We had such a wonderful time visiting the David Davis Mansion. Our tour guide, Jeff, gave us a long…read moreand detailed tour that was both informative and engaging. He was extremely knowledgeable, helpful, and made the history of the mansion come alive. One highlight was learning about David Davis's close connection to Abraham Lincoln, which added an even deeper historical significance to our visit. That piece of history was fascinating and memorable. We highly recommend the David Davis Mansion to anyone visiting Bloomington. It's a beautiful historic home with a rich story, and with guides like Jeff, you're guaranteed an excellent experience.

We toured the David Davis Mansion on a chilly December afternoon. There was one else there for a…read moretour so we had our own private tour. The mansion was beautiful and decorated for Christmas. The house has many artifacts that are true to the Davis family. We learned a treasure of information from our tour guide Jeff. He was able to answer both of our questions and we had many of them. Jeff was able to tailor the tour to our interests providing a personalized experience. This tour of an exquisite mansion was top-notch due to Jeff and his wealth of knowledge and pleasant personality.

Wow, I have to say there are numerous improvements made since the new owner has taken over. It is…read morealmost not recognizable to those who were here prior 2012. The paranormal activity here is hot, if you are looking for a place to investigate this is it. It is in the middle of nowhere but within an hour of Champagne, IL home of The University of Illinois. It is three hours out of Chicago, and just over two hours out of Indianapolis. Do your research unlike one particular show, there is no documented Demonic activity here. I think you and or your group will be satisfied. The bunk houses are new and clean worth the rental. Look at the evidence caught in October of 2015, www.ghostly-voices.com.

We reserved a free tour at Eventbrite. Jennifer brought 15 of us through this massive, historic…read morehome. She pointed out specific pieces, told stories about the owners & was very knowledgeable about Frank Lloyd Wrights work. We started our tour with a brief video about the glass work. We went into several sitting areas, Dana's bedroom, nursery, dining room, pantry & kitchen.library, bowling alley & billiards room. The 3rd largest home Frank Lloyd Wright ever designed. this remarkably preserve Prairie School icon dates from 1902 until 1904. It's more interesting than his home in Oak Park. The 16 floor home was considered experimental with a duckpin bowling alley & 2 barrel vaulted ceiling's. There is exquisite color shifting art glass & 90% of the furniture is original. Susan Lawrence Dana (1862-1946) was an heiress to a silver mines fortune . She was widow in 1900 & had complete control over her household & fortune. She was a leading philanthropic figure in Springfield. Dana decided to completely remodeled her home commissioning Frank Lloyd Wright. Her new home reflected her flamboyant personality & was designed for display & entertainment. The concept of "expanding space" was evident throughout the house with windows placed to continually draw the attention to the outside. Wright designed approximately 450 art glass windows, skylights, door panels, sconces & light fixtures for the house. The interior Torii gates are magnificent.hallway into two of the largest rooms in the house. The musical gallery for entertaining and the library contains special easels. Wright designed white oak furniture for Dana to display Japanese prints. In1928, Dana had dementia & financial constraints. In1944, the home and its contents were sold to Charles C. Thomas, a medical publisher. Thomas lived here & used this home as his publishing company. He sold the house to the state for a million dollars. It became a historic site. Jennifer shared that the house is still being utilized for social community events.

This was so cool! What an amazing experience! This was my first Wright house, and I'm not sure it…read morecan be topped! I understand why photos aren't allowed inside, but I was expecting more postcards depicting the various rooms to be available in the gift shop. There was cool stuff, for sure, but more postcards of the interior would be great since photos aren't allowed. My tour guide was Allicent and she did a great job talking about all the artistic and architectural features of the home. There was also a video at the beginning about the manufacture of some of the glass. I was sorry that the intro video didn't tell us more about the historical and social context of Mrs Dana, but I imagine most visitors would be more interested in the architectural technique. My only complaint with my tour is that there were two little kids on it. They were like 3 and 5. They were totally distracting the whole time--talking, whining, trying to grab at things. I'm not sure why the museum has such strict rules about other things but also allows in kids under 12. There's nothing they could possibly glean from the tour. It's really not designed for kids. Nor should it be!

