Following are articles published in the View From the Hill" (VHNA Newsletter) documenting some of the history of the Vinegar Hill area:
Buckley’s Garden and Flower Shop, September 2008
Edwards & Chapman Laundry & Dry Cleaning, August 2008
Springfield High School, July 2008
Laurel United Methodist Church, June 2008
Vinegar Hill Cadets, December 2007
Did You Know Continued, October 2007
The Vinegar Hill Name, July 2005
Orphanage of the Holy Child
November 2008
by Dee Nelson
It’s Phoenix Center today, it used to be St. Monica’s Home for Women, but none of us probably remember when it was the Episcopal Church’s Orphanage of the Holy Child.
The Episcopal Church arrived in Springfield in 1835 and early services were held in the private residence of George Forquer, (IL State Senator and later IL Secretary of State), 220 East Adams. The first baptism celebrated in the Springfield Church was that of Senator Forquer’s son.
In 1880, under the direction of Bishop George Franklin Seymour, St. Paul’s Orphanage was founded and located in the then vacant Forquer home. Being supervised by Episcopal sisters and women, “It has been a fine work of human salvage, of education and training for underprivileged girl children.” The children were known to have “learned to live a normal, happy, home life.”
St Agnes Church
October 2008
By Dee Nelson
They arrived by railroad coach for the round trip excursion fee of $.50 to $1.50, from Decatur, Quincy, Jacksonville, Alton and St. Louis: an estimated 4,000 people in addition to thousands who arrived “by team” from various parts of the county. It was August 25, 1889 and the occasion was the laying of the cornerstone at St. Agnes Church on the corner of College Street and Capitol Avenue.
One hundred and two days later, on August 27, 1989 another cornerstone was laid in the new and existing St. Agnes Church at 245 North Amos.
Buckley’s Garden and Flower Shop
September 2008
By Dee Nelson
At a time in the not too distant past, VHNA had its own neighborhood garden center and flower shop ----- Buckley’s Garden and Flower Shop.
Buckley’s opened in November, 1957 at 405 Williams, the northwest corner of Williams and Pasfield Streets, where they continued to do business until their move to the 3700 block of Chatham Road in 1979. At their grand opening, they gave the first 1,000 visitors their choice of an ivy, philodendron or nepthytis plant.
“Our Business Has Added Greatly to the Happiness
of Women of Springfield”
August 2008
by Dee Nelson
……………So reads an advertisement in the May 2, 1926 Illinois State Journal for the Edwards & Chapman Laundry & Dry Cleaning, the thriving establishment at 101 West Cook Street and the present day Vinegar Hill Mall.
Founded by H.C. (Kelly) Edwards and Al W. Chapman in 1904 at 512 E. Monroe Street, the business was moved to Cook Street in 1909 to a small two story structure in the northeast corner of the existing mall. Towards the ceiling you can still see some of the original assembly line track used to pull the laundry in big tubs across the building.
Springfield High School
July 2008
by Dee Nelson
As VHNA efforts seek to preserve Springfield High, let’s consider its progenitors.
In 1857 — the year before Abraham Lincoln ran against Stephen A. Douglas for Senator, an election that he lost but gained a national reputation that won him the Republican nomination for President in 1860 — the first public high school in Springfield was started in a small building on Market Street, now Capitol Avenue, and just west of Spring Street. Old records tell us it was intended that, “Higher English branches and the languages should be studied.” In addition, the first year included algebra, geometry, natural and moral philosophy, political economy, surveying, bookkeeping, botany and physiology. Latin and Greek were included in the languages. The first graduating class in 1861 consisted of three girls. The class of 1962 consisted of three boys, two of whom immediately enlisted in the Union Army.
Laurel United Methodist Church
June 2008
by Dee Nelson
When we enter Laurel United Methodist Church each month for our VHNA meeting, I daresay none of us give much, if any, thought as to the path this progressive group of people have traveled at arriving at such a stunning edifice.
It all started in 1896 as a Mission Sunday School with seventy five people, led by Rev. G. W. Dungan. The location was Laurel School, an outlying school on the N.W. corner of Pasfield and Laurel Streets. The Sunday School was designed by the Quarterly Conference as a Preaching Place. In 1898 it was called Springfield Southern Charge. The following year Laurel School was annexed into the city school system as Horace Mann School.
Courts and Parkways
May 2008
by Dee Nelson
It happened in 1938 and 1939. Charles S. Wanless bought and developed two parcels of land in the current Vinegar Hill Neighborhood Assn. boundaries as well as one on South Fourth St. immediately west of Staab Funeral Home. His action resulted in West Jackson Parkway being platted in 1938 and Walnut Court being platted in 1939. Presumably, South Fourth Street Court was platted around the same dates but isn’t a topic for VHNA. The concept was patterned after similar courts/parkways in New Orleans, Louisiana.1
William K. Donnegan
March 2008
by Dee Nelson
August 15, 2008 will mark the 100th anniversary of the Springfield Race Riot. Little do we know about one early resident of Vinegar Hill and his date with fate – one William K. Donnegan, address: 118 West Edwards. The fact that Mr. Donnegan, a 76 year old retired shoemaker, was married to a white woman is said to have “carried the mob to a higher pitch of anger.”
Irving Metz
February 2008
by Dee Nelson
How many exterior clocks do you see around Springfield to remind you of the time as you move about the city? One very handsome such timepiece we have all seen within our Vinegar Hill neighborhood boundaries is at the northwest corner of So. Grand W. and Henrietta – yes, at the Lee K. Zelle Title Insurance Company.