Homepage of "Mr. Lincoln, Route 66, & Other Highlights of Lincoln, IL"

Site Map

Testimonials

A Long-Range Plan to Brand the First Lincoln Namesake City as the Second City of Abraham Lincoln Statues

The Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Celebration in Lincoln, Illinois

1.
Abraham Lincoln and the Historic Postville Courthouse,
including a William Maxwell connection to the Postville Courthouse

2.
About Henry Ford and the Postville Courthouse, the Story of the Postville Courthouse Replica,
Tantivy, & the Postville Park Neighborhood in the
Route 66 Era


3.

The Rise of Abraham Lincoln and His History and Heritage in His First Namesake Town,
also the founding of Lincoln College, the plot to steal Lincoln's body, and memories of Lincoln College and the Rustic Tavern-Inn

4. 
Introduction to the Social & Economic History of Lincoln, Illinois,
including poetry by William Childress & commentary by Federal Judge Bob Goebel & Illinois Appellate Court Judge Jim Knecht

5.
"Social Consciousness in William Maxwell's Writings Based on Lincoln, Illinois" (an article published in the Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society, winter 2005-06
)

5.a.
Peeking Behind the Wizard's Screen: William Maxwell's Literary Art as Revealed by a Study of the Black Characters in Billie Dyer and Other Stories

6.
Introduction to the Railroad & Route 66 Heritage of Lincoln, Illinois

7.
The Living Railroad Heritage of Lincoln, Illinois: on Track as a Symbol of the "Usable Past"


8.

Route 66 Overview Map of Lincoln with 42 Sites, Descriptions, & Photos

9.
The Hensons of Business Route 66

10.
The Wilsons of Business
Route 66
,
including the Wilson Grocery & Shell Station

11.
Route 66 Map & Photos Showing Lincoln Memorial Park
(former Chautauqua site),
the Historic Cemeteries, & Nearby Sites

12.
Route 66 Map & Photos Showing Salt Creek & Cemetery Hill,
including
the highway bridges, GM&O bridge, Madigan State Park, the old dam (with photos & Leigh's memoir of "shooting the rapids" over the old dam), & the Ernie Edwards' Pig-Hip Restaurant Museum in Broadwell

13.
The Historic Logan County Courthouse, Past & Present


14.
Route 66 Map with 51 Sites in the Business & Courthouse Square Historic District,
including locations of historical markers
(on the National Register of Historic Places)

15.
Vintage Scenes of the Business & Courthouse Square Historic District

16.
The Foley House:  A Monument to Civic Leadership
(on the National Register of Historic Places)

17.
Agriculture in
the Route 66 Era


18.
Arts & Entertainment Heritage,
including the Lincoln Theatre Roy Rogers' Riders Club of the 1950s

19.
Business Heritage

20.
Cars, Trucks & Gas Stations of the Route 66 Era

21.
Churches,
including the hometown churches of Author William Maxwell & Theologian Reinhold Niebuhr

22.
Factories, Past and Present

23.
Food Stores of
the Route 66 Era


24.
Government

25.
Hospitals, Past and Present

26.
Hotels & Restaurants of the Railroad & Route 66 Eras


27.
Lincoln Developmental Center
(Lincoln State School & Colony in the Route 66 era), plus
debunking the myth of Lincoln, Illinois, choosing the Asylum over the University of Illinois

28
.
Mining Coal, Limestone, & Sand & Gravel; Lincoln Lakes; & Utilities


29.

Museums & Parks, including the Lincoln College Museum and its Abraham Lincoln Collection, plus the Heritage-in-Flight Museum

30.
Neighborhoods
with Distinction

31.
News Media in the Route 66 Era

32.
The Odd Fellows' Children's Home

33.
Schools

34.
Memories of the 1900 Lincoln Community High School,
including Fred Blanford's dramatic account of the lost marble fountain of youth

35.
A Tribute to the Historians and Advocates of Lincoln, Illinois

36.
Watering Holes of the Route 66 Era

37.
The Historic 1953 Centennial Celebration of Lincoln, Illinois

38.
The Festive 2003 Sesqui-centennial Celebration of Lincoln, Illinois,
including photos of LCHS Class of 1960 dignitaries & the Blanfords

39.
Why Did the State Police Raid Lincoln, Illinois, on October 11, 1950?

40.
The Gambling Raids in Lincoln and Logan County, Illinois,
During the Late Route 66 Era (1950-1960)

_______

Pages in this section tell about Leigh Henson's Lincoln years, moving away, revisits, and career:

