The Culver House

DeWitt County Court House

The Illinois State Arsenal 

The new Illinois State Arsenal  at Second and Monroe streets was dedicated by President Theodore Roosevelt on June 3, 1903.  The structure, designed by Bullard &  Bullard architects, and built at a cost of $150,000 by the Culver Stone and Marble Co., resembled a medieval fort, complete with turrets and battlements, and was popularly known as The Castle.  In addition to its military functions, the new building housed the collections of the Illinois Natural History Museum, which for years had been haphazardly kept in the Statehouse.

On Sunday, Feb. 18, 1934, fire broke out in the arsenal. The spectacular blaze ignited some of the ammunition stored there, and spectators reported that the rifle rounds going off sounded like popcorn popping; happily, firefighters prevented 150 pounds of dynamite stored in the basement from exploding.

While there were no serious injuries, the fire destroyed the building and its contents. After a three-month investigation, the state fire marshal announced that the fire had been started by a 10-year-old boy from a troubled family who liked to watch things burn. The boy, Cecil Kiper, had set fire to a paper bag weighted with lead solder and threw it onto the Arsenal stage, setting the curtains on fire.

The young arsonist was identified using accounts of an arsenal janitor who had seen a  young boy who had reported a fire in a restroom wastebasket. Kiper was taken into custody at Douglas School, where he was in the fourth grade.

Plans to replace the building were begun immediately, and its successor, the Illinois State Armory, opened in 1937.

For more information about the Illinois State Arsenal, click HERE

Carnegie Library

Built 1904

The Carnegie Library in Springfield, IL was built in 1904 and was state of the art.  Andrew Carnegie, who had been funding the construction of libraries since 1886, pledged $75,000 to the City of Springfield, who then upped their pledge to $7,500.  The city paid $20,000 to buy the home of Dr. John Vincent at Seventh Street and Capitol Avenue as the library site.

The Culver Construction Co. of Springfield started work on the building in 1902. Weather, shortages of stone and labor disputes delayed the work, but the library was finally dedicated on June 7, 1904.

For more information about the Carnegie Library, click HERE.

Vicksburg Monument