Category Archives: Hotels & taverns

‘Sundown Corner,’ Divernon

Posted on March 20, 2026 by editor

Sundown Corner near Divernon was a landmark in the early days of Route 66. The “corner”, at the intersection of Divernon Road and U.S. 66, got its name because the bar/restaurant/service station was a convenient stop for people traveling the … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Hotels & taverns, Restaurants, Route 66, Social life, Transportation | Leave a comment

The Curve Inn’s curve

Posted on March 3, 2026 by editor

The Curve Inn once sat on an actual curve. The nightspot, housed in a 94-year-old building at 3219 S. Sixth Street Road, was badly damaged by fire in February 2026. The inn originally was near a long curve that connected … Continue reading →

Posted in Buildings, Business, Crime and vice, Fires, Hotels & taverns, Restaurants, Route 66, Social life, Transportation, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Krous Park

Posted on November 7, 2025 by editor

Beer was the lifeblood of Krous Park, which operated west of Amos Avenue in Springfield from about 1878 until the early 1910s. John G. Krous (1847-94), who owned a saloon on the northwest corner of Edwards and Baker streets (today’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Amusements, Business, Celebrations, Germans, Hotels & taverns, Local government, Markers, Prominent figures, Social life, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Forum 30/Wyndham Springfield City Centre

Posted on April 18, 2025 by editor

Three factors drew attention to Springfield’s Forum 30 hotel even before it opened in 1974: its height, its site and its whiz-kid developer. At 30 stories high, the building was the tallest in downstate Illinois – by most measurements even … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Buildings, Hotels & taverns, Restaurants | Leave a comment

Transient shelters, 1934-35

Posted on September 6, 2024 by editor

When a jobless migrant – a “hobo” or “tramp” – wandered into Springfield during the Great Depression, he might have been in for a surprise: a well-stocked shelter offering meals, a bed, work opportunities and even recreation. Springfield’s transient-aid program … Continue reading →

Posted in Depression, Hotels & taverns, Social services, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

‘Bock Beer Day’, 1870s-’80s

Posted on April 12, 2024 by editor

“Today is Bock Beer Day, and the boys will all imbibe freely of the foaming extract of hops,” the Illinois State Journal predicted the morning of May 1, 1882. It didn’t always end happily for “the boys.” Bock beer is … Continue reading →

Posted in Breweries, Business, Celebrations, Crime and vice, Hotels & taverns, Law enforcement, Social life | Leave a comment

‘The Big O’ fire, 1908

Posted on October 31, 2023 by editor

The Olympic theater – better known as “the Big O” – advertised “strictly refined vaudeville.” But newspaper reporters and state regulators suspected patrons got a bit more for their 15 cents. So the Illinois State Journal saw some justice in … Continue reading →

Posted in Amusements, Business, Crime and vice, Disasters, Fires, Hotels & taverns, Social life, Theaters | Leave a comment

Springfield hotels turn away Black singing group, 1881

Posted on September 2, 2023 by editor

Springfield hotels refused to house America’s best-known Black choral group in 1881. The result was nationwide condemnation, a rebuke from President James A. Garfield, and a scramble by embarrassed local residents to repair the city’s reputation. The group was the … Continue reading →

Posted in Abolitionism, African Americans, Amusements, Arts and letters, Hotels & taverns, Presidential candidates, Prominent figures, Social life | 3 Comments

‘A Palatial Barroom’ (1898)

Posted on August 27, 2023 by editor

When Harry Lane opened his new saloon at 415 E. Washington St. in 1898, he wanted you to know: It was no bucket of blood. Rough-and-tumble tipplers patronized the workingmen’s bars (and worse) that lined the streets of “the Levee” … Continue reading →

Posted in Amusements, Buildings, Business, Crime and vice, Hotels & taverns, Prominent figures, Restaurants, Social life, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Saloon free lunches

Posted on May 18, 2023 by editor

In November 1927, Illinois State Journal writer A.L. Bowen embarked on a three-day series of columns remembering the restaurants, saloons and hotels that dotted downtown Springfield when he arrived in the city at the turn of the 20th century. The … Continue reading →

Posted in Amusements, Business, Hotels & taverns, Prominent figures, Restaurants, Social life, Uncategorized | Leave a comment