Category Archives: Uncategorized

Rudolph Haas, auto manufacturer

Rudolph Haas, head of R. Haas Electric & Mfg. Co., brought assembly of Springfield Motor Cars to Springfield, Ill., in 1909. See Springfield Motor Car Co.

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Sulfur spring, Loami

Sulphur Springs Cemetery south of Loami commemorates a sulfur spring in the area that was once well known to pioneers and native Americans. See ‘Wigwam tree’ and sulfur spring, Loami.

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Illinois Hotel

The Illinois Hotel operated on the northeast corner of Fourth and Jefferson streets from 1905 until 1947. See Dineen family (hoteliers).

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Hotel Silas

The Silas Hotel opened in 1897 at 113 N. Fourth St. See Dineen family (hoteliers).

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Palmer Hotel

The Palmer Hotel was at 429 E. Jefferson St. from 1927 to 1979. See Dineen family (hoteliers). 

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‘The Badlands’

For a brief description of “the Badlands,” a residential and commercial neighborhood northeast of downtown Springfield that housed a number of saloons and bawdy houses at the turn of the 20th century, see “Cocaine Alley.” 

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‘The Levee’

For a brief description of “the Levee,” Springfield’s historic downtown vice district, see “Cocaine Alley.” 

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‘Shinbone Alley’

“Shinbone Alley” was the nickname for the 900 blocks of East Mason and East Monroe streets around the turn of the 20th century. See “Cocaine Alley.”

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Charles Dawson, gambler

Scottish immigrant Charles Dawson was Springfield’s most notorious gambler for much of the 1920s. He was shot to death gangland-style in December 1931. See Gambling rivalry, 1931. 

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Wentworth Club

The Wentworth Club was a social and political club that challenged Sangamon County’s regular Republican organization from 1925 to 1933. The club’s name came from the middle name of one of its founders, Dr. Charles Compton. See Gambling rivalry, 1931.

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