We followed the signs getting off at the cemetery. We passed different war memorials before finding…read morea lot in front of Lincoln's grave. There were restrooms at the gravesite. Visiting Lincoln's Tomb was free. Pres Lincoln, Mary, & 3 of their sons' remains are here. The Lincoln Tomb was formally dedicated on October 15, 1874, 150-years ago. The Illinois Department of Natural Resources presents "Porch Talks" on the grounds of the Residence at the Lincoln Tomb providing :20 programs about lesser-known facts surrounding this monument. We drove into the cemetery, passing From 1865 to 1901, Lincoln's coffin was moved 17 times due to construction & fears for the safety of the president's remains. There was actually a plot in 1876 to steal his body and hold it for ransom. The coffin itself was opened on five separate occasions. Lincoln Cemetery is a 112 acre historically African American cemetery in Blue Island, with over 16,000 interments. Many famous black musicians, scientists, aviators, athletes ... are also here.

Abraham Lincoln's Tomb is in the Oakridge Cemetery just a short drive from downtown Springfield…read more He's buried there with his wife Mary and his 3 sons. This is his final resting place after his coffin was moved 17 times due to potential grave robbers and construction of this site. The obelisk outside the tomb is 117 ft tall there are several rooms and bronze statues of Lincoln duplicating him at different times of his life. The inside is solid marble! There's even a grave keepers home alongside the grave that appointed custodians lived and watched over his tomb from 1874-2014. Due to state budget issues, the last custodian retired and wasn't replaced.

Fun spot to go if you are in Springfield, Illinois. Admission is free. They have street parking and…read morea parking lot next to the museum. I enjoyed seeing all of the different exhibits. The Native American artwork was one of my favorites. I enjoyed seeing the beautiful beadwork. They did not have the theater showing anything the day that we went. So I would love to go back to see their theater. They often have kids events, so check their website to see if there's any special items going on. The basement level is a hands-on kids area for kids to play and explore. They also take donations since admission is free. I definitely plan to go back again.

This was such a nice museum! We were in Springfield for less than a day, but still wanted to check…read moreit out! We are in the Curious Toddler Phase right now so all museums are on our go list. The staff here was VERY welcoming as we entered and explained to us what each floor was. Entry here is completely free! The first floor had a lot of history of Illinois and the common species that could be found. When I say history, it went back millions of years ago. It more of a science exhibit. It was very interactive for little ones with pull out drawers, spinning cranks, and windows at kid level for them to see fossils. We then went to the basement level that was the kid's area. My son loved it. And it was crowded with other kids who loved it. There was a pit to excavate fossils, another area to examine TONS of fossils and bones. My son particularly loved driving the fake jeep lol. It was a very fun experience for us. There was a whole other level dedicated to art that we did not get to see, but maybe the next time we are in the area we will!

The Illinois State Capitol, in Springfield, houses the legislative & executive branches of…read moregovernment. Becoming the seat of the legislature in 1876, this building is the 6th to serve as the capitol since Illinois was admitted to the U.S. in 1818. Built in the architectural styles of the French Renaissance & Italianate, it was designed by Cochrane and Garnsey, a Chicago architectural firm. Ground was broken for the new capitol structure in 1868, the building was completed 20 yrs later costing $4.5 million. It's 361 feet, the tallest non-skyscraper capitol structure in the US, even exceeding the height of the United States Capitol with its dome in Washington, D.C. The dome itself of the State Capitol in Springfield is 92.5 ft wide, & is supported by underground solid bedrock, 25.5 ft below the surface. The silver dome is majestic, Lincoln stands at the entrance & inside. We went through metal detectors & explored the capital. Inside all of the shades of marble are magnificent. The archways are finished with gold leaf. There were a lot of workmen cleaning and polishing but we didn't see any government workers

