Springfield, Illinois, USA
1895 - Springfield

Springfield, a city, capital of the state of Illinois, and seat of justice of Sangamon co., is situated 4 miles S. of the Sangamon River, 96 miles N.N.E. of St. Louis, Mo., 80 miles S. of Peoria, and 185 miles S.W. of Chicago. Lat. 39° 48' N.; lon. 89° 33' W. It is regularly planned, with wide, straight streets, having a public square, in the cent" of which stands the court-house, surrounded on four sides by massive blocks of business houses. The city contains the state-house, one of the finest public buildings in the Union, costing $5,000,000, a state arsenal, a handsome and substantial post-office and court-house, which cost $300,000, a fine city hall, several first-class hotels, 40 churches, 2 colleges, 2 academies, 3 convents, 2 insurance companies, and 7 banks. Five daily and 8 weekly newspapers and 2 month. lies are published here. Springfield became the seat of the state government in 1837, and in 1840 was made a city. It is on the Chicago & Alton Railroad at its intersection with the Wabash Railroad, and is a terminus of the Springfield division of the Illinois Central Railroad. A branch of the Baltimore & Ohio Southwestern Railroad also passes through it, and it is entered by the Jacksonville Southeastern Railroad, the Chicago & St. Louis Railroad, and the St. Louis, Chicago & St. Paul Railroad. Here are 3 iron-foundries, 3 steam flouring-mills, 2 manufactories of woollen goods, 1 of watches (employing 500 hands), 3 planing-mills, a paper-mill, and large iron-works (employing about 600 men), boiler-works, furniture-factory, and immense shale paving-brick plants, besides a large number of other manufacturing establishments...

Springfield is memorable as having been the residence of Abraham Lincoln, sixteenth president of the United States; and in the beautiful Oak Ridge Cemetery rest his remains within the crypt of the national monument to his memory at a cost of $264,000. Pop. in 1850, £: in 1860, 93.20; in 1870, 17,364; in 1880, 19,743; in 1890, 24,063; present pop. about 32,000.

Lippincott's Gazetteer of the World: A Complete Pronouncing Gazetteer Or Geographical Dictionary of the World Containing Notices of Over One Hundred and Twenty-five Thousand Places ... Joseph Thomas January 1, 1895 J.B. Lippincott

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