Opportunity Doesn’t Knock… it Rings the Doorbell

I can honestly say that I never once in my life pictured an afternoon spent researching the history of the doorbell. But, it’s still cold outside (surprise, surprise), so what else am I going to do? Clean? Yeah… right. Recently, local Belleville history enthusiast and President of the Belleville Historical Society Larry Betz contacted me […]

The Belleville Library: Part I

Located on E. Washington Street, the Belleville Library was constructed in 1916 by way of a $45,000 grant from the Carnegie Corporation. Over the course of his adult life, Andrew Carnegie made it his personal crusade to build libraries all over the world. All said, Carnegie spent $55 million to build 1,679 libraries in the […]

“Belleville, Illinois, Illustrated”

Published by the Reid-Fitch Publishing Company in St. Louis in 1905, the ‘Belleville Illinois Illustrated’ book is a fantastic depiction of Victorian life in Belleville. It features text and photos of all the prominent businesses, structures, and homes in Belleville while also providing a little bit of history. I was so excited to find not […]

If Walls Could Talk…

Earlier this week Husband found our first artifact of any real note! In the walls of the 3rd floor, we’ve found things like a pair of pants, an old broom handle, a single baby shoe. (Which isn’t creepy AT ALL…) But this is different and special and OLD. Monday Hubs was crawling around with our […]

Help Wanted!

Wow…! Talk about being woefully behind on my posting schedule. Life has been absolutely crazy! My last post was about the Belleville Luminary Walk and it turned out to be a HUGE success! We had well over 500 people come and tour the house between 5-9pm, then afterwards we went to a neighbor’s house for […]

Meet Emma Romeiser Pannes

The second child born to Peter and Elise, Emma Romeiser was born in 1880 and was likely the darling of the family. She was brought up in high society, was said to be a gifted Soprano singer with much interest in music, and was even chosen Maid of Honor at the Belleville Flower Carnival in […]

No really– Is the Brick and Maple Haunted?

The Legend of the Romeisers: Part 2 Last week we introduced you to Roland Romeiser and his untimely, heartbreaking death at the age of 17 in 1906.  Didn’t see it? Click here to get caught up first! As we mentioned, Roland was absolutely beloved by his friends, the entire town, and all family members. Particularly […]

Is the Brick and Maple haunted?

The Legend of the Romeisers: Part 1 Ahead of Friday the 13th and Halloween and ghost tours, we thought it would be appropriate to just BEGIN telling the saddest story surrounding our sweet house. Easily the first question we are ever asked about our house is whether or not it’s haunted, do we experience paranormal […]

Meet Elise

Lady of the house, Elise Hilgard Romeiser, was born on a farm 4 miles outside of town in 1849. Her father, Theodore Hilgard, was of Bavarian descent and was one of the original settlers of St. Clair County. She likely lived a comfortable life, perpetuated in her marriage to Peter who was (as we mentioned […]

Meet Mr. Romeiser

To start off our introduction to the Brick and Maple, we feel it’s necessary to introduce you to the original owner. Without him we wouldn’t be here today! Meet Peter Martin Romeiser. P.M. Romeiser was born in Germany in November 1842. At the age of 15 he emigrated with his family to Waterloo, Illinois where […]