About Lincoln, Illinois;
This Web Site; & Me

A Tribute to Lincolnite Edward Darold Henson: World War II U.S. Army Veteran of the Battles for Normandy and the Hedgerows; Brittany and Brest; and the Ardennes (Battle of the Bulge)

For Remembrance, Understanding, & Fun: Lincoln Community High School Mid-20th-Century Alums' Internet Community
(a Web site and email exchange devoted to collaborative memoir and the sharing of photos related to Lincoln, Illinois)

Leigh Henson's Pilgrimage to Lincoln, Illinois, on
July 12, 2001

Leigh Henson's Review of Dr. Burkhardt's William Maxwell Biography

Leigh Henson's Review of Ernie Edwards' biography, Pig-Hips on Route 66, by William Kaszynski

Leigh Henson's Review of Jan Schumacher's Glimpses of Lincoln, Illinois

Teach Local Authors: Considering the Literature of Lincoln, Illinois

Web Site About
Leigh Henson's Professional Life

__________

Pages in this section are about the writing, memorabilia, and Web sites of other Lincolnites:

A Tribute to Bill and Phyllis Stigall:
Exemplary Faculty of Lincoln College at Mid-Twentieth Century

A Tribute to the Krotzes of Lincoln, Illinois

A Tribute to Robert Wilson (LCHS '46): Author of Young in Illinois, Movies Editor of December Magazine, Friend and Colleague of December Press Publisher Curt Johnson, and Correspondent with William Maxwell

Brad Dye (LCHS '60): His Lincoln, Illinois, Web Site,
including photos of many churches

Dave Armbrust's Memorabilia of Lincoln, Illinois

J. Richard
(JR) Fikuart
(LCHS '65):
T
he Fikuarts of Lincoln, Illinois, including their connections to the William Maxwell family and three generations of family fun at Lincoln Lakes

Jerry Gibson (LCHS '60): Lincoln, Illinois, Memoirs & Other Stories

Dave Johnson (LCHS '56): His Web Site for the Lincoln Community High School Class of 1956

Sportswriter David Kindred: Memoir of His Grandmother Lena & Her West Side Tavern on Sangamon Street in the Route 66 Era

Judge Jim Knecht
(LCHS '62): Memoir and Short Story, "Other People's Money," Set in Hickey's Billiards on Chicago Street in the Route 66 Era

William A. "Bill" Krueger (LCHS '52): Information for His Books About Murders in Lincoln

Norm Schroeder (LCHS '60): Short Stories

Stan Stringer Writes About His Family, Mark Holland, and Lincoln, Illinois

Thomas Walsh: Anecdotes Relating to This Legendary Attorney from Lincoln by Attorney Fred Blanford & Judge Jim Knecht

Leon Zeter (LCHS '53): His Web Site for the
Lincoln Community High School Class of 1953
,
including announcements of LCHS class reunions

(Post yours there.)
__________

 


Highway Sign of
the Times:
1926-1960

The Route 66
Association of Illinois

The Illinois State Historical Society

Illinois Tourism Site:
Enjoy Illinois

 

 

    Internet Explorer is the only browser that shows this page the way it was designed.  Your computer's settings may alter the display.

April 24, 2004: Awarded "Best Web Site of the Year" by the Illinois State Historical Society  
  "superior achievement: serves as a model for the profession and reaches a greater public"
 

Marquee Lights of the Lincoln Theater, est. 1923, Lincoln, Illinois

     You can go home again.                              Email Leigh Henson at DLHenson@missouristate.edu.

25. Hospitals of the Past

     As explained below, the first hospitals in Lincoln, Illinois, were the work of Catholic and Protestant churches there.    

Abraham Lincoln Memorial Hospital    

     The former Abraham Lincoln Memorial Hospital (ALMH) on 8th Street in Lincoln, Illinois, was a non-denominational institution that had 66 beds and served 17 communities in Logan County and eastern Mason County. It was affiliated with Memorial Health System of Springfield" (Lincoln/Logan County Chamber of Commerce, Community Profile & Membership Directory, p. 30).

     Significant facts about ALMH:

·   24-hour emergency service with physicians and nurses trained in emergency medicine;

·   Advanced Life Support Paramedic Program, with helicopter transportation;

·   A recent $1,500,000 renovation of emergency, radiology, laboratory and central registration;

·   Non-emergency walk-in care, general inpatient care, intermediate care, inpatient and outpatient surgery; and

·   Various kinds of therapy, pain management, and sports medicine. (Community Profile, p. 30).

