By Jim Leach
Jun 27, 2021 | 5:45 AM
Times have certainly changed in the world of print journalism. But not that long ago, Springfield was home to not one, but two, daily newspapers.
The Illinois State Journal was the older of the two papers, founded in 1831. It was considered the “Republican” paper in town and often touted its connections to Abraham Lincoln. While the Journal was published each morning, the Illinois State Register was the city’s afternoon paper, and was considered the “Democratic” paper in town.
Copley Press bought the Journal in 1927, and then purchased the Register in 1942. After operating as separate publications for decades, the two newspapers merged into one, the State Journal-Register, on July 1, 1974. It would publish morning and afternoon editions for a while, but eventually discontinued the afternoon edition.
Springfield School District 186 s oldest building is getting an addition with classrooms and smaller group spaces and an elevator for the first time.
The construction won t change Dubois Elementary s vaunted facade, which faces Lincoln Avenue and has been the entry point for the school since 1896.
The school building sits on what was part of the Sangamon County Fairgrounds and then Camp Yates, a training camp for new recruits and militias from around the state, according to SangamonLink, the online website for the Sangamon County Historical Society.
Ulysses S. Grant first took command of Union troops there in 1861 and made his headquarters in a bungalow on the school s present-day site.
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By Jim Leach
Photo via blackswanbooks.com
If you think railroad relocation has taken a long time, think about this – it was first proposed nearly 100 years ago.
Springfield in the 1920s was not a showplace. The air was filled with coal smoke, the rail crossings were a nuisance and hazard for drivers and pedestrians, the drinking water would not pass modern standards for sanitation. City officials commissioned a Chicago city planner, Myron West, to develop a plan for the future.
West delivered his vision to the city in May of 1923, and in 1924 it was adopted as the first official city plan. It was a document well ahead of its time. It took more than a decade to realize the West Plan’s vision of a manmade lake for drinking water, what became Lake Springfield. It envisioned turning Capitol Avenue into a landscaped parkway, a project that didn’t get started until the 21