SangamonLink
@sangamonlink.bsky.social
Online encyclopedia of the Sangamon County (IL) Historical Society. We're more than Abe.
Santa fell victim to snowballs in Springfield’s 1950 Christmas parade. New on SangamonLink: sangamoncountyhistory.org/wp/santa-sur...
Santa surrenders sleigh to snowballs (1950 Christmas parade)
Santa Claus, of all people, should have felt right at home when a four-inch snowfall greeted Springfield’s 1950 Christmas parade. But Santa couldn’t overcome a barrage of snowballs. The parade, whi…
sangamoncountyhistory.org
December 3, 2025 at 1:27 PM
Santa fell victim to snowballs in Springfield’s 1950 Christmas parade. New on SangamonLink: sangamoncountyhistory.org/wp/santa-sur...
At Springfield’s Oriental Café a century ago, the Thanksgiving special went way beyond turkey. Here’s the menu, on SangamonLink: sangamoncountyhistory.org/wp/thanksgiv...
Thanksgiving menu at the Oriental Café, 1925
Cream of oyster soup and Lobster Newburg joined Vermont turkey on the Oriental Café’s holiday menu for Thanksgiving Day 1925. The price? $1.25. The Lum family served Chinese and American dishes at …
sangamoncountyhistory.org
November 23, 2025 at 5:01 PM
At Springfield’s Oriental Café a century ago, the Thanksgiving special went way beyond turkey. Here’s the menu, on SangamonLink: sangamoncountyhistory.org/wp/thanksgiv...
Ethelbert Kalb’s steamboat was the highlight of Glenwood Park. New on SangamonLink: sangamoncountyhistory.org/wp/glenwood-...
Glenwood Park and the Kalb family
Glenwood Park was a small resort that operated along the South Fork of the Sangamon River from the mid-1890s until the early 1900s. Facilities included a small dam, docks and rowboats, an excursion…
sangamoncountyhistory.org
November 17, 2025 at 12:25 PM
Ethelbert Kalb’s steamboat was the highlight of Glenwood Park. New on SangamonLink: sangamoncountyhistory.org/wp/glenwood-...
Beauty advice was out of bounds at the 1911 Illinois State Fair. New on SangamonLink: sangamoncountyhistory.org/wp/beauty-ba...
Beauty ban, 1911 Illinois State Fair
The “lady managers” of the 1911 Illinois State Fair’s domestic science school were appalled when they learned one of their instructors was giving young women advice on cosmetics well as hygiene. Th…
sangamoncountyhistory.org
November 11, 2025 at 2:52 PM
Beauty advice was out of bounds at the 1911 Illinois State Fair. New on SangamonLink: sangamoncountyhistory.org/wp/beauty-ba...
Krous Park, off Amos Avenue, lived and died by beer. New on SangamonLink: sangamoncountyhistory.org/wp/krous-park/
Krous Park
Beer was the lifeblood of Krous Park, which operated west of Amos Avenue in Springfield from about 1878 until the early 1910s. John G. Krous (1847-94), who owned a saloon on the northwest corner of…
sangamoncountyhistory.org
November 7, 2025 at 1:55 PM
Krous Park, off Amos Avenue, lived and died by beer. New on SangamonLink: sangamoncountyhistory.org/wp/krous-park/
On this day 129 years ago, the Donner Party was straggling into the Sierra Nevada mountains, headed for its date with destiny. Read Read SangamonLink’s newly expanded entry on the Donner tragedy and its Sangamon County origins. sangamoncountyhistory.org/wp/donner-pa...
Donner Party: Emigrant tragedy
The Donner Party left Springfield to emigrate to California in mid-April 1846 but became stranded in deep snow near present-day Truckee, Calif. The group’s experience is remembered primarily becaus…
sangamoncountyhistory.org
October 26, 2025 at 7:25 AM
On this day 129 years ago, the Donner Party was straggling into the Sierra Nevada mountains, headed for its date with destiny. Read Read SangamonLink’s newly expanded entry on the Donner tragedy and its Sangamon County origins. sangamoncountyhistory.org/wp/donner-pa...
The Springfield Survey of 1914 examined the lives of people who don’t usually make it into the history books: common laborers, schoolchildren, petty criminals, the poor, mentally ill and feeble. There’s never been anything like it anywhere else.
