The Elijah Iles House

The Elijah Iles House is Springfield's oldest surviving structure. It was built some time around 1830, when Springfield was still just a cluster of log cabins.

It was situated at the southeast corner of Sixth and Cook Streets until 1910, when it was to be demolished to make room for the First Christian Church. My great-grandparents, Latham and Lyna Souther, saved the house from destruction by purchasing it and moving it to 1825 S. Fifth Street, where they made it their home for the next forty years.

Fast forward to the present. The house has been saved once again by a new generation of historic preservationists, The Elijah Iles House Foundation. The house has been moved back to a spot only one block away from its original location where it is now a new museum dedicated to Springfield history.

The house is pictured here circa 1917, a couple of years before Vachel Lindsay was remembered to have visited Lyna Souther here.

For more information about the Iles House, be sure to visit Will Howarth's blogspot.

Here are more images of the Iles House and the Southers.