Category Archives: Business

Henson Robinson Co./Henson Robinson Zoo

Posted on July 25, 2024 by editor

The standard version is that Henson Robinson planned to go to California but got distracted by Springfield. The real story is more complicated, but the result was the same. Robinson (1839-1900), a tinner born in Ohio, became the founder of … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Industry, Museums, Parks, Prominent figures, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

413-15 E. Adams St. fire, 2024

Posted on June 20, 2024 by editor

Furniture stores occupied the building at 413-15 E. Adams St. for more than 70 of its 121 years in existence. The three-story structure, devastated by a fire on June 19, 2024, was torn down the next day. Leonard Reisch (1858-1933), … Continue reading →

Posted in Buildings, Business, Fires | 1 Comment

Kroger grocery stores

Posted on June 11, 2024 by editor

On Dec. 13, 1928, two men, one carrying a revolver, entered the Kroger grocery at 12th Street and South Grand Avenue in Springfield.  They forced employees and a 15-year-old customer into a back room.  When the boy lagged behind, he … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Grocery markets | 1 Comment

Kayport Package Express implodes, 1983

Posted on April 21, 2024 by editor

Founder F. George Celani called Kayport Package Express a “41-day miracle” when the shipping startup went into business at Capital Airport on March 1, 1983. About 1,200 Springfield dignitaries attended the ceremony, which included champagne, a high-school band and a … Continue reading →

Posted in Airport, Business, Crime and vice, Law enforcement, Spectacles, Transportation | Leave a comment

Frank P. Richards, wood carver

Posted on April 16, 2024 by editor

In the early 20th century, Frank P. Richards would display his patriotic wood carvings on the front lawn of his home at 1160 Elliott Ave. every Fourth of July. Soldiers from nearby Camp Lincoln would salute as they marched past. … Continue reading →

Posted in Arts and letters, Business, Industry, Museums, Native Americans | Leave a comment

‘Bock Beer Day’, 1870s-’80s

Posted on April 12, 2024 by editor

“Today is Bock Beer Day, and the boys will all imbibe freely of the foaming extract of hops,” the Illinois State Journal predicted the morning of May 1, 1882. It didn’t always end happily for “the boys.” Bock beer is … Continue reading →

Posted in Breweries, Business, Celebrations, Crime and vice, Hotels & taverns, Law enforcement, Social life | Leave a comment

Edmund D. Taylor, (not the) ‘father of the greenback’

Posted on March 22, 2024 by editor

Edmund “Dick” Taylor was a legislator, businessman and investor. He was one of the winners in the only direct election Abraham Lincoln ever lost. And he probably wasn’t “the father of the greenback.” Taylor (1804-91) lived in Springfield in the … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Lincoln, Abraham, Politics, Prominent figures | Leave a comment

Top income tax payers, 1863

Posted on February 8, 2024 by editor

To finance the Civil War, Congress and President Abraham Lincoln imposed the first nationwide income tax in 1861. Changes the next year made the tax progressive – people with incomes of less than $600 a year (about $18,000 in 2024) … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Industry, Prominent figures | Leave a comment

Frank Simmons Books, Stationery and Art

Posted on January 31, 2024 by editor

The Frank Simmons stationery store commemorated the 100th anniversary of George Washington’s inauguration as president with a unique and potentially lucrative certificate: If someone paid $100 on the anniversary date, April 30, 1889, the certificate said, the store would repay … Continue reading →

Posted in Arts and letters, Business, Prominent figures | 1 Comment

The Hammerslough/Rosenwald family, clothiers

Posted on January 22, 2024 by editor

The Capitol Clothing House opened in Springfield in 1856 with the slogan “Low Prices and Good Goods.” Aside from providing inexpensive, ready-to-wear clothes to pre-Civil War Springfield, the Capitol Clothing House is the reason Springfield can boast that it was … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Historic Sites, Jewish, Lincoln Home, Lincoln Tomb, Lincoln, Abraham, Prominent figures | 1 Comment