From SangamonLink: sangamoncountyhistory.org/wp/1010/
From SangamonLink: sangamoncountyhistory.org/wp/1010/
Springfield Survey, 1914
The Springfield Survey of 1914 was a massive study of local schools, prisons, and other institutions, and it’s still well-known in the fields of sociology and social work. But, partly because it wa…
sangamoncountyhistory.org
October 9, 2025 at 3:03 PM
The Springfield Survey of 1914 examined the lives of people who don’t usually make it into the history books: common laborers, schoolchildren, petty criminals, the poor, mentally ill and feeble. There’s never been anything like it anywhere else.
From SangamonLink: sangamoncountyhistory.org/wp/1010/
From SangamonLink: sangamoncountyhistory.org/wp/1010/
The Springfield Zouave Grays were the first Illinois unit to respond to President Lincoln's call for volunteers to preserve the Union. New on SangamonLink: sangamoncountyhistory.org/wp/springfie...
Springfield Zouave Grays go to war, 1861
“The city yesterday (wore) a camp like appearance,” the Illinois State Journal reported April 18, 1861, three days after President Lincoln called for volunteers to defend the Union from southern re…
sangamoncountyhistory.org
September 29, 2025 at 7:19 PM
The Springfield Zouave Grays were the first Illinois unit to respond to President Lincoln's call for volunteers to preserve the Union. New on SangamonLink: sangamoncountyhistory.org/wp/springfie...
The Pillsbury smokestack comes down at 10 a.m. today (Thursday, Sept. 18). Moving Pillsbury Forward has a viewing site near 15th & Phillips.
"MPF volunteers will be on site to welcome visitors. We look forward to seeing many friends throughout the day and hearing their Pillsbury stories."
"MPF volunteers will be on site to welcome visitors. We look forward to seeing many friends throughout the day and hearing their Pillsbury stories."
September 18, 2025 at 11:16 AM
The Pillsbury smokestack comes down at 10 a.m. today (Thursday, Sept. 18). Moving Pillsbury Forward has a viewing site near 15th & Phillips.
"MPF volunteers will be on site to welcome visitors. We look forward to seeing many friends throughout the day and hearing their Pillsbury stories."
"MPF volunteers will be on site to welcome visitors. We look forward to seeing many friends throughout the day and hearing their Pillsbury stories."
Demolition of Springfield's Pillsbury plant starts this week. Moving Pillsbury Forward will provide a viewing area.
MPF: “We hope to see many of our friends this week as we celebrate the bittersweet end of the Pillsbury era in Springfield.”
sangamoncountyhistory.org/wp/1541/
MPF: “We hope to see many of our friends this week as we celebrate the bittersweet end of the Pillsbury era in Springfield.”
sangamoncountyhistory.org/wp/1541/
September 14, 2025 at 11:26 AM
Demolition of Springfield's Pillsbury plant starts this week. Moving Pillsbury Forward will provide a viewing area.
MPF: “We hope to see many of our friends this week as we celebrate the bittersweet end of the Pillsbury era in Springfield.”
sangamoncountyhistory.org/wp/1541/
MPF: “We hope to see many of our friends this week as we celebrate the bittersweet end of the Pillsbury era in Springfield.”
sangamoncountyhistory.org/wp/1541/
The last coal mine in Sangamon County (the Viper Mine near Williamsville) is shutting down, the finale to an industry that brought prosperity, immigrants and, sometimes, tragedy to central Illinois for 150 years.
ICYMI, from SangamonLink: sangamoncountyhistory.org/wp/coal-mini...
ICYMI, from SangamonLink: sangamoncountyhistory.org/wp/coal-mini...
Coal mining
For several years in the middle of the 20th century, Sangamon County was a leader among Illinois counties in the production of bituminous coal. Coal was discovered in Illinois as early as 1673, whe…
sangamoncountyhistory.org
September 9, 2025 at 12:06 PM
The last coal mine in Sangamon County (the Viper Mine near Williamsville) is shutting down, the finale to an industry that brought prosperity, immigrants and, sometimes, tragedy to central Illinois for 150 years.
ICYMI, from SangamonLink: sangamoncountyhistory.org/wp/coal-mini...
ICYMI, from SangamonLink: sangamoncountyhistory.org/wp/coal-mini...
Chief Gray Eagle, born on the Umatilla reservation in Oregon, sold his proprietary salve and educated Springfieldians on Native American history. New on SangamonLink: sangamoncountyhistory.org/wp/gray-eagl...
