Attention: Program by Nancy King scheduled for February 5, 2026 at History Center, Ladies' Lingerie through the Decades, has been cancelled due to weather. The Population Center is not determined numerically; it's the geographic point at which the U.S. would balance if each of its residents (currently over 342 million) weighed the same.  February 1st, 1923, the Saint Louis Chamber of Commerce announced that Lawrenceville was the center of population according to the census ta

Born in Richland County, Illinois on March 8, 1908, Virgil Henry was the son of E Clinton and Rosa Shick Henry. He came from a family of schoolteachers; his father was a teacher; his brother Omar taught in schools in Lawrence County and his sister Fern was a teacher at Sumner High School. While a student in 1924, Virgil Henry of Sumner was awarded the prize in the home lighting contest conducted by the Central Illinois Public Service Company. The prize was a radio outfit

Possibly the most significant airplane in history is the Enola Gay, (a B-9 Super Fortress) which on August 6, 1945, under the command of Colonel Paul W. Tibbets, Jr., flew on a mission to Hiroshima, Japan and dropped the world's first atomic bomb on a city, ultimately leading to the end of the WWII. In the January 9, 1945 issue of the Daily Record was an ad seeking workers to help build B-29 Super fortress planes. A Boeing representative would be interviewing in Olney on a

Hyatt Madding voted for Herbert Hoover in the Presidential Election of 1932 and lost his bet about the election outcome with Leslie Hildreth, who voted for Franklin D. Roosevelt.  The winner of the bet had to push the loser in a wheelbarrow down Main Street in Bridgeport. This picture was taken at the corner of Main Street and Chestnut Street in downtown Bridgeport.  Pictured, left to right: Unknown, State Patrolman Charles Baker, Leslie Hildreth, Hyatt Madding, Unknown, a

The 20-millionth Ford car on a countrywide tour visited Lawrenceville on October 30, 1931. Arriving shortly before 9:00 a.m. in a caravan that included twenty of the new Model A Fords, the delegation stopped at the A L Maxwell Company showroom where the drivers were welcomed by Mayor CL Holson. Mayor Holson, Chief of Police William Stivers, and GL Eshelman and GC Armstrong of the Chamber of Commerce accepted an invitation to ride in the Ford and inscribe their names in the l

Roy Hayden of Vincennes opened his miniature automobile (midget) racing bowl in July 1946 located on the blacktop road north of May Chapel Church known then as the George Field Road between Lawrenceville and Vincennes.  He called it the Lawrence County Speedway.  The track was a fifth of a mile. He advertised nationally known drivers and racing cars from Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, Kentucky and Florida would appear.  A chartered bus service for fans, leaving from Vincennes City

Dr. Harlie V. Lewis, the oldest physician in Lawrence County in 1939, died at his home at 809 13th St at 3:25 pm Saturday February 1. He suffered a stroke at 8:30 that morning and his condition was considered serious from the first. Dr. Lewis had been in his usual health the last month except for a slight cold that had confined him to his home in the latter part of that week. Dr. Lewis was born in Bridgeport, Illinois, the son o f William M. Lewis and Katherine Eaton Lewis

Vital Statistics for the Year 1940 Lawrence County   Total Births in the County: 803 Total Deaths: 193 (two stillborn and 7 cases recorded as miscellaneous) (Not sure how a death could be classified as "miscellaneous" . . .you were either dead or you weren't. . . )   By Township Allison: 34 births, 5 deaths, 1 stillborn and 4 miscellaneous Bond: 56 births, 13 deaths Bridgeport: 12 births, 28 deaths Christy: 94 births, 23 deaths Denison: 133 births, 22 deaths Lawrence: 176 bir

Lawrence County News November 14, 1928 IN HONOR OF COMRADES Men of Indian Erect Monument to Memory of Those Who Died in Service A monument to the memory of the men who have been killed in the service of the Indian Refining Company was unveiled with impressive ceremonies Monday afternoon, Company L and members of the American Legion participating in the ceremonies. Fully one thousand people were present on the company grounds when a beautiful silk flag was placed at half mast

Christmas 1944 George Field: Col Bobzien and 3000 presents for the soldiers   The Research Library and History Center will be closed the week of December 21-27.