Category Archives: Social life

Fourth of July, 1921

Posted on July 4, 2021 by editor

Springfield residents celebrated the Fourth of July 100 years ago with picnics, sports and reenactment of the World War I battle of Chateau Thierry. There was no single community fireworks show, but a showy sunset, caused by a dust and … Continue reading →

Posted in Amusements, Celebrations, Military, Social life, Spectacles | Leave a comment

Skyrocket Inn

Posted on June 30, 2021 by editor

What to do after a long day – and night – at the Illinois State Fair? The after-fair, after-hours mecca for everyone from carnies to Hell’s Angels to local movers and shakers was the Skyrocket Inn, right across the street … Continue reading →

Posted in Amusements, Business, Hotels & taverns, Illinois State Fair, Lithuanians, Lithuanians, Social life | 3 Comments

Mildred Park bridge collapse, 1905 (photos)

Posted on June 14, 2021 by editor

Somehow, no one was seriously injured when a crowded suspension bridge collapsed into the pond at Mildred Park (today’s Bunn Park) on Aug. 16, 1905. The lead on the Illinois State Journal story: Without the slightest warning, the suspension bridge … Continue reading →

Posted in Amusements, Disasters, Social life, Sports and recreation, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

St. Nicholas Hotel early days

Posted on April 17, 2021 by editor

J. Emil Smith, editor, publisher and columnist for the Illinois State Journal, wrote the following memory of the early St. Nicholas Hotel on Nov. 28, 1943, a few days before the McCreery family relinquished ownership. The McCreerys had operated the … Continue reading →

Posted in Buildings, Business, Historic Sites, Hotels & taverns, National Register, Prominent figures, Restaurants, Social life, Uncategorized | 4 Comments

Moonlight Garden

Posted on March 17, 2021 by editor

Moonlight Garden flourished as an open-air dance pavilion and then an indoor roller rink on Wabash Avenue for more than 35 years. Entrepreneur/showman Roy Dexheimer Sr. founded Moonlight Garden as the otherwise nameless “Open Air Dance Pavilion” in June 1927. … Continue reading →

Posted in Amusements, Business, Crime and vice, Social life, Sports and recreation | 6 Comments

The Majestic theatre, 1907-35

Posted on February 23, 2021 by editor

“Springfield society assembled en masse on the evening of May 23, 1907, when the Majestic Theatre opened its doors for the first time”, the Illinois State Register reported in 1935. By then, the Majestic, 415-21 S. Fifth St., was no … Continue reading →

Posted in Amusements, Architecture, Business, Prominent figures, Social life, Theaters | Leave a comment

W.W. Watts, theater impresario

Posted on February 17, 2021 by editor

William Walter “W.W.” Watts flopped the first time he opened a theater in Springfield. But his stepson-in-law persuaded Watts to try again, saying there was “big money in 5-cent picture shows.” The younger man was right. Watts (1868-1937), an Ohio … Continue reading →

Posted in Amusements, Business, Journalism, Media, Prominent figures, Social life, Theaters | Leave a comment

Pekin Theatre

Posted on February 12, 2021 by editor

In segregated Springfield, the Pekin Theatre was the only movie house that not only catered specifically to African-Americans, but was managed by African-Americans as well. The Pekin was at 811-15 E. Washington St. The block, the site of both Black- … Continue reading →

Posted in African Americans, Amusements, Social life, Theaters | Leave a comment

Roxy theater

Posted on February 7, 2021 by editor

“One of the city’s oldest, largest and most reliable babysitters, the Roxy Theater, will fall to the state of Illinois headache ball.” So wrote State-Journal Register critic Paul Povse in September 1978. Indeed, the demise of the Roxy was a … Continue reading →

Posted in Amusements, Architecture, Social life, Theaters | 2 Comments

New Year’s 1921

Posted on December 29, 2020 by editor

What was on the minds of Sangamon County residents for New Year’s 1921? Potholes. For its special New Year’s coverage on Sunday, Jan. 2, 1921, the Illinois State Journal asked 47 “prominent citizens” (not surprisingly for the time, all were … Continue reading →

Posted in Amusements, Business, Celebrations, Journalism, Law enforcement, Local government, Prominent figures, Social life, Transportation | Leave a comment