Gray Eagle’s Salve
Chief Gray Eagle, a Native American born in Oregon, sold what the label claimed was a miracle-working ointment for two decades in Springfield. According to the label on each 2-ounce, $1.25 jar, Gra…
sangamoncountyhistory.org
September 7, 2025 at 2:58 PM
Chief Gray Eagle, born on the Umatilla reservation in Oregon, sold his proprietary salve and educated Springfieldians on Native American history. New on SangamonLink: sangamoncountyhistory.org/wp/gray-eagl...
‘Illinois was hell on oxen and women’: William Herndon, 149 years ago. ICYMI on SangamonLink: sangamoncountyhistory.org/wp/early-far...
Early farming changes (William Herndon description)
On Aug. 31, 1876, William Herndon (1818-91), Abraham Lincoln’s last law partner and biographer, spoke to the ninth annual meeting of the Old Settlers of Sangamon County. Here is part of his speech,…
sangamoncountyhistory.org
August 29, 2025 at 1:27 PM
‘Illinois was hell on oxen and women’: William Herndon, 149 years ago. ICYMI on SangamonLink: sangamoncountyhistory.org/wp/early-far...
Illinois put a bounty on the English sparrow – “a bird unclean in habits, murderous in practice” – in 1891. It didn’t work. New on SangamonLink: sangamoncountyhistory.org/wp/sparrow-s...
Sparrow slaughter, 1891-1901
Illinois had a bounty on English sparrows from 1891 to 1901. The birds endured, but the bounty was a bonanza for young boys with BB guns. The English sparrow (also known as the house sparrow), was …
sangamoncountyhistory.org
August 23, 2025 at 1:02 PM
Illinois put a bounty on the English sparrow – “a bird unclean in habits, murderous in practice” – in 1891. It didn’t work. New on SangamonLink: sangamoncountyhistory.org/wp/sparrow-s...
Henry W. Clendenin, longtime editor of the Illinois State Register, was no friend of the automobile. New on SangamonLink: sangamoncountyhistory.org/wp/the-autom...
The automobile as ‘devil wagon’ – Illinois State Register, 1907
The Illinois State Register, in an editorial published on Friday, Nov. 8, 1907, reluctantly admitted “the automobile has doubtless come to stay.” But the writer – probably the Register’s longtime e…
sangamoncountyhistory.org
August 13, 2025 at 11:38 AM
Henry W. Clendenin, longtime editor of the Illinois State Register, was no friend of the automobile. New on SangamonLink: sangamoncountyhistory.org/wp/the-autom...
Rides were two for a quarter at Kiddie Land. A look at Springfield's homegrown amusement park, new on SangamonLink: sangamoncountyhistory.org/wp/kiddie-la...
Kiddie Land amusement park
Kiddie Land was Springfield’s home-grown amusement park in the 1950s and ‘60s. On opening day, May 27, 1950, every child received a balloon, and rides – on the merry-go-round, ponies, boats and a f…
sangamoncountyhistory.org
August 7, 2025 at 12:55 PM
Rides were two for a quarter at Kiddie Land. A look at Springfield's homegrown amusement park, new on SangamonLink: sangamoncountyhistory.org/wp/kiddie-la...
Police worried about “beerleggers” following Gov. William J. Stratton’s 1953 ban on beer sales at the Illinois State Fair. New on SangamonLink: sangamoncountyhistory.org/wp/illinois-...
Illinois State Fair beer ban, 1953-74
Acting on complaints from church groups and parents, the administration of Gov. William G. Stratton prohibited the sale of beer at the 1953 Illinois State Fair. The ban on beer, as well as on any o…
sangamoncountyhistory.org
August 5, 2025 at 11:30 AM
Police worried about “beerleggers” following Gov. William J. Stratton’s 1953 ban on beer sales at the Illinois State Fair. New on SangamonLink: sangamoncountyhistory.org/wp/illinois-...
See how Pillsbury Flour Mills Co. celebrated its 10th anniversary in Springfield. From SangamonLink: sangamoncountyhistory.org/wp/pillsbury...
Pillsbury, 1940: 100 steps between wheat & flour (illustration)
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 …
sangamoncountyhistory.org
July 29, 2025 at 1:11 PM
See how Pillsbury Flour Mills Co. celebrated its 10th anniversary in Springfield. From SangamonLink: sangamoncountyhistory.org/wp/pillsbury...
