With the heat of summer in the rear view mirror, it is time for a fall adventure. Head to the Quad Cities along the big Ole Mississippi. There is a lot to do in the Quad Cities and on the way there an...

It’s hard to think of anything good about droughts, but they have turned up some interesting finds. On Aug. 6, the Illinois State Museum announced a new acquisition that resulted from the curren...

When the great Russian novelist Vladimir Nabokov visited Springfield in 1942, he met a man who would become fodder for one of the most entertaining letters he wrote to his wife. It was excerpted last ...

On July 4, 1837 – 175 years ago – the cornerstone for what we now call the Old State Capitol (OSC) was dedicated. In the decades that followed, the building was not only the center of gove...

The placing of a church cornerstone is an act of faith. For the founders of Springfield’s St. Vincent de Paul Lithuanian Catholic Church it was an act of survival. Exiled from their tiny homelan...

Ah summer…the days are long, picnics are taken, the drive-ins are packed and superheroes, aliens and animated films take over the multiplex. As the saying goes, “You’ve got to make...

The Civil War was only five weeks old when Col. Elmer Ellsworth, 24, was killed tearing down a Confederate flag in Virginia. As the first prominent Union casualty, he became an instant hero: newspaper...

Don’t take the freeway.A drive into yesteryear is best taken on back roads, so skip Interstate 55 and spend an extra half-hour cruising Illinois 111 south to Alton, a great bet for a day trip 90...