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Local History

Christmas Celebrations

"Last night was uncommonly quiet in police circles for Christmas Eve. Only eight men were arrested and six of these were charged with drunkenness. Early in the evening there were several men drinking, and it looked like there might be a full house in the city prison before morning but as the night passed the men who had taken a little too much to be good for their equilibrium staggered off toward home and only a paltry half dozen fell by the wayside and had to be assisted by the good Samaritans in blue and escorted to the city inn there to await the coming of the judge and the dark brown taste."

Springfield Daily Republican, December 25, 1908.

This photograph of the interior of Springfield's calaboose was taken in 1951. The jail had stopped housing prisoners in 1941. Other photographs can be found in From the Darkroom: Springfield's Historic Newspaper Photographs.

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