Driving Around Small Town Pittsfield, IL in 4k Video

Filmed on Friday, March 17 2023, I drive around the village of Pittsfield, Illinois to see what's going on.
Pittsfield is a city in and the county seat of Pike County, Illinois, United States. The population was 4,576 at the 2010 census, an increase from 4,211 in 2000.
Pittsfield is the self-proclaimed "Pork Capital" of the Midwest, owing to the long history of pork production in the region, which fed into the large meat-packing industry of Chicago. Though agriculture in the region is no longer so dependent on pork, the town still hosts a yearly "Pig Days" festival.
Pittsfield was initially settled by settlers from New England. These settlers were of old Yankee stock, descended from the English Puritans who had founded and settled New England in the 1600s. A group of settlers from Pittsfield, Massachusetts headed west and settled this region of Illinois in 1820. When they arrived the area was a virgin wilderness, they constructed farms, roads and government buildings.
As county seat, the town was one of the various places in central Illinois where Abraham Lincoln practiced law as part of the circuit court, working on 34 cases between 1839 and 1852. One local newspaper, now known as the Pike Press, was then owned by another of Lincoln's future secretaries, John Nicolay, and featured an editorial containing one of the first known suggestions of Lincoln as the Republican nominee for the presidency. Pittsfield was also home to John Hay, Lincoln's personal secretary, ambassador to England under President William McKinley, later Secretary of State for Theodore Roosevelt and creator of the Open Door Policy.
Pittsfield is home to the most locations in the world that have documented connections to Abraham Lincoln. There are nine homes still in existence in Pittsfield that are connected to Lincoln, including the Shastid House, where Lincoln often stayed while practicing cases in the county. His personally signed documents have been stolen from the courthouse. Many people in the county have seen them and know they exist. The public is alerted to watch for them, should they surface at sales, in museums, or private collections. The dockets listing Lincoln's cases still remain, stored in ancient records in the courthouse basement.
There are many historic landmarks within the city limits, the most notable of which is the Pike County Courthouse. The courthouse was designed by Architect Henry Elliott of Chicago and Jacksonville. Contractors were Yeager and Schultz of Danville, Illinois. The courthouse was to be completed within 400 days after the signing of the contract at a cost of $45,000. Groundbreaking for the courthouse was on May 11, 1894. The cornerstone was laid on July 12, 1894, and the dedication of the new courthouse was on November 16, 1895. Robert Franklin, a master mason from Nebo, Illinois designed and supervised the keystone architecture of the courthouse. It was the third courthouse in Pittsfield and the fifth in Pike County. The building is of octagon shape 96 x 96 feet of Cleveland sandstone veneering, backed by heavy walls of brick; the dimensions over all, is over the steps and porches, is 119 feet by 119 feet. Four entrances, all exactly alike, face the four cardinal points - north, south, east, and west.
The East Ward School, built between 1861 and 1866, was designed by Architect John M. Van Osdel, who also designed the Palmer House in Chicago, as well as the Governor's Mansion in Springfield. John Houston of Griggsville built the school for the contract price of $35,000, which was financed by bonding. The building is stone (boated from Joliet on the Illinois river) and brick burned in Pittsfield. Both the grade school and high school were located in this building. At the completion of the East School in 1866, it was one of the finest and largest buildings of its kind in the state and "fulfilled the requirements of a modern school plant." Original blackboards were simply black paint on the plastered walls. Generally, they were completely around the room, including between the windows. The original building was heated by hot air piped from furnaces in the basement. There were no inside toilet facilities, but there were outside "privies" located east of the building next to the street. Presently, restrooms are in the basement, through the side doors near the front. Its large clock and bell were donated by Colonel Ross and mounted in the tower. The Clock Tower is one of the few tower clocks in its original state left in the United States. The school closed in 1955 and was unoccupied until 1978 when it was renovated and became the home of the Pike County Historical Society and the Pike County Historic Museum.
The William Watson hotel was built in 1838, and called Mansion House, by William Watson, who was the first settler of Pittsfield. The original hotel is said to have been a frequent stop for Abraham Lincoln and many of his contemporaries. #driving #travel #drivingtour

[@NLLMTG]

It isnt much but its home

[@martyaz]

Thanks for another fine video.

[@Jones2898]

They have such a tiny Walmart here!

[@cody263]

You drove past my house but i wasnt home.

[@exploreusacities]

Shoot!

[@nancymcdowell5331]

​@@exploreusacities went by.my house hope you enjoyed your self here

[@marcelwooden2098]

Don't forget the prison camp there that holds 400 people 😆