By Joseph Bustos Of the Belleville News-Democrat During the first century of the state’s history, the natural habitats along the Illinois River helped spur fishing industries and had places for […]

By The State Journal-Register Staff The final resting place of Abraham Lincoln attracts everyone from schoolchildren to tourists to prayer groups. While children in particular may be attracted to the […]

By Tara McClellan McAndrew For The State Journal-Register It was July 3, 1876 — the eve of our country’s first centennial. Everyone in Springfield would be celebrating downtown. No one […]

By Roger Ruthhart Of the Rock Island Argus John Looney was the original Quad-Cities vice lord and also one of the nation’s earliest organized crime leaders. Looney was a thin, […]

CHICAGO —  The Governor’s Office of the Illinois Bicentennial is awarding 25 schools across the state a three-year technology program as a signature legacy project of the Bicentennial Celebration. The IMSA […]

By Dennis Anderson Of the Peoria Journal Star Bill Veeck wasn’t your typical baseball team owner. He was listed in the Chicago phonebook. He often walked the Comiskey Park concourse […]

By Shane Nicholson Of the Rock River Times Its neighbor to the east may claim “The Crossroads of America” title, but by nearly any measure, Illinois is the heart of […]

By John Carpenter Chicago Sun-Times About 20 years before a certain territory along the eastern banks of the upper Mississippi became a state, a man named Maurice Daly tied his […]

    By Kerry Lester The Daily Herald The Gettysburg Address. Hull House. The nation’s first African American president — and first lady. All of these are due to Illinois’ […]

By Kate Schott Of the State Journal-Register When state lawmakers head to the Capitol to do the people’s business, they travel to Springfield. But that wasn’t always the case. Springfield […]