Category Archives: Maps

Two Mile House

Two Mile House was an 1840s inn that became Sangamon County’s first poorhouse. It also was the scene in 1849 of a possum hunt that went wrong. Two Mile House got its name because it was about two miles from … Continue reading

Posted in Hotels & taverns, Maps, Transportation | 3 Comments

Coal mines in Sangamon County (maps)

The map above is a small-scale reproduction of an Illinois State Geological Survey map showing the extent of underground coal mining in the two Springfield quadrangles, Springfield East and Springfield West. The original map can be found at the survey’s … Continue reading

Posted in Coal mines and mining, Maps, Resources | Leave a comment

The Town Branch

Many of Sangamon County’s first pioneers settled next to the Town Branch, a meandering stream that was early Springfield’s defining topographic feature. Starting in the late 1850s, the creek took on a new role, one it continues to hold today: … Continue reading

Posted in Early residents, John T. Stuart, Local government, Maps, Public health | 1 Comment

Downtown business map, 1913

The Oct. 7 and 8, 1913, editions of the Illinois State Register, published during the Illinois State Fair (then held in the fall) included a map of the area surrounding Springfield’s courthouse square that showed many of the city’s downtown … Continue reading

Posted in Buildings, Business, Illustrations, Maps | 8 Comments

Downtown Springfield hotels, 1907-16

Although overshadowed by larger, more lavish hostelries, like the St. Nicholas, Abraham Lincoln and Leland hotels, smaller hotels and boarding houses dotted downtown Springfield during much of the 20th century. Some catered to traveling salesmen, while others housed more or … Continue reading

Posted in Buildings, Business, Hotels & taverns, Maps | 26 Comments

Springfield, 1916 (map)

The Capitol Engraving Co. artists who created this map of 1916 Springfield for the Sangamon County Abstract Co. were Alfred S. Harkness and Frank Melin (credits, top left corner). Green areas are parkland. The red lines denote trolley routes. Original … Continue reading

Posted in Arts and letters, Maps | Leave a comment

Sangamon County in 1837

The following description of Sangamon County is taken from Illinois in 1837: A Sketch by H.L. Ellsworth (Philadelphia, 1837); spelling and punctuation from the original. Note that, two years after this was written, the Illinois General Assembly reduced Sangamon County … Continue reading

Posted in Communities, Histories, Maps, Resources, Sangamon County, Sangamon River, Soil, Transportation | Leave a comment

Sangamon County boundary maps

When formed in 1821, Sangamon County took in all of what now are Sangamon, Menard, Logan, Cass, Mason and Tazewell counties, parts of McLean, Woodford, Marshall, Putnam, Macon and Christian counties, plus a sliver of northern Morgan County. Cass was … Continue reading

Posted in Local government, Maps, Sangamon County | 2 Comments

1850s Springfield, in four mysterious paintings

The four paintings below show all four sides of the Springfield square in the late 1840s or early 1850s. They are unusual in two ways: their perspective, presumably from the cupola of what now is the Old State Capitol; and … Continue reading

Posted in Arts and letters, Historic Sites, Histories, Hotels & taverns, Illustrations, Maps, Photos and photosets, Prominent figures, Springfield, State government | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Early Springfield (Barringer map)

The map at right was created for Dr. Floyd Barringer’s 1971 booklet Tour of Historic Springfield. Fever River Research, in its  Aristocracy Hill  and Enos Park surveys, along with its archaeological survey prior to construction of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential … Continue reading

Posted in Buildings, Early residents, Fever River, Historic Sites, Histories, Maps, Native Americans, Springfield, Uncategorized | Tagged | Leave a comment