Illinois Adventure #1404 Metamora Courthouse
For many years, Abraham Lincoln practiced law on the old Eighth Judicial Circuit in small towns like Metamora, Illinois. He often visited this courthouse, which was completed in 1845. This restored building and one in Mt. Pulaski are the only two original courthouses left from the Eighth Judicial Circuit. You'll find the site just off Route 116, about 14 miles northeast of Peoria. The building was constructed of bricks burned in local kilns and hardwood from trees felled near the village. During Lincoln's day, lawyers such as Edward Baker, Stephen Logan and John Stuart handled cases here, heard by judges such as David Davis and Samuel Treat -- all associates of Lincoln.
Snowball 2014 Metamora, IL
Metamora High School Responds After Racially Charged Video is Sent to Student
Civil War Dancers at Snyder Village, Metamora, IL
B&T: Metamora courthouse
WMBD 5
Postville Courthouse State Historic Site
Introductory video for the Postville Courthouse State Historic Site where Abraham Lincoln practiced law on the 8th Judicial Circuit. The site is located at 9145 S. 5th St., Lincoln, Illinois. For more information visit
06 Chemtrails in Metamora Illinois 3/1/2012
Chemtrails in Metamora Illinois 3/1/2012
MJBE--Melissa Goings Case
Woman from Metamora
The video presented here is not owned by me and I have no claim to it's content.
Mark Twain said that history doesn't repeat itself, but it does rhyme. In that spirit I’d like to advance a historical observation regarding the recent immigration executive orders. Obama’s supporters are attempting to compare his executive orders to Reagan and Bush’s granting amnesty in the 80’s. It certainly is similar in that they are both about immigration, but his detractors are more correct when they say they are more sweeping and potentially illegal than those executive orders. In my opinion I think history’s latest executive order bears more circumstantial similarities to its most famous.
150 score and 2 years ago another president from Illinois issued a controversial executive order changing the legal status of millions of people exploited in that Century’s version of cheap labor. Both executive orders were of sweeping effect, partly delivered to hinder the president’s adversaries, and from a purely political point of view, a stroke of genius. Both Presidents also originally stated that they did not believe the presidency had the authority to take these actions.
Many then and now believed the order was an executive over-reach or unconstitutional, and they were probably right:
Just like now, more than half the country disagreed with the executive order, most in the South, but also in the North. Northerners were afraid that the new status of these people would mean that they would “take’er jobs”:
Many unfairly blamed the people in question as the source of the country’s problems (in that case a civil war, in our case a sluggish economy moving toward a purer form of capitalism) and many advanced a fanciful notion of deporting them all. Liberia was created by the United States for this very reason. Both orders made the respective Presidents heroes to the demographic they normalized and assured the loyalty of those people to the Presidents’ party for a generation or more.
So obviously I'm comparing Obama’s executive orders to the Emancipation Proclamation. Admittedly not a perfect comparison, but I continue to see more and more similarities between them. Our country is very polarized and people have lost faith in the democratic process, and back then it was so polarized the two sides were literally killing each other over their differences. Also, then as now, those political differences are largely based on geography: then, north versus south; now, urban centers versus rural areas. I don't mean to imply that Obama’s orders will be as well remembered as Lincoln’s nor that either man’s overall presidencies are all that similar; I'm simply drawing a comparison on these two executive orders. My opinion of Obama’s orders is the one that gives legal status short of citizenship to illegal immigrants may be unconstitutional, just as Lincoln’s order stood on shaky ground legally. The other two parts of Obama’s order are not.
Like Lincoln, Obama has developed a genius political strategy here as he’s placed his enemies in a really tight spot. Republicans could impeach him, add this to their lawsuit against him, attempt to pass a bill, or shut down the government in respective order of how badly such actions would backfire on them. Even if they successfully get the Supreme Court to decide the order is unconstitutional, much time will have passed by then and many would be enjoying their new status. Yanking it away from them then would cause the Republican Party to be viewed as the party that removed opportunity from millions of Hispanic families. The other barb in this triton is that differences on how to respond to the order will weaken the Republican Party by pitting the moderate and Tea Party wings against one another. This will be a terrible liability moving into 2016 and a spectacular gift to Hillary. It’s likely the Republican establishment would prefer to just let this pass without much fuss rather than introduce that kind of intraparty rancor.
