From the archives

Centennial Parade, July 4, 1876, Charleston, Illinois. This unusual photograph shows two horse-drawn floats from the Traver and Nixon Broom Factory, manned and operated by employees, in front of the Coles County Courthouse. Attached to the second float is a giant rotating wheel made from various size brooms. Perhaps more interesting to students of architecture and Civil War history is the Old Courthouse, scene of the infamous Copperhead riot of 1864. The Courthouse was demolished in 1898. The photograph was donated to the Illinois State Historical Society by Harry J. Kies of San Diego.

24 Illinois Heritage