on the west side of Sixth Street for most … Continue reading →

Posted in Amusements, Business, Hotels & taverns, Restaurants | 1 Comment

Springfield wins minor-league baseball game, 33-23 (1926)

Posted on October 16, 2018 by editor

Baseball-mad Springfieldians got more than their money’s worth on July 20, 1926, both on the field and in the next day’s newspaper story. The Springfield Senators, the local entry in the Class B Three-I League, outslugged the Peoria Tractors that … Continue reading →

Posted in Amusements, Social life, Sports and recreation | Leave a comment

Riverton Athletic Club

Posted on October 3, 2018 by editor

The mammoth home run Robin Roberts hit on Oct. 14, 1951, remains a highlight in the 80-year history of the Riverton Athletic Club. Roberts, a Springfield native who had just completed the second of his six 20-win seasons as a … Continue reading →

Posted in Amusements, Parks, Social life, Sports and recreation | 1 Comment

Great National Horse Show and Equestrian Fair, 1865

Posted on September 23, 2018 by editor

The 11th annual Great National Horse Show and Equestrian Fair, held on the outskirts of Springfield in August 1865, was neither national nor, apparently, all that great. But it did draw Harper’s Weekly, the era’s most popular magazine, to central … Continue reading →

Posted in Amusements, Illustrations, Maps, Spectacles, Sports and recreation | Leave a comment

Dan Patch sets state fair race record (1906)

Posted on September 13, 2018 by editor

An estimated 40,000 people watched Dan Patch, the world’s most famous harness horse, set a new Illinois State Fair pacing record on Oct. 2, 1906. Dan Patch covered the one-mile fairgrounds track in 1:59¼, the first time a harness horse … Continue reading →

Posted in Amusements, Animals, Social life, Sports and recreation | Leave a comment