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Blogroll
Category Archives: Uncategorized
Sherwood subdivision
“A home in Sherwood is an investment in happiness,” Vredenburgh Lumber Co. promised when it marketed its new development in the 1960s. It was an effective pitch: In 2022, Sherwood was the largest single-family-home subdivision in Springfield. Sherwood’s 656 homes … Continue reading
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Edward Baxter (sheriff)
Edward Baxter was Sangamon County sheriff from 1894 to 1898. See Pawnee posse captures burglars, 1899.
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171 Springfield grocery stores, 1917 (list)
In February 1917, Quaker Oats partnered with Pettijohn’s Breakfast Food (Pettijohn’s made a wheat bran cereal that, like oatmeal, needed to be cooked) to offer a deal to Springfield households: anyone who sent in trademarks from the two cereals could … Continue reading
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Roy Bertelli, ‘Mr. Accordion’
Roy Bertelli’s mortal remains are at Oak Ridge Cemetery. His accordion is not. The internet is wrong on both counts. (Who could have guessed?) Bertelli (1910-2003), who called himself “Mr. Accordion,” gained local fame in 1997, when he paid $30,000 … Continue reading
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First parking meters (1941)
Confusion, reluctance and a little apprehension were Springfieldians’ responses to the city’s first parking meters. The Illinois State Journal described their debut in its Oct. 24, 1941, edition. Springfield entered a new era of streamlined parking control yesterday as nearly … Continue reading
Cathedral High School basketball champions, 1939
Springfield’s Cathedral Boys High School won its only Illinois Catholic Conference basketball tournament in 1939. The 16-team event was held at the Illinois State Armory Feb. 24-26. Cathedral’s 285 students (as the name suggests, the school was open only to … Continue reading
Springfield Giants (Class D baseball)
The Springfield Giants played one season, 1950, in the Class D Mississippi-Ohio Valley baseball minor league. See Springfield Sallies.
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Rooftop gunman, 1951
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
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Thanksgiving charity, 1921
Special meals were the order of the day for Thanksgiving 1921 at local prisons, orphanages and homes for the poor, sick and aged. And disabled veterans got a bonus that weekend: an exclusive performance by poet Carl Sandburg. A look … Continue reading
Posted in Celebrations, Children, Social services, Uncategorized
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