Continuing my quest to visit all fifty state capitols, Springfield is the 45th in the list…read morehttps://www.yelp.com/collection/ucwQvyGY8sZEDHaN49HU5Q with Missouri next week and then only Oregon, Washington, Alaska and Hawaii will remain. The Illinois State Capitol follows similar design to many other state capitols, with wings with a central dome and rotunda in the French Renaissance / Italianate style. Construction started in 1868 and completed in 1888. It has four wings in a cross shape and interesting the dome is covered in zinc so that it does not weather or corrode like copper or other materials. It is the tallest domed capitol in the United States, even larger than the federal capitol in Washington DC. This building is the SIXTH in the series of state capitols and is the third city to house the capitol of Illinois following Kaskaskia and Vandalia as earlier locations. The capitol was in another building here in in Springfield from 1837 until 1868. Beautiful from all angles and available for tours (with security), there is a lot to see inside including a beautiful rotunda, lots of statues and friezes and more. Well worth the time to check it out. [Review 19691 overall - 145 in Illinois - 663 of 2023.]

We really enjoyed our visit at this reindeer ranch! The gift shop was filled with lots of reindeer…read moreand Christmas products, an old-school furnace in the middle to keep it nice and toasty, an upstairs full of colorful Christmas decor and trinkets. The highlight was the running train in the middle on top floor as you sit and sip on the hot cider while waiting for our reindeer tour at around noon. Luckily at the time we went we were the only once so we basically got a private tour. Who knew reindeers love graham crackers? It had snowed a couple days before so it was so special to see all the reindeer in the snow. The lovely gal answered a lot of our questions about the farm and the reindeer and my 4 yo daughter really loved feeding and patting the friendly and soft reindeers. It looked like they had a fun playground and an onsite cafe (it was closed) and some other amenities around but they were all covered in snow when we went. The only thing is it would have been nice if they plowed their parking lot after the snow for safety. This was in the same town we were visiting family so it was very close. I thought it was worth the price ($12) and I would recommend this for other families to come check out with their little ones and have a unique experience!

Such a cute little place. Did the corn maze with a bunch of friends, was so fun despite the heat…read more The little christmas shop was super cute. I wish they had some proper drinks like cider or something for the hot days but they just had this smashed pumpkin pie with icecream and a donut on top. It was delicious but a whole lot of sweet assortments I guess. Would love to return and do the maze in moonlight, if not for the horror movies I watched

The museum is 20 years old & is being renovated. The theater was closed…read more We started by walking through Lincoln's early years starting in his log cabin. We saw his law office. We moved through his campaign & debate. We visited his White House & we were in the midst of the turbulent times he faced. We ended in Ford's Theater, his funeral & tomb. I didn't realize that the funeral train took 15 days and more people saw him as a dead president then as a live candidate. We spent time admiring Lincoln's 40,000 artifacts. Here we saw his personal items, Mary's clothes, the Emancipation Proclamation, correspondences, The New hologram film from the library was beautifully done. The gift shop was enormous and fabulous.

This was one of the better museums I've been to. My wife and I enjoyed it a great deal…read more The staff here is very friendly and helpful. The museum has a couple of good movies to watch, including "The Eyes of Lincoln". There's also a very cool holographic experience. The museum is celebrating 20 years now in 2025. The gift shop is cavernous and well stocked. You can skip the café, it's not worth it. They are supposedly open until three, but don't serve anything hot after 1 PM. Kind of silly. You can go through the museum in two hours or spend all day here. There is a ton to read and look at. So many amazing Civil War, pictures, and descriptions. This museum is truly spectacular and worthy of our greatest president! I highly recommend it.

We had a walk with Garret today and it was very informative. He not only knows the history of the…read morecity but loves the subject of Lincoln.

We took the tour on a recent trip to Springfield and really enjoyed it! The price was reasonable…read morefor the 90 minute tour. Our guide was full of interesting facts and stories, none too scary. Being outside the Lincoln home in the still night was our favorite part. After the tour, the guide returned us to the starting point, near our vehicle. Also, when the owner checked us in, he gave us lots of tips on where to go and what to see while in Springfield. We followed his advice and had a great trip! Highly recommend! As an aside, you can call and leave a message that you are coming but the procedure is to just show up a few minutes before the tour, at their sign, near the old state house.