Category Archives: Business

The J.C. Ayling kite factory

Posted on October 23, 2015 by editor

The J.C. Ayling Kite Co., which got its start in a backyard shed on North Seventh Street, manufactured millions of Jolly Boy kites in Springfield from 1911 until the 1940s. The key to the company’s success was an innovation developed … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Children, Industry | 2 Comments

Tuxhorn garage and towing

Posted on October 12, 2015 by editor

John Tuxhorn Sr. (1885-1953) opened his Tuxhorn Garage at 1158 N. Sixth St. in 1919, but it wasn’t until the early 1940s that John Jr. added towing service – and, a decade later, began painting his tow trucks bright pink. … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Transportation | Leave a comment

‘First flash of lightning’: Telegraph reaches Springfield

Posted on September 29, 2015 by editor

Edited to add Hat Tip (see below) In 1848, only four years after Samuel F.B. Morse famously sent the message “What hath God wrought!,” Springfield became linked to the rest of the world via telegraph. The Illinois State Journal’s story … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Media | Leave a comment

North Side State Bank collapse, 1927

Posted on September 22, 2015 by editor

The North Side State Bank operated from 1920 to 1927, when state auditors ordered it closed in the wake of a complicated financial scandal involving two banks, three insurance companies, and a former Springfield resident who may have absconded with … Continue reading →

Posted in Arts and letters, Buildings, Business, Prominent figures | Leave a comment

Downtown arches

Posted on September 17, 2015 by editor

The steel arches that once dominated the four corners of Springfield’s downtown square went from being a graceful addition to an eyesore in barely 20 years. Actually, Springfield erected two sets of arches on the square in the late 1800s. … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Business, Celebrations, Local government | Leave a comment

Lauterbach Cottage Hardware ax attacks (1981)

Posted on September 1, 2015 by editor

No one was ever charged with the 1981 ax attacks at Lauterbach’s Cottage Hardware Store, but the case did lead to a change in Illinois’ mental-health privacy law. The attacks took place inside the family-owned hardware store at 15th Street … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Crime and vice, Law enforcement | 20 Comments

Downtown Springfield hotels, 1907-16

Posted on August 2, 2015 by editor

Although overshadowed by larger, more lavish hostelries, like the St. Nicholas, Abraham Lincoln and Leland hotels, smaller hotels and boarding houses dotted downtown Springfield during much of the 20th century. Some catered to traveling salesmen, while others housed more or … Continue reading →

Posted in Buildings, Business, Hotels & taverns, Maps | 26 Comments

Noll Saloon murders, 1913

Posted on June 16, 2015 by editor

A string of saloon holdups had Springfield already on edge in December 1913, when a shootout with a pair of robbers left two men dead in the Carl Noll Saloon, 1301 E. Reservoir St. Gun-wielding robbers had held up at … Continue reading →

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

The Coal Palace

Posted on June 10, 2015 by editor

Sangamon County showed off its most valuable mineral by building a “grand coal palace” for the 1889 county fair. The idea for the palace apparently originated with an unidentified Illinois State Journal staff member only two weeks before the scheduled … Continue reading →

Posted in Amusements, Architecture, Buildings, Business, Coal mines and mining, Industry, Labor unions, Spectacles | Leave a comment

Ridgely family

Posted on May 31, 2015 by editor

Nicholas Ridgely, a Maryland native who moved to Sangamon County in 1835, was the father of 13 children by two wives (both named Jane). Here is a look at several Ridgelys who played prominent roles in 19th-century Springfield. *Nicholas Ridgely … Continue reading →

Posted in African Americans, Business, Industry, Local government, Prominent figures, Railroads | 6 Comments