Search Results for: interurban

‘Rags,’ the interurban mascot

Posted on January 17, 2019 by editor

Rags, a brown, curly-haired mutt with a habit of hopping trains, spent a happy half-dozen years as central Illinois’ “mascot of the interurban.” Like modern dogs riding in autos, Rags somehow learned that it was fun to joyride on a … Continue reading →

Posted in Animals, Transportation | 1 Comment

The interurban railway

Posted on September 2, 2014 by editor

The Illinois Traction System, though originally an electric railway, was far more than a trolley. The ITS, also widely known as “the interurban” or “the traction,” was, in fact, a lifeline for many in central Illinois during the first half … Continue reading →

Posted in Railroads, Transportation | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Rooftop gunman, 1951

Posted on December 6, 2021 by editor

Updated with information on the Horn Hotel — ed. A man fired shots at random from the roof of a Springfield hotel for more than an hour the evening of July 1, 1951. Somehow, no one was injured except the … Continue reading →

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

Cornfield shootout, 1914

Posted on December 18, 2020 by editor

The robbery of a general store near Chatham on Christmas Eve 1914 climaxed in a cornfield shootout that killed one of the bandits and wounded two of his pursuers. Newspaper accounts of the incident read like a movie script, complete … Continue reading →

Posted in Crime and vice, Law enforcement | 2 Comments

Springfield in 1939, according to the Federal Writers Project

Posted on June 10, 2019 by editor

Editor: This entry, originally published in 2014, has been revised and expanded. Illinois: A Descriptive and Historical Guide was part of the American Guide series, which profiled each of the then-existing 48 states during the 1930s. The American Guides were … Continue reading →

Posted in Buildings, Communities, Depression, Historic Sites, Histories, Illinois capital, Lincoln, Abraham, Maps, Markers, Springfield, Transportation | 2 Comments

Seven children die in car/train accident, 1928

Posted on May 11, 2017 by editor

Seven young people – six siblings and a cousin – were killed on June 5, 1928, when the car they were in drove in front of a southbound Interurban train near Auburn. The car was traveling west on Divernon Road. … Continue reading →

Posted in Children, Disasters, Railroads, Transportation | 1 Comment

Irwin’s Park (‘Irwin’s Grove’)

Posted on April 2, 2016 by editor

Irwin’s Park, two miles north of Auburn off Illinois 4, is probably the oldest public meeting place in Sangamon County. For many years, it was also one of the most popular. Today, the property, operated by Auburn Township and the … Continue reading →

Posted in Amusements, Celebrations, Coal mines and mining, Historic Sites, Markers, Parks, Sports and recreation | 9 Comments

Index A-J

Posted on October 8, 2015 by editor

A&P (first supermarkets) Abortion death trials, 1949 & 1951 Abortion murder trials, 1894 Abraham Lincoln Capital Airport Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library survey (Fever River) Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum controversies ‘Abraham Lincoln Walks at Midnight’ (Vachel Lindsay) Abrams Hotel … Continue reading →

1 Comment

Downtown Springfield hotels, 1907-16

Posted on August 2, 2015 by editor

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

Sangamon Ordnance Plant

Posted on July 7, 2015 by editor

Dozens of seemingly out-of-place structures dot farm fields west of Illiopolis, the last reminders of what once was one of the U.S.’s largest producers of World War II artillery ammunition. From 1942 to 1945, the Sangamon Ordnance Plant produced 24 … Continue reading →

Posted in African Americans, Agriculture, Buildings, Communities, Disasters, Industry, Military, Transportation, Women | 44 Comments