The Pierre Menard House at 4230 Kaskaskia Road in Ellis Grove, Illinois.

The Pierre Menard House, located in Ellis Grove, Illinois, was the home of Pierre Menard (1766-1844), a successful trader who became the first lieutenant governor of Illinois from 1818 to 1822. Menard was born near Montreal, Canada on October 7, 1766. The third of ten children, Menard sought to make his fortune by trading furs in what was then "Illinois Country."

Having become a successful businessman by the age of thirty, Menard went on to become a successful U.S. political figure, eventually becoming the first lieutenant governor of Illinois, after having served as the presiding officer of the Illinois Territorial Legislature. Despite his various political accolades, including delegate to the Indiana Territorial Legislature, regimental Major, and being one of the select few chosen to help draft Illinois' first constitution, Pierre Menard is still remembered to this day for his good-natured will and for his generosity towards the poor.

The house itself is believed to have been constructed around 1815. It is an illustration of the Southern French Colonial (sometimes referred to as "Creole") and has various features which highlight this, including its beautiful veranda that wraps the building’s front façade and gable ends. The house is located within only a few hundred yards of the Mississippi River during certain periods of the year. Due to the annual flooding and erosion, the rest of the original town of Kaskaskia, Illinois' first capital, has been washed away.

The Pierre Menard House now stands as the only testament to where the first state capital once stood. The house was placed on the National Register of Historic Places and designated a National Historic Landmark in 1970. Also preserved by the state as the Pierre Menard Home State Historic Site, it contains a museum which includes audio-visual program. The museum is devoted to the Menard family, as well as local history, and is governed by the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency.

The two-story home is an unusually fine example of French Creole-style architecture and features early 19th-century period furnishings. The rooms on the main floor include the entry hall, parlor, master bedroom, dining room, two additional bedrooms, maid's room and a nursery. Behind the home is a period stone kitchen.

The grounds include a poteau sur solle (post-on-sill) privy, a reconstructed smokehouse and springhouse, and an historic herb and vegetable garden that is located near the kitchen.

VIDEO

Pierre Menard State Historic Site.

Compiled by Neil Gale, Ph.D. 

The Eads Bridge is the world's first steel-truss bridge and an engineering marvel spanning the Mississippi river between East St. Louis, Illinois and St. Louis, Missouri.

After the Civil War and the expansion of the nation's railroad system, it became apparent that for St. Louis (the Gateway to the West) to survive, a bridge across the Mississippi River was essential. In 1867, the St. Louis Bridge and Iron Company, made up of a group of City bankers and businessmen, hired James Buchanan Eads (1820-1887) to build one. Eads was a self-educated engineer and had never built a bridge before. But during the Civil war, he had been called on by Washington to construct several Ironclad gun ships and completed his contract in an incredible 65 days.

The construction of the bridge began in 1867. Giant granite-faced piers support three graceful arches and two decks. Eads Bridge was the first bridge to carry railroad tracks, the first to use tubular cord members and the first to depend entirely on cantilever construction for its superstructure. Pneumatic caissons were used for the first time in the U.S. in the construction of its piers, which were sunk to the unprecedented depth of 123 feet.

This new design is a testament to Eads' brilliance as an engineer, but it is also evidence of the grueling fight that the builders had to wage against the ferry and shipping interests. These powerful companies had controlled the crossing of the Mississippi since Capt. James Piggott started the first ferry across the river in 1795. His company sold out to the Wiggins Ferry Company, who came to dominate the riverfront on the Illinois side of the river.

These interests lobbied for restrictions and specifications on the height, construction, and span of the bridge that they thought could not be surmounted by any engineer. Unfortunately for them, James B. Eads was one of the best engineers of his age and he found "work-arounds" for all of their artificial obstacles.

The Eads bridge spans the Mississippi River between East St. Louis, Illinois and St. Louis, Missouri. At 6,442 feet long, it was the longest arch bridge in the world. It first opened to foot traffic on May 29, 1874.

This chromolithograph shows the construction of the bridge and the finished product as it would have looked in 1874. It was published by Compton and Co. in St. Louis in 1874.

The bridge was completed for a cost of nearly $10 million, and dedicated on July 4, 1874. In recognition of this unparalleled engineering achievement, Eads Bridge was named a National Historic Landmark, the highest designation given by the National Park Service, in 1964. It was made a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark by the American Society of Civil Engineers in 1971 and designated a City Landmark the same year.

Compiled by Neil Gale, Ph.D.  

Seymour Paisin Ladies Apparel on Devon and Talman Avenues in Chicago, Illinois.

1963

The Seymour Paisin Ladies Apparel (Seymour Paisin on Devon, Inc.) was located at 2629 West Devon and Talman Avenues in Chicago. Seymour Paisin (1912-1987) and his wife and co-founder Ruth (1914-1977) opened Seymour Paisin Ladies Apparel in 1950, and the shop closed in the early 1980s.

The Paisins began quarter-page advertising in the Chicago Tribune in September of 1951.

Only a little information is available about the store or Seymour. It was "THEE" place to shop for high fashion, second only to Chicago's Downtown.

1973

My mom shopped there a lot! We lived 2½ blocks away, and she would take me out for a walk when I was very young. I can remember sitting in one of their big chairs and looking out the windows, watching traffic go by and people walking on Devon Avenue while my mom tried on dress after dress.

Chicago Tribune, September 13, 1951

Dress Label

Ruth & Seymour Paisin

Visit the Seymour Paisin Souvenir Shop

By Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.