The speech Obama delivered was itself genius in its use of scripture, an appeal to supporting families, and a quote from his immediate predecessor. All were clearly meant as stinging barbs for the party of God, family values, and George W. Bush. In a way it’s very ironic that Republicans are losing the Hispanic vote. If they hadn't spent two decades trashing them they could have been part of the Republican Base. Statistically speaking they tend to be conservative Catholics, pro-life, anti-gay marriage, low-educated, have strong family values and work ethic, and often work for low wages – in short a Republican dream constituency.
Redbird Replay Football Classic: 1975 IHSA Playoffs - Metamora vs East St. Louis November 19, 1975
Redbird Football Classics. 1975 IHSA Playoffs Semifinals, Metamora at East St Louis Lincoln. Original game date November 19, 1975. Provided by MTCO DigiMax.
Metamora HS #2
Sounds of the Season
Aspen Walking Tour: Pitkin County Courthouse
Mick Monroney gives a short history lesson on the Piktin County Courthouse.
Metamora Il shelf cloud and timelapse 07 26 17
Not bad for a non severe storm. The last part of the video is kind of grainy due to very low light.
Metamora Square Lincoln Celebration Civil War Honor Guard Aug 2009
Classroom part 1
First of many videos at Metamora Township high school
Plaza Tour and dinner at Lidia's
LGBTQ teen and former Germantown Hills/Metamora student
Nathaniel, 17, an LGBTQ teen, talks about the current controversy surrounding students' discussions of sexual identity at Germantown Hills Middle School.
West Chicago, Illinois - 1939 - Small town history from a 16mm film
At a recent estate sale in West Chicago, I found this 16mm film from 1939 that chronicles life in West Chicago at that time. Well done small town effort, even has some titles! Luckily I also found the VHS tape that someone had transferred the film to. I digitized it to DVD to share here. Check out the guy doing a burnout with his Harley, or is it an Indian. Baseball and basketball, cops at the target range, and the old stores. Hope you enjoy; I have no doubt this is the only one in existence.
Archaeological Findings of Lincoln Era Courthouse with Archaeologist Floyd Mansberger
Archaeological excavations were performed in July of 2014 in order to mitigate the adverse affects that construction for Bloomington-Normal’s new visitors center, Cruisin’ with Lincoln on 66, would have on the historic landscape on the south side of the Museum. The Visitors Center will be located in the ground floor of the Museum with entry through a broad plaza, located on Washington Street.
Archaeological excavations not only uncovered portions of the foundation of the Second Courthouse, (which Abraham Lincoln practiced law in during his time as a lawyer on the Eighth Judicial Circuit from 1837-1861) but also exposed several artifacts from the same time period.The team’s findings will allow the Museum plot out the exact location of the Lincoln era courthouse and to provide more complete interpretation of the site during that time period.
Floyd Mansberger received his bachelor’s degree in Archaeology from the University of Illinois and his master’s degree in History from Illinois State University. He started Fever River Research in 1984 as a part-time business conducting archaeological and architectural surveys. Today, the full-time firm (based out of Springfield) specializes in cultural resource management projects concerning historical properties. For over the past 20 years, Mansberger has participated in a variety of cultural resource management projects such as archaeological and architectural surveys, archaeological excavations, and archival research, as well as preparing historic structure reports for historic buildings. Mansberger has published articles on his research in such journals as Illinois Archaeology, Transactions of the Pioneer America Society, Historic Illinois, Wisconsin Archaeologist, Agricultural History, Journal of the Illinois Geographical Society, and Western Illinois Regional Studies.