In 1905 Springfield’s City Hall burned to the ground in less than an hour. A New York Times article at the time said the $50,000 hall was completely destroyed and employees barely escaped the blaze. The fire was caused, allegedly, by a monkey who was hanging out in Assembly Hall as part of an ongoing fair, knocked over an unattended kerosene lamp. The charges against the monkey didn’t stick, however, and the true cause of the fire was never nailed down.
Back in the Day a Monkey Burned Down Springfield City Hall
Dizzy, a male Guenon monkey who escaped his enclosure Tuesday at The Zoo in Forest Park, is shown back with his mate Mitzy at the Springfield zoo. THE ZOO IN FOREST PARK
