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William Yates Sr. (1908-74) was the Sangamon County Republican Party chairman from 1942 to 1950. He also was the primary co-founder of the former Lincoln Center and Ann Rutledge Pancake House at Monument and Sangamon avenues. Read more about Yates, … Continue reading →

Lincoln Center is a strip shopping center at Monument and North Grand Avenues, a few blocks south of Oak Ridge Cemetery and Lincoln’s Tomb. Founded by the Yates and Adams families, the center originally took advantage of its location by … Continue reading →

The first “electric stairway” in Sangamon County was installed when the John Bressmer Department Store was rebuilt following a spectacular fire in 1948. See Bressmer Department Store fire.

I.A. Madden was hired away from Illinois State University to become the Sangamon County Farm Bureau’s first soil adviser in 1918. See Sangamon County Farm Bureau.

Samuel Lewis of Auburn was the first person to contract with the U.S. Post Office to deliver mail to rural residents of Sangamon County. See Rural mail delivery begins, 1896.

Frank Hatch Jones of Springfield (later Chicago) was U.S. first assistant postmaster general when mail delivery began to rural households. See Rural mail delivery begins, 1896. 

Hauler Ira Dudley was accused of stealing wine in what became known as Springfield’s own wine-to-water miracle of 1923. See Stable fire, 1915.

Gov. John Tanner (1897-1901) is interred in one of the most visible monuments at Oak Ridge Cemetery. See “Battle of Virden”.

Augusta Kellogg was the real name of the woman known as “Jessie Brownie” and “Madame Brownie” when she operated one of Springfield’s best-known houses of prostitution. See “Madame Brownie.”