Belleville News Democrat Feature
Last week, I sat down with Heidi Wiechert to tell the story of Emma Romeiser Pannes… today the story went live. It is accompanied by a video interview with Derik Holtmann that narrates a bit of her and John’s life set against the backdrop of what they’re most known for: that they died on the […]
Daughters
Imagine the twinkle in a Father’s eye as he gazes upon his sweet children. Picture the care and devotion that went into nurturing tiny loves, joy felt in watching them reach milestones, the swelling of pride as they learned to read and sing and dance. Imagine an outing to a photographer in St. Louis specifically […]
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 II
Last week, we introduced you to the connection between the Romeisers and the Belleville Public Library. Missed the first post? Check it out here! And here… is the rest of the story. At the end of Part I, you learned about how monies from leftover Romeiser Company stock had been donated to the library by […]
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 […]
Music Room Facelift!
Because Pinterest is really French for “You Can’t Sit Still,” I am constantly taunted by exquisite home decor pins. When I stumbled upon one of a room painted Hague blue, I just knew I had to had to HAD TO have one of my own. I’d been toying around with the idea of redoing our […]
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 […]
3rd Annual Old Belleville Historical Luminary Walk
On Saturday, December 9th, from 5-9pm, the historic brick streets of Abend and Garfield in Belleville, Illinois, will be lit with hundreds of luminaries as this special holiday tradition takes place. The streets will be closed off from cars so that you can enjoy these beautiful homes, all lit up in their holiday splendor, from […]
