IGHS & Foundation

IGHS & Foundation Illiana Genealogical & Historical Society, the first Illinois genealogical society chartered in 1964 Conducts research at a reasonable cost.

Publishes Illiana Genealogist, a quarterly Illiana Genealogical and historical publication provided to all members. Operates a comprehensive and independent genealogical library at 215 North Street, Danville, IL 61832.

100% volunteer-run. Repository of all Vermilion County, Illinois, probate files from c1829-1970. Please check our website and visit us at the IGHS library!

Did you know…that the residential streets of Danville, Illinois, were tree-lined in the early decades of the 1900s? Here...
11/25/2025

Did you know…that the residential streets of Danville, Illinois, were tree-lined in the early decades of the 1900s? Here is a view of Walnut Street north of downtown.

Did you know…that Barker Bros. Bakery was located at 405 South Street in Danville, Illinois, in 1906? The bakery was fou...
11/25/2025

Did you know…that Barker Bros. Bakery was located at 405 South Street in Danville, Illinois, in 1906? The bakery was founded in 1905 by R.R. and A.A. Baker. They turned out hundreds of loaves of homel-made bread each day. Like most establishments of that time, they delivered!

Did you know…that Danville once was the home of the Royal Ice Cream Company? The business was located on the corner of H...
11/22/2025

Did you know…that Danville once was the home of the Royal Ice Cream Company? The business was located on the corner of Hazel and South Streets. This photograph of its interior was taken in the early 1900s.

Did you know…that the McGee Cemetery is located on the property of the power station north of Oakwood? The cemetery cont...
11/22/2025

Did you know…that the McGee Cemetery is located on the property of the power station north of Oakwood? The cemetery contains about 14-16 graves according the 1989 article below, but IGHS cemetery inscriptions list just five markers dated from the 1840s until 1852. The cemetery was named after the James C. and Rebecca Canady McGee family, the first settlers in Pilot township in 1824. The May, 1989, article below details the efforts of a Boy Scout troop to clean up the graveyard. By the time IGHS transcribed the cemetery in 2008, the volunteers noted: “The access to the cemetery was through the Illinois Power gate. An employee of the power plant met us and led us to the site. If not for the employee, the site would be impossible to find. There was no visible path back to the cemetery nor was there a fence evident. The stones in the cemetery were broken and stacked in disarray. The cemetery has not been recently maintained. “

Rebecca Canady McGee, wife of James C. McGee, died July 21, 1852, aged 50, is buried in the cemetery as well as her 17-year-old son, Silas McGee, who died in 1847. Amanda McGee, wife of Giles McGee, and her infant daughter are also here, both dying in 1848. Rachel Bloomfield (1826-1845) also has a marked grave. These were the only graves whose markers were visible in 2008.

11/22/2025

The Illiana Genealogical & Historical Society Library at 215 W. North Street, Danville, Illinois, will be closed for Thanksgiving on the following dates:

Thursday, November 27
Friday, November 28
Saturday, November 29

We will re-open on Tuesday, December 2.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Did you know…that the former Plaza Hotel, located on the southwest corner of Danville, Illinois’s former Redden Square, ...
11/20/2025

Did you know…that the former Plaza Hotel, located on the southwest corner of Danville, Illinois’s former Redden Square, was also home to a bar/lounge?

Did you know…how Danville, Illinois’ former St. Elizabeth Hospital looked in 1904? The Catholic hospital was located at ...
11/18/2025

Did you know…how Danville, Illinois’ former St. Elizabeth Hospital looked in 1904? The Catholic hospital was located at 524 Green Street (later changed to 600 Sager). St. Elizabeth and Lakeview Hospitals later merged at the Lakeview Hospital facility on Logan Street. The successor hospital is now known as OSF Sacred Heart Medical Center.