New: The Pillsbury Project has released 128 pages of documentation as demolition proceeds at the almost-100-year-old plant. Milling raw wheat was a complicated, expensive and (for some of us) fascinating process; this is the best look you’re liable to get. pillsburyproject.org/wp-content/u...
pillsburyproject.org
July 27, 2025 at 11:56 AM
New: The Pillsbury Project has released 128 pages of documentation as demolition proceeds at the almost-100-year-old plant. Milling raw wheat was a complicated, expensive and (for some of us) fascinating process; this is the best look you’re liable to get. pillsburyproject.org/wp-content/u...
“Not so bad for two women, pretty well along in years” – the business of beekeeping at the turn of the 20th century. New on SangamonLink: sangamoncountyhistory.org/wp/bee-keepi...
‘Bee-Keeping for Women’ (1909) by Louisa C. Kennedy
John A. (1808-92) and Elizabeth Kennedy (1812-92) moved with their six children from Pennsylvania in 1860 and took up farming in the Curran area. For some period of time, possibly beginning as soon…
sangamoncountyhistory.org
July 20, 2025 at 1:49 PM
“Not so bad for two women, pretty well along in years” – the business of beekeeping at the turn of the 20th century. New on SangamonLink: sangamoncountyhistory.org/wp/bee-keepi...
Springfield’s hometown lumber family also owned a timber empire in the woodlands of Alabama. New on SangamonLink: sangamoncountyhistory.org/wp/peter-vre...
Peter Vredenburgh Lumber Co. & its Alabama company town
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 V…
sangamoncountyhistory.org
July 17, 2025 at 11:16 AM
Springfield’s hometown lumber family also owned a timber empire in the woodlands of Alabama. New on SangamonLink: sangamoncountyhistory.org/wp/peter-vre...
The city of Leland Grove, Ill., turns 75 this year. The reason it exists? Potholes. ICYMI on SangamonLink: sangamoncountyhistory.org/wp/leland-gr...
Leland Grove
The city of Leland Grove was formed in response to a plague of potholes. Subdivision development took off in the area, on the southwest side of the city of Springfield, after World War II. But it w…
sangamoncountyhistory.org
July 8, 2025 at 12:14 PM
The city of Leland Grove, Ill., turns 75 this year. The reason it exists? Potholes. ICYMI on SangamonLink: sangamoncountyhistory.org/wp/leland-gr...
Red hots, pepper fiends and the DeCrastos family … Before food trucks, tamales were Springfield’s favorite street food. ICYMI on SangamonLink sangamoncountyhistory.org/wp/tamale-me...
‘Tamale men’ (1890s)
Roving “tamale men” became a late-night phenomenon in downtown Springfield around the turn of the 20th century, and a single family kept the tradition going until the 1960s. The Illinois State Jour…
sangamoncountyhistory.org
June 30, 2025 at 1:07 PM
Red hots, pepper fiends and the DeCrastos family … Before food trucks, tamales were Springfield’s favorite street food. ICYMI on SangamonLink sangamoncountyhistory.org/wp/tamale-me...
A new historical marker remembers coal miner Henry Stephens and his connection to Carl Sandburg. SangamonLink tells the rest of the story. sangamoncountyhistory.org/wp/harry-ste...
Henry Stephens: miner, Carl Sandburg muse
Henry Stephens was an African-American coal miner in central Illinois from the 1890s into the early 20th century. Poet Carl Sandburg talked to Stephens sometime around 1917 and turned Stephens’ tho…
sangamoncountyhistory.org
June 29, 2025 at 11:17 AM
A new historical marker remembers coal miner Henry Stephens and his connection to Carl Sandburg. SangamonLink tells the rest of the story. sangamoncountyhistory.org/wp/harry-ste...
“Texas is great” – In the early 1900s, Charles C. Coe used railroad junkets to sell western real estate. New on SangamonLink: sangamoncountyhistory.org/wp/charles-c...
Charles Coe, “Texas immigration agent”
Charles C. Coe took an unusual approach to his Springfield real estate business: he tried to get people to leave town. Coe (1860-1926) worked in central Illinois from about 1901 until 1920, billin…
sangamoncountyhistory.org
June 23, 2025 at 12:58 PM
“Texas is great” – In the early 1900s, Charles C. Coe used railroad junkets to sell western real estate. New on SangamonLink: sangamoncountyhistory.org/wp/charles-c...