Category Archives: Buildings

Early Springfield (Barringer map)

The map at right was created for Dr. Floyd Barringer’s 1971 booklet Tour of Historic Springfield. Fever River Research, in its  Aristocracy Hill  and Enos Park surveys, along with its archaeological survey prior to construction of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential … Continue reading

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Enos Flats (photo)

The Enos Flats, built in 1892, are the oldest remaining example of a multi-family dwelling in Springfield, according to Fever River Research’s architectural survey (1997, revised in 2005) of the Enos Park neighborhood. The buildings, at 716-24 N. Fifth St., … Continue reading

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Cornelius Flagg Farmstead, Sherman

                                                  Flagg Farmstead, 2013 (SCHS photo) The Flagg Farmstead , 500 Old Tipton Road in Sherman … Continue reading

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Gottschalk Grocery

“The name Gottschalk has been synonymous in Springfield with quality foods,” the Illinois State Register proclaimed in 1924, when Gottschalk’s grocery celebrated 35 years in business at College Avenue and Edwards Street. At the time, in addition to basic staples, … Continue reading

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Franklin Life Insurance Co.

Founded in 1884, the Franklin Life Insurance Co. remained an important force in Springfield’s economy into the 21st century. Franklin Life was founded  by a half-dozen central Illinois residents in 1884. They pledged to offer up to $3,000 in insurance … Continue reading

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The Globe Tavern, 1886 (photo)

The newlywed Abraham and Mary Lincoln rented a room in The Globe Tavern, 315 E. Adams St., from November 1842 until the next fall. Their oldest son Robert was born there. The photo above, from 1886, shows only a portion … Continue reading

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Grace Lutheran Church

The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Springfield was formally organized in the home of the Rev. Francis Springer on Sept. 19, 1841. Springer, who was born in Pennsylvania, had arrived in Springfield with his wife and daughter in May of 1839, … Continue reading

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Groves

Groves of mature hardwood trees figured frequently in the history of Sangamon County. Robert Pulliam, considered the first European inhabitant of  the county, set up his first encampment in a grove of sugar maples on what became known as Sugar … Continue reading

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Hickox Apartments

The Hickox Apartments, built at Fourth and Cook streets beginning in the mid-1920s, are a five-building, 100-unit complex that “brought social respectability to apartment living” in Springfield, according to Fever River Research’s 2003 study of the Aristocracy Hill neighborhood. Builder … Continue reading

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Home and Hospital for Fallen Women

The Home and Hospital for Fallen Women opened in 1868 at 902 S. 12th St., a building known generally as the Judge John Taylor House. The purpose of the Home and Hospital was described in 1871 in a pious, and … Continue reading

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