My friend and I had an errand out in this area and decided to see what else there was to see while…read morewe were here. This museum (the home of the Hegeler and Carus families, who were involved in a local zinc company and also a publishing house, Open Court Press) is a national historic landmark and is unique because it was owned by the same family the whole time, & they never made any fundamental updates to the house so it's largely as it was when designed by WW Boyington (who also designed Chicago's Water Tower and the old Joliet prison) in the 1870s. Several rooms have been restored, but you can see in areas where it hasn't where time is taking its toll (for example, the main hall was painted with egg tempera paint, and that organic element [the egg] is now degrading after 150 years). Still, the parquet floors are amazing, and details like pocket doors, carved wooden decorations and historical elements like the speaker tube system in the walls for speaking through the house are unusual! The house also contains the only German-style turnhalle (gymnasium) in a historic home in the US. Other interesting details include an ornate butsudan (buddhist cabinet shrine) due to Hegeler's interest in Eastern religions. We just took the general tour ($15), but you can do half house (upper or lower half for $50 each) or whole house tours ($100). The longest one is apparently 3.5 hours with two breaks and children are discouraged since it is long. You must register for the tours as they max out at 6 people. Despite it saying "masks are required" and our temperatures taken at the door, our guide was initially trying to take his mask off to talk and the other couple on the tour followed suit. When my friend and I left ours on, they all put them back on at some point. The rooms do have 6 foot markers on the floors, but since some of the rooms aren't big, if you had a full tour group this would be an issue. There is an elevator so the Mansion is handicap accessible. Overall, this seems to be one of the bigger attractions in LaSalle, so take a tour if you're in town.

This mansion is beautiful and a amazing historic site to see!! The house tour is incredible! I…read morehighly recommend going here and learning about this incredible family!

The Orpheum is an amazing Vaudeville-era theatre. It's really the jewel of Galesburg. I highly…read morerecommend stopping in for a show if you are in town. There are several nice places to grab dinner before or afterwards within walking distance, including the Landmark and Chez Willy's.

From the owner: MISSION: The Orpheum Theatre contributes to the region's quality of life by providing quality…read moreentertainment & education programs and serves as a civic gathering place and tourism partner for Galesburg and its surrounding communities.

Unfortunately when I visited the visitor's center was closed, but I still had a blast! There is a…read morelot that you can park in, and then travel down a path to a bunch of informational displays about the flood in 1993 that carved out this gorge, revealing all of the fossils. Then, you proceed down the path into a gorge, keeping an eye out for fossils. I saw a bunch of fossils on the bank to my right, before I even made it to the gorge. There were a few people scattered walking their dogs, although one group was actively looking to spot fossils and had the brochure from the Army Corps of Engineers about the different fossils present. All in all, this was a great spot to spend an hour walking around. I did see evidence that people have poached fossils from here, which is a shame. Look, but don't take!

Open area with lots to look at. I'm surprised they let people walk over these fossil imprints. Much…read moreof the rock is cracked and loose. Much of the area has numbers imbedded into the ground to help you find the things.

Went here because the prices are cheap! I reserved two tickets online but then had to cancel it the…read moresame day. The person I emailed was friendly and allowed me to reschedule it for free. I just had to give another time and day and it was that easy. The staff there showed me to the movie room. The bathrooms are clean. The room was clean.

Very good service yesterday and went to see Super Mario Brothers and very comfortable seatsread more

What a cool place with a neat backstory. Unfortunately we missed being able to get inside the home…read moreby about 30 minutes but enjoyed exploring the picturesque grounds regardless. It is sad to see the building falling apart in places, it is definitely in need of restoration. Still, the place is in a gorgeous setting with massive trees that make it truly peaceful. Bathrooms on site were open even when the home was not and were clean. There are plenty of videos on YouTube and history to be found online. I found a cool tie in to my personal family history. Apparently the builder of this unique home, Fred Francis, had a run in with my great grandfather and great uncle who were hunting on his property. Francis, being a naturalist and vegetarian disliked hunting and chased the two off his property. My uncle recounted the story to us and we walked the grounds. A neat place with an amazing story. Check it out here: http://www.cityofkewanee.com/document_center/FrancisParkBrochure.pdf

Don't miss an opportunity to tour the Woodland Palace. It was built by a recluse named Fred Francis…read morewho was way ahead of his time. He transported the bricks with a bicycle. It has the equivalent of air conditioning by underground tunnels. The doors opened and closed automatically. There is quite a story around this place, tours are cheap, and the inventions are fascinating. The house can be toured in 20 minutes. The surrounding park has plenty of camping spaces and hiking trails.

I went to Cobblestone Alley in Burlington, IA on 9/14/2016. It was my 1st time there. It is part…read moreof the Snake Alley Historic District. It is located just east of Snake Alley and is quite a contrast from it. Plus, I took photos.

This is an historical marker in Ware Illinois in Union County and is part of the Lewis & Clark…read moreexpedition that was lead by Sacagawea. There's many historical markers in the near traveling areas that you'll want to see especially if you're a history buff.

This is a really cool monument in Iowa history. There is a lot of history to learn here, and the…read morebuilding architecture and decor is really neat. It's all free too! The only reason we didn't give it 5 stars is parking is a little difficult to obtain to get to the building, and there's not TONS of info in the building. Definitely worth checking out if you're in the area.

A must-see in Iowa City. Free! Swing by here before or after you visit the Museum of Natural…read more History Museum in Macbride Hall. We've lived in Iowa City and worked on campus for a couple of years and (I'm embarrassed to say) finally visited. Pre-1857 Iowa City was the capital of the state of Iowa. This building is THE former state capital. I loved seeing how the building and its artifacts have been preserved. A heck of a lot of history here. We'll be back because there was a private event going on upstairs so we weren't able to explore those floors. Recommend. Consider donating to the museum/university's preservation efforts.

We had time to kill and took a drive up the Great River Road from the quad cities. We decided to…read moreexperience De Immigrant and what a treat. We didn't realize that there would be a guided tour with staff passionate and knowledgeable about their craft and history. We learned all about the process of adding a windmill to the community, how they actually work it, and what challenges they can face. What fun! The fact that they actually sell their product(s) for a very reasonable price across the street was neat to find out. We got home with some bran and flour. Looking forward to using it. We may have to sneak back by the local meat market for more as they'll be closing down sales at the gift shop for Winter.

I was looking foreword to exploring this cool windmill which was closed when I went, its seasonal…read moreand I should checked first but I was in the area anyway so not a big deal. This is an authentic working Dutch windmill and you can buy the finished products at the gift shop so you can take home some stone ground goodness and how cool is that, just go when there open.