Sangamon Valley Collection

The Sangamon Valley Collection (SVC), located on the third floor of Lincoln Library, provides in-depth resources for the study of Springfield, Illinois, Sangamon County and the eleven adjacent counties. The collection, established in 1970, contains materials from the past and present. The Sangamon Valley Collection closes at 1 p.m. on Fridays. Regular library hours are observed all other days.

Items Available | Digital Collection | Manuscripts & Microfilms | Internet Resources | Databases

 

Items Available

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• Photographs
• City and county directories
• High school yearbooks
• City and county documents
• Long-range planning reports and surveys
• Histories
• Maps

Staff maintains a computer index of the State Journal-Register and the Illinois Times back to 1981.  Articles of local interest are indexed. Search the index

SVC is a favorite haunt of genealogists who use the extensive Sangamon County Obituary File.  Genealogical materials are not limited to the local area.  For example, family histories from Virginia and German immigrant passenger lists can be found. Copying and mailing obituaries to out-of-area customers costs $2.00.

Scanning photographs from the SVC collection costs $1.00 per image. There is a limit of 10 images per request.

SVC is a reference collection; materials may not be checked out, but must be used in the library.

For more information, phone 217-753-4900 extension 5634 or TDD 217-753-4947.

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Manuscripts & Microfilms

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The Sangamon Valley Collection owns a number of unique collections of materials. No materials in these collections are available for circulation.

• Manuscript collections index
• Microfilm resources

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Internet Resources

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• 1940 Census
• Community Connections
  Local interest web sites.
• Genealogy Resources
  From the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library, including an index to issues of the Illinois State Journal and its predecessors from 1831 through 1860.
• Illinois Newspaper Project
  Locate microfilm of Illinois newspapers.
• Lithuanians in Springfield, Illinois
  
• Oak Ridge Cemetery Interment Records
  Several volumes of interment records for Oak Ridge Cemetery in Springfield, Illinois have been digitized and made available online at the Illinois Digital Archives. Each volume entry includes the name of the deceased, date of death, age at death, cause of death, designation of the grave location through a combination of block, lot, range, and grave numbers, place of birth, and remarks.
• SangamonLink
  Created by the Sangamon County Historical Society to put the rich history of Sangamon County — home of Abraham Lincoln and the capital of Illinois — at people’s fingertips.
• A Study of the Birds of Sangamon County, Illinois 1970–2010 documents the dramatic changes in the presence and populations of bird species in Sangamon County. The Research eSeries showcases the research of scientists and other staff of the Illinois State Museum and is available in searchable Portable Document Format (PDF) free of charge. Download Part 1 (7.5 MB) Download Part 2 (5.1 MB)

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Databases

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The below databases were selected as of special interest for the Sangamon Valley Collection. Also check out Lincoln Library's Electronic Resources, which includes both databases and websites sorted by topic.

Home use allowed with Lincoln Library card:

For use at Lincoln Library only:

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