I always wanted to live here as a kid. Hiking trails nearby. Gorgeous in the fall. Check out the…read moreobservation tower nearby you can see it from above.

Great 15-minute scenic drive - on one side, a variety of nice historic, fancy homes and on the…read moreother side, various views overlooking the Illinois River. Nice walking path alongside. A few places to park, get out, walk around, and take in the views.

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.

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!

Review Visit: September 17th, 2014…read more "In the criminal justice system, the people are represented by two separate yet equally important groups: the police, who investigate crime; and the district attorneys, who prosecute the offenders." The Metamora Courthouse Historic Site was a fun little stop during one of my times exploring the little town of... well... Metamora. My girlfriend at the time was from around this area, so I thought we should explore most of what the town and surrounding area has to offer. If you are a fan of historical things, Metamora itself has a ton of it's lineage still around and open for visits. This courthouse is no exception. I was pleasantly surprised that we got a bit of a tour/guide at the Courthouse. We got to look at stuff going our own pace but the people there were helpful in explaining the history of the things we were looking at. They also took us from room to room and explained what each one was used for. After spending maybe 30 minutes of browsing and getting some history lessons, we decided we had enough of the little courthouse and the history of Metamora, and to some extent, Illinois. The folks there were lovely and took the time to explain a lot of stuff to us. They are never overbearing or overloading on the information. It was the perfect informal tour. Metamora itself is a great place to bring kids for a field trip from school. Between all these historical places to see and the beautiful Black Partridge Park and Partridge Point Orchard, you couldn't ask for a more fun small Midwest town to explore.

Lots of history here. Perfect place for photo ops. Abraham Lincoln had a few cases here in…read moreMetamora. Definitely worth a visit.

So I'm just hanging out looking at the bridge and next thing you know the police are subtly…read moreencouraging me to leave ...and by subtle I mean alley lights and hand-spot light up the car suggesting I move along. hard to blame them though: some guy in a little truck with out of state plates taking pictures of the under-side of the highway bridge at 11:30pm on a Saturday night with the lights off. the signage indicates no parking after midnight but we live in interesting times.... Memorializing Murray Baker, the man responsible for bringing Caterpillar to town, the bridge has been carrying I-74 across 500' of the Illinois River since 1958. The bridge is just over 3000' long (lost about 200 feet while in rehab) and clears the water by some 60 feet give or take. In the finest tradition this bridge doesn't quite measure up to the official Interstate Highway Bridge requirements but there you go. Since 2020 500 LED bulbs light the structure at a reasonable cost. Requests for special lighting schemes need to be submitted to the public works department at least 30 days in advance.

It's alright, I guess. Nothing special, just a place to park your car. It gets the job done, but…read moredon't expect anything fancy. Could use some sprucing up, maybe better lighting? It's kinda dark at night.

We paid two dollars an hour to park in the lot. We went into the theater to meet our free half an…read morehour guided tour through Lincoln's house. Ranger Nate brought 12 of us through the 12 room house. We went into the parlor, family room, upstairs to the bedrooms, down the back staircase to the kitchen & outside. An entire 4 block neighborhood has been preserved here. At the national Park Service Visitor Center we picked up a ticket to enter his 12 room home. This is the only home Abe & Mary ever owned from 1844 until they moved to the White House in 1861. A remarkable 80% of the home is original. We were told that they moved into a one story home when their first son was born. They added this second floor when they were a family of five. The neighborhoods around Lincoln's home has been preserved . We were able to walk into other people's backyards and inside for more exhibits, just fascinating.

This is a wonderful place to visit especially if you are a Lincoln fan as we are. You can only get…read moretickets day of, but we walked up and got on the next tour (up to 15 per tour). The gift shop is very nice and has lots of goodies. The tour was led by a very knowledgeable guide with the national park service. The house is in immaculate condition and over 50% of the furniture etc is original, which I thought was amazing. So cool to see Lincoln's real chairs, bed, etc. The streets and houses around have been preserved and some are open to self tour. Street parking can be found for free or you can pay $2 and hour at the headquarters. House tours are free.

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.

Such a fun tour! Took about 50 minutes and was jammed packed with surprises. If you want a fun way…read moreto learn some davenport history, this is a great place to go!

From the owner: In almost any city you visit, you can find historic home tours. Our home has it all: beautiful…read morearchitecture, family stories, artifacts from around the world, unique room designs, and more!