     More complete information is available at the ALMH Web site, address in Sources Cited below.
 

25.1:  Entrance to Yesterday's Abraham Lincoln Memorial Hospital

     (Photo from Lincoln/Logan County Chamber of Commerce Community Profile & Membership Directory, p. 30.  Photo is courtesy of VillageProfile.com of Elgin, Illinois.)
 

  

25.2:  Undated Picture Postcard of ALMH
 

St. John Evangelical Deaconess Hospital (1902-1954)

     ALMH was immediately preceded by the Evangelical Deaconess Hospital, which had been founded in 1899 by the St. John Evangelical Church of Lincoln, Illinois. The address of the Deaconess Hospital was 302--320 7th St., and that location was framed by Walnut Street to the east, Pine Street to the west, and 8th Street to the north. This church formed the Saint John Evangelical Deaconess Society "to own and operate the hospital" (Beaver, p. 69). In the early 1890s, Reverend Hermann Schmidt, pastor of the St. John Church, persuaded his congregation to support efforts to provide a house from which deaconesses (trained nurses) could work. Because of an outbreak of typhoid fever in 1898, the Deaconess Hospital Order of St. Louis sent two deaconesses to Lincoln to care for the typhoid fever patients, and this activity led the local congregation to become interested in organizing a deaconess society (Beaver, p. 69).

     In 1902 when the Reverend Gustav Niebuhr moved to Lincoln to become the minister of the St. John's United Church of Christ, he also become the head administrator of the St. John Evangelical Deaconess Hospital (Beaver, p. 69).
 

25.3:  Colorized Picture Postcard of Deaconess Home and Hospital (undated)
 

St. Clara's Hospital (1910-1962)

     The other early hospital in Lincoln, Illinois, was St. Clara's Hospital, dedicated in 1886 by Bishop Spalding of Peoria, Illinois (Stringer, p. 464).  The originator of this facility was Father Conrad Rotter, parish priest of St. Mary's.  An organizational meeting was held at the Logan County Courthouse, and interest was sufficient enough to begin fund raising.  "The first move in this direction was the giving of an entertainment at Gillett's Hall, under the auspices of the ladies of the City of Lincoln, at which entertainment over $1,000 was realized as a nucleus for the necessary funds for the proposed institution" (Stringer, p. 464).  An order of Sisters (unnamed in Stringer and Beaver) purchased land facing Maple Street between Fifth and Sixth Street, where the yellow-brick facility was constructed.  Paul Beaver's Logan County History 1982 includes nine paragraphs of history titled "St. Clara's Hospital, 1910-May 31, 1962" (p. 69).
 

25.4:  Undated Picture Postcard of the 1886 St. Clara's Hospital
 

25.5:  St. Clara's Hospital, Corner of Sixth and Maple Streets in the 1960s

(Photo from Beaver, Logan County History 1982, p. 138)

     The above photo shows the unusual silo-shaped fire escape and a 19th-Century streetlight suspended by wires across the middle of the intersection.
 

 Sources Cited

     Abraham Lincoln Memorial Hospital Web site:  http://www.almh.org/

     Beaver, Paul. History of Logan County 1982. Published by the Logan County Heritage Foundation. Dallas, TX:  Taylor Publishing Company, 1982.

     Lincoln/Logan County Chamber of Commerce Community Profile & Membership Directory, 1998.  Photo courtesy of Village Profile.com, Inc., 33 N. Geneva Street, Elgin, IL 60120.  Please visit the Web site of this remarkable company at http://www.villageprofile.com.

     Springfield, Illinois Memorial Hospital Web site page on ALMH: http://www.memorialmedical.com/almh.htm

     Stringer, Lawrence B. History of Logan County Illinois (1911). Reprinted by UNIGRAPHIC, INC., Evansville, IN:  1978.
 

     Email comments, corrections, questions, or suggestions. 
Also please email me if this Web site helps you decide to visit Lincoln, Illinois: DLHenson@missouristate.edu.
 

"The Past Is But the Prelude"

The founding fathers of this town asked their attorney, Abraham Lincoln, for permission to name this new community after him, and he agreed.  On the first day lots were publicly sold--August 27, 1853--, Abraham Lincoln, near the site of the train depot, used watermelon juice to christen the town as Lincoln, Illinois.  It thus became the first town named for Abraham Lincoln before he became famous.