Category Archives: Schools and school districts

Lincoln Land Community College founded, 1967

Lincoln Land Community College held its first classes on Sept. 23, 1968, in temporary buildings on a temporary site. Even the name was temporary. LLCC – officially known as Lincoln Land Junior College until two weeks after classes began –was … Continue reading

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Ben F. Caldwell: politician, farmer, banker

Ben Franklin Caldwell (1848-1924) was a member of Congress and the Illinois legislature in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He also was a farmer, banker and civic leader whose donations helped build schools in both Chatham and Thayer. … Continue reading

Posted in Architecture, Buildings, Business, Fires, Historic Sites, Politics, Prominent figures, Schools and school districts | 9 Comments

Edith Martin, teacher & heroine

Teacher Edith Martin may have saved 30 children by forcing them out a second-story window as flames consumed Thayer’s Caldwell School on Feb. 16, 1903. An Illinois State Register special correspondent described the rescues in a highly colored account published … Continue reading

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Ridgely School fire, 1916

Regular fire drills were credited with saving the lives of an unknown number of children when Ridgely School caught fire in the middle of classes on Nov. 15, 1916. The blaze began when sparks from the school’s coal furnace flew … Continue reading

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Springfield High School explosions, 1932

Two firefighters and a janitor were killed when mystery explosions wrecked a storeroom at Springfield High School on March 20, 1932. A total of 13 people were injured by the blasts, which were never fully explained. The school’s night watchman … Continue reading

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Divernon school photos, 1920s

The above photos of Divernon school students were provided by John Faber. Students’ identifications (except for a few relatives of Mr. Faber) are not available. Divernon opened its first school in 1887, but school enrollment began to jump after the … Continue reading

Posted in Coal mines and mining, Communities, Education, Photos and photosets, Schools and school districts | 1 Comment

Hay-Edwards School (1914-2000)

The former Hay-Edwards School, for which redevelopment plans were announced in August 2015, got its name from a former mayor and school board chairman and a prominent Springfield family. Charles Hay (1841-1916), a brother of President Abraham Lincoln’s secretary (and later … Continue reading

Posted in Education, Local government, Prominent figures, Schools and school districts | 4 Comments

St. Barbara Slovenian Catholic Church

St. Barbara Church, 15th and Laurel streets, was Springfield’s Slovenian Catholic parish from 1911 until 1947. Thirty-seven Slovenian residents of the Springfield area – many of them coal miners – formed a Slovenian Church Building Association in 1909, each pledging … Continue reading

Posted in Buildings, Churches, Depression, Labor unions, Prominent figures, Schools and school districts | 9 Comments

Stuart Elementary School

The Sixth Ward Primary School, located between Sixth and Seventh streets and Vine Street and South Grand Avenue, was the first Springfield public school organized after the original four ward schools. Stuart was built in 1883 and closed after the … Continue reading

Posted in Buildings, Early residents, Education, John T. Stuart, Prominent figures, Schools and school districts, Women | 25 Comments

‘How We Come to School’ — Pleasant Plains High School, 1924

Page 68 of The Anchor, the yearbook of Pleasant Plains Township High School’s class of 1924, suggested most students commuted to school via horseback or buggy, though a few groups posed with automobiles. The class will, below, suggests high school … Continue reading

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