Category Archives: Industry

Pillsbury, 1940: 100 steps between wheat & flour (illustration)

Posted on July 29, 2025 by editor

The Pillsbury Flour Mills Co. celebrated the 10th anniversary of its Springfield plant with, among other things, this advertisement in the Feb. 29, 1940, edition of the Illinois State Register. As this entry is written in summer 2025, the plant, … Continue reading →

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Peter Vredenburgh Lumber Co. & its Alabama company town

Posted on July 16, 2025 by editor

The Vredenburgh family operated lumber businesses in Springfield for 145 years. One of the main reasons for the Vredenburghs’ success, though overlooked in Springfield, was the logging empire the Vredenburghs built in the forests of southern Alabama. That venture even … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Early residents, Industry, Mills, Prominent figures | 1 Comment

C.W. Post, creator of the breakfast cereal busineess

Posted on March 8, 2025 by editor

Springfield native Charles W. Post created the breakfast cereal industry and made a fortune. He was charismatic and innovative. He also suffered from lifelong illnesses, physical and mental, that both contributed to his success and eventually drove him to suicide. … Continue reading →

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Edgar Shanklin suicide, 1926

Posted on August 27, 2024 by editor

Searchers used boats, grappling hooks and dynamite to try to retrieve the body of Edgar M. Shanklin from Lick Creek. But it took more than a month for the icy, swollen stream to relinquish the remains of the Springfield business … Continue reading →

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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 →

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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 →

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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 →

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Elevator Milling Co. fire, 1927

Posted on August 9, 2023 by editor

As many as 5,000 people stood in pouring rain the evening of April 8, 1927, watching as a historic grain mill and elevator went up in flames across from the Third Street railroad station. The massive blaze destroyed 45,000 bushels … Continue reading →

Posted in Auto dealers, Buildings, Business, Disasters, Fires, Industry, Mills, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Shot-firers, ‘windy shots’ and coal mine safety

Posted on May 7, 2023 by editor

The Illinois General Assemply approved a law in 1905 designed to safeguard coal miners from black-powder explosions. It didn’t work that way for John Stratton, Thomas Hiscock, William Wilson, Herman Kownatzky, Robinson Ridley and Loren Dunbar. The six men, all … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Coal mines and mining, Disasters, Industry, Labor unions | 1 Comment

‘The Story of a Watch,’ Illinois Watch Co. silent movie, 1922

Posted on March 27, 2023 by editor

Springfield’s Illinois Watch Co. stars in “The Story of a Watch,” a remarkable silent film made in 1922. The Rothacker Film Production Co. of Chicago, which specialized in non-theatrical industrial and advertising films, produced the 52-minute movie. It shows how … Continue reading →

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