Did you know…that the home of leading citizen John L. Tincher (1821-1871) was located at 320 N. Franklin Street in Danvi...
11/18/2025

Did you know…that the home of leading citizen John L. Tincher (1821-1871) was located at 320 N. Franklin Street in Danville, Illinois? A successful merchant/storekeeper, banker, real estate investor, and Illinois state senator, he was married to Caroline Hicks from Perrysville, Indiana. His large brick home was located at the southwest corner of Franklin and Seminary. It was later utilized as the headquarters of the local Red Cross office for many years. The Red Cross razed the former Tincher home around the 1970s and built a new facility on the site which it used until it closed. The Danville Art League presently occupies the facility. John L. Tincher died at the Revere House Hotel in Springfield on December 17, 1871, while attending to his duties in the state legislature. Around two to three thousand attended his funeral at Spring Hill Cemetery in Danville when the population of Danville was around 4,700. His former residence is photographed below as it appeared in 1904.

Did you know…that in its heyday, the Danville Commercial-News employed dozens of correspondents? This undated photo take...
11/15/2025

Did you know…that in its heyday, the Danville Commercial-News employed dozens of correspondents? This undated photo taken by Danville photographer, W. I. “Pop” Bowman, perhaps in the 1930s, was of the correspondents of the Danville paper. Many were part-time and were assigned to report the news of a village or small town in the Illiana area. There were also many more full-time reporters housed in the paper’s press room at the C-N building at 17 W. North Street in Danville, Illinois, than the number employed today due to changes in modern media and technology.

Did you know…that the former Roselawn School located at 302 W. Roselawn in Danville, Illinois, was not the first Roselaw...
11/15/2025

Did you know…that the former Roselawn School located at 302 W. Roselawn in Danville, Illinois, was not the first Roselawn School? The building, later housing the Roselawn Fitness Center and now the Three Kings of Peace facility, was constructed in 1914-1915 and served as an elementary school until June, 1983. The first Roselawn School was a two-room, wooden structure facing Oak Street which was later replaced with a four-room brick building at 1524 Oak. As one can see from The Commercial-News article (April 7, 1914), the parents wanted a new building due to flooding and drainage issues at the site. The new two-story, eight-room building was constructed in 1914-1915. Coincidentally, until 1920, Roselawn was not part of Danville District No. 118. In fact, until the village of Roselawn was annexed to Danville in 1906, it was in the village of Roselawn. Roselawn School was part of School District No. 112 until it consolidated with the Danville Schools in 1920. When the new school opened, the four downstairs rooms were utilized as regular classrooms while the upstairs was used for music, physical education, and an auditorium. As houses were further built in the neighborhood, Edison was constructed in 1929-1930. Roselawn and Edison shared a principal until 1963. During the Baby Boom after World War II, two additions were built onto Roselawn to handle the increased enrollment - two classrooms and a gym in 1953 and four additional classrooms in 1956. Until the junior highs were built in 1961, seventh and eight graders also attended the school. Enrollment surged to between 400-500 students before 1961. Declining enrollment in the city schools was one reason for Roselawn’s closure in 1983. Yet the former school building has remained a part of the community. Evidently the flooding and drainage problems were addressed before the current building was built in 1914-1915 because it was constructed on approximately the same site - but facing Roselawn Street instead of Oak Street.

Did you know…that the Big Four Railroad once had a depot in Ridge Farm? This phitograph is from an old post card.
11/11/2025

Did you know…that the Big Four Railroad once had a depot in Ridge Farm? This phitograph is from an old post card.

11/11/2025

Did you know…that the area around Henning, Illinois, was once called “The Eight Mile?” The Eight Mile Prairie was in Blount and South Ross Townships. Its name was bestowed by old time farmers of the area — eight square miles of prairie with the village of Henning in the middle.

Address

215 West North Street
Danville, IL
61832

Opening Hours

Tuesday 10am - 3pm
Wednesday 10am - 3pm
Thursday 10am - 3pm
Friday 10am - 3pm
Saturday 10am - 1pm

Telephone

+12174318733

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when IGHS & Foundation posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Practice

Send a message to IGHS & Foundation:

Shortcuts

Share

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on LinkedIn
Share on Pinterest Share on Reddit Share via Email
Share on WhatsApp Share on Instagram Share on Telegram

Category