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Category Archives: Amusements
New Year’s 1921
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
Carl Vandagrift, baseball player/manager
Carl Vandagrift, the only Cantrall native to play major-league baseball, played for or managed at least 10 minor-league teams before he died at age 37. Vandagrift’s big-league career amounted to only 43 games in the short-lived Federal League, which challenged … Continue reading
Posted in Amusements, Sports and recreation
4 Comments
Courting and marriage in early Illinois
Speaking to the 1873 meeting of the Old Settlers of Sangamon County, former Gov. John Palmer remembered the process of courting and marriage when he arrived in Illinois in the 1830s. From the 1881 History of Sangamon County; together with … Continue reading
First hunting license (1903)
The first hunting license ever issued in Sangamon County went to the father of Illinois’ hunting license law, railroad executive Horace S. Rearden. Illinois had regulated hunting since 1853, when the state made it unlawful “for any person to kill … Continue reading
Posted in Amusements, Animals, Prominent figures, Sports and recreation
1 Comment
Theodore Lorch, actor
Theodore Lorch, who spent his teenage years in Springfield, was a film and stage actor whose busy career spanned the 1900s through the 1940s. Although he had leading roles in such movies as the 1920 version of “Last of the … Continue reading
Posted in Amusements, Arts and letters, Media, Uncategorized
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Sangamon Fair and Springfield Exposition, 1890
The Sangamon Fair and Springfield Exposition of 1890 would be “one of the grandest events in the way of a local fair that has ever been held in the state of Illinois,” the Illinois State Register proclaimed that August. Everybody … Continue reading
Posted in Agriculture, Amusements, Illinois State Fair, Spectacles
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William Dodd Chenery, impresario
The dedication of Lake Springfield on July 12, 1935 featured an elaborate pageant involving more than 100 participants – among them city fathers who portrayed themselves in a drama depicting the planning and construction of the lake. The Illinois State … Continue reading
‘The Big Tent Theatre’, 1936
The Big Tent Theatre, one of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Depression-relief programs, played to packed houses at West Grand Avenue (today’s MacArthur Boulevard) and Outer Park Drive in 1936. The Big Tent was formally part of the Federal Theatre Project, which … Continue reading
Posted in Amusements, Arts and letters, Depression, Theaters, Uncategorized
3 Comments
‘Huyler’s Ghost,’ a poem by ‘H.’,1832
“Huyler’s Ghost” is by an early Springfield poet whom scholar John Hallwas considers “the finest poet of the frontier, in not only Illinois but the entire Midwest.” The poet signed his works, which were printed in the Sangamo Journal from … Continue reading
Posted in Amusements, Arts and letters, Early residents, Prominent figures
2 Comments
New Year’s news, 1920
Good news dominated Springfield newspapers on New Year’s Day 1920. The pages of the Illinois State Journal and Illinois State Register were full of predictions about the year to come. Businesspeople were optimistic. Among those the Register quoted was Joseph … Continue reading