Category Archives: Uncategorized

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 →

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Springfield Golf Club

Posted on November 26, 2021 by editor

See Women’s golf, 1899.

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Thanksgiving charity, 1921

Posted on November 21, 2021 by editor

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 | Leave a comment

Dr. George Kreider

Posted on November 6, 2021 by editor

Dr. George N. Kreider was a leader of the medical community in Springfield and statewide in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. See Tapeworms and medical fraud, 1884.

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Tapeworms and medical fraud, 1884

Posted on November 6, 2021 by editor

Dr. George Kreider “hates quacks as the devil hates holy water,” the Illinois State Register said in 1884, but he almost met his match in an 87-foot tapeworm. George N. Kreider (1856-1922) was a leader among Springfield physicians in the … Continue reading →

Posted in First Citizens, Journalism, Law enforcement, Medicine, Prominent figures, Public health, Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Pike’s Peak Ocean to Ocean Trail

Posted on November 1, 2021 by editor

Back when Illinois highways had names, not numbers, the Pike’s Peak Trail brought tourists, and their dollars, to central Illinois. The trail (full name “Pike’s Peak Ocean to Ocean Trail,” often abbreviated PP-OO or PPOO) was cobbled together from bits … Continue reading →

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Poston Brick & Concrete Co.

Posted on October 1, 2021 by editor

Brickyards sprouted in Springfield almost as soon as European settlers reached Sangamon County, but the longest-lived was Poston Brick & Concrete Co., which operated on South Grand Avenue for almost 60 years. “Nature was in a most generous mood when … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Industry, Soil, Uncategorized | 8 Comments

Job Fletcher (‘Long Nine’, first window glass)

Posted on September 26, 2021 by editor

Job Fletcher, whose family settled in Sangamon County in 1819, is credited with a number of the county’s “firsts.” See First window glass.

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R.F. Herndon & Co. (dry goods, women’s clothing)

Posted on September 21, 2021 by editor

R.F. Herndon & Co. sold dry goods, women’s clothing and hats for more than 130 years in Springfield. Herndon’s operated the first horseless delivery vehicle in Springfield, and its third location featured one of Springfield’s first passenger elevators, an innovation … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Department stores, Prominent figures, Uncategorized | 7 Comments

De Crastos family (tamales)

Posted on September 7, 2021 by editor

The De Crastos family, beginning with patriarch Edward De Crastos, sold chili and tamales from pushcarts and bicycles in Springfield from the 1890s until the 1960s. See ‘Tamale men’ (1890s).

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