How others see the Grant connection to the Historic West side neighborhood

This is a follow up to the June 3, 2010 entry on:
Dubois School site has an interesting history at       Click here

I found this entry in a blog on U.S. Grant: The title for the entry is:
Ulysses S. Grant Tour- Springfield, Illinois to the Ohio river

1861: Proceeding from the Old State House eastward a number of blocks, we visited the site where Grant had his first command of soldiers–the 21st Illinois Volunteer Infantry. Originally the area was the state agricultural fairgrounds before its conversion to a Civil War military training camp. Today it is a gracious suburb with historic homes. Two memorial plaques commemorate the historic military grounds. One is a plaque on an elementary school building…


…the other object commemorating Grant’s command of the 21st Illinois Volunteer Infantry is a stone obelisk which now stands in a private garden…

The address of the blog is:

http://presidentusgrant.com/category/springfield-illinois/

The Aladdin Villa on Williams Boulevard

There is a Mediterranean style home at 957 Willaims Boulevard. It was built in 1919, shortly after this area was opened up for private homes. The architect was not local. In fact the name of the actual architect is unknown.  The house was ordered out of a catalog --

Does this house look familiar?  Here is how it looks now!

Here is how the house looked in 1967 -- there is more original detail visible:

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Aren't old postcards lovely?  what a nice custom of sending them through the mail to recognize holidays!

A Chilly afternoon in Oak Ridge Cemetery

Thinking it was warmer today, I suggested a walk to the park. My husband had another idea - how about a walk around Oak Ridge Cemetery. We headed to the oldest part  where the Victorian stones are.  We weren't headed for any particular plot, just looking at the different designs of the stones.
 We passed Herndon's grave (he was Lincoln's law partner)

If you stand by the side of Herndon's grave, you can see Lincoln's tomb in the distance.

Springfield had a poet named Vachel Lindsey.
 Lindsay was internationally known in the early-twentieth century for his unique poetry, the artwork he created to illustrate the poetry, and animated performances of his work. Two of his best-known volumes are The Congo (1914) and Collected Poems (1938).  He seems to have a lonely grave at Oak Ridge.

There are so many ornate stones at Oak Ridge. 

 

Amazingly, we ran into someone else we knew who decided to stroll through the cemetery today.  History is always with us in Springfield and there is something new to experience every day!