I don’t know if you have ever given much thought to how horse and buggies were parked on the streets of Springfield, but I have. In the early days of the 1800s there were hitching posts on the side of the street. People “parked” their horses straight in toward the sidewalks, which were made of stone, brick or wooden planks.
If they were going to stay for over a day, they would take their horse to a livery stable for keeping and food. One was located where the Capitol Theatre is now, as well as other places in town.
In those days everyone had horses and buggies. There was once a buggy shop for repairs of buggies located on the left side of the street behind the Woodard Building. on the corner of 5th and North Main Street. You can imagine the smell that the horses left in town at that time.
So many times, if someone worked in town all day, they would leave their horses at the livery stable for care and cleaning up after the horse. But the horses still left their deposits on the streets of Springfield as they passed through town. And in the early days, the streets were not paved. With the horse deposits, rain and muddy streets you can imagine how people would use extra care in crossing the street. In many places you might see stone or wooden blocks on the curb that were used in helping riders dismount their steed or buggie. When they got home they just didn’t park the horse and buggy in front of the house, but many had carriage houses to store the buggies and barns for the horses. If the person was wealthy, they hired someone to take care of their animals and carriages…