Emma Kunz House

Visitors are invited to walk through this home, considered to be the oldest Greek Revival-style home in Illinois.

CITY: Belleville

Labor & Industry Museum

The Labor & Industry Museum is the only public institution devoted to the history of the labor and industry of Belleville and southwestern Illinois. The centerpiece is Jumbo, a 19th-century steam engine along with coal mining, carpentry, and stove-making exhibits.

CITY: Belleville

St. Clair County Historical Society Museum

This Victorian adaptation of a Greek Revival home was built in the early 1800s. In addition to period furniture and vintage clothing, artifacts, and quilts, the museum contains an extensive research library and gift shop.

CITY: Belleville

National Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows

The Shrine has 200 beautifully landscaped acres of gardens and devotional areas, including the Outdoor Amphitheatre, Shrine Church, Lourdes Grotto, Stations of the Cross, Millennium Spire, the Visitors Center with a restaurant and gift shop, and the Shrine Hotel.

CITY: Belleville

Cohen House

This beautifully restored home has cobalt blue windows. Tours by appointment and open for special events.

CITY: Chester

Governor Shadrach Bond State Memorial

Notably, this is the burial site of the first Governor of Illinois and of U.S. Senator Elias Kent Kane, Illinois' first Secretary of State.

CITY: Chester

Mary's River Covered Bridge

Mary's River Covered Bridge was built in 1854 as part of a planked toll road between Breman and Chester. Currently it is the only covered bridge in Southern Illinois, and it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.

CITY: Chester

Randolph County Museum & Archives

Built in 1864, the museum is a repository for French-Colonial-era records and special exhibits. Next door, the Randolph County Courthouse offers a panoramic view of the Mississippi River Valley from a 5th-floor, glassed-in observation deck, a mini-museum in the Jail lobby, and a flag display in the courtyard.

CITY: Chester

Spinach Can Collectibles Museum

A museum inside the 1875 Opera House is full of Popeye merchandise and memorabilia.

CITY: Chester

Garrison Hill Cemetery

The cemetery was created when graves were moved from Kaskaskia Island in the 1890s after a flood. According to one account, 3,000 boxes were moved, some containing entire families.

CITY: Ellis Grove

Kaskaskia Bell Shrine and the Liberty Bell of the West

Known as the Liberty Bell of the West, the Kaskaskia Bell was rung as the island was captured from the British during the Revolutionary War.

CITY: Ellis Grove

Fort Kaskaskia State Historic Site

(TEMPORARILY CLOSED beginning 10/08 except for special events.) This site preserves what is left of the old fort-one of the first built on the Mississipi River. A scenic overlook offers views of the Mississippi and Kaskaskia Rivers, and of Old Kaskaskia.

CITY: Ellis Grove

Pierre Menard Home

(TEMPORARILY CLOSED beginning 10/08 except for special events.) Pierre Menard, an important political figure in 1818, built this home. It is furnished with many of the Menard family's personal possessions and other period pieces. The surrounding grounds and outbuildings include an herb garden, smokehouse, springhouse, and adjoining kitchen.

CITY: Ellis Grove

Civil War Fort

Visit an exact replica of a Civil War Fort complete with a jail, one-room home, livery, and log cabins.

CITY: Germantown

Bob's Civil War Fort

Tucked away in the rolling hills of Germantown is a Civil War Fort. There is a jail, civil war cannons, a stage coach, a livery, log cabins, and much more.

CITY: Germantown

The Mermaid House

The beautiful house is an example of an 1830s hotel. Charles Dickens once visited there in 1842 while researching a book he wrote on prairies in America.

CITY: Lebanon

Downtown Lebanon

Stroll brick-paved St. Louis Street in the Lebanon Antiques District, where you’ll find more than 20 antique and specialty shops in this historic town that was founded in 1804, during the time of the Lewis & Clark expedition.

CITY: Lebanon

Marissa Academy Museum and Coal Miners Monument

Memorabilia celebrating the city's growth from a coal mining town to the present makes this an interesting stop.

CITY: Marissa

Schneidewind Barn Museum

Hundreds of interesting items amassed over a lifetime are housed in this unique gallery that was formally a working farm barn.

CITY: Marissa

Berger-Kiel Log House

The log house gives a glimpse into local life in the 1800s. While at the park, visit the refurbished caboose and passenger train.

CITY: Mascoutah

Mascoutah Heritage Museum

The museum focuses on the businesses that helped the city grow, particularly milling.

CITY: Mascoutah

Washington County Historical Museum

Built in 1871 as a private residence, this building now holds hundreds of artifacts from the country including a display of period wedding dresses.

CITY: Nashville

Rieso Farm Museum & Antiques

There is a large collection of machinery and primitives dating back to the 1800s.

CITY: New Athens

Dr. Poos Home - Heritage House Museum

Built in 1888, this home was occupied by Dr. Robert Poos, a local practitioner and druggist. Dr. Poos was also the staff physician at the Springs Hotel and Bath House, later known as the Okawville Original Springs Hotel.

CITY: Okawville

Heritage House Museum

Three properties -- Dr. Poos Home & Medical Museum; the Frank Schlosser Home, which includes a turn-of-the-century house, barn, harness shop, and commercial laundry; and the Joseph Schlosser Home -- make up the Museum complex.

CITY: Okawville

Creole House

This Lower Mississippi-style house was built in the early 1800s, and has been completely restored to reflect life during this period.

CITY: Prairie du Rocher

The Creole House

The house, built in 1800, is an example of French and American architecture.

CITY: Prairie du Rocher

Fort de Chartres State Historic Site

This former French military stronghold has been partially rebuilt and turned into a museum. Regular living history events shed light on colonial life in Illinois, and include 18th-century crafts, food, music, hundreds of historically dressed participants, flintlock rifle and musket contests, cannon and mortar competitions, traders and much more. There are also guided tours of the 1800 Creole House, which was designed in the French-American Transitional Architecture style.

CITY: Prairie du Rocher

Charter Oak "8-Sided" School

This building is a great study in physics as well as history. It was designed to withstand strong winds and capture light throughout the day.

CITY: Sparta

Alfred Brown Museum

This museum has a large collection of post cards from the 1904 World's Fair, a drum from the civil war, Native American artifacts, old uniforms, and school artifacts.

CITY: Sparta

Bellefontaine House

Meriwether Lewis is reported to have stayed here. It is home to some of the earliest settlers in Illinois (1782) and was named by the French for a spring located on the beautiful site.

CITY: Waterloo

The History Museum of Monroe County

Anchored by items gifted by Col. Edd & Violet Kueker, this collection represents the settlement of the West, numerous U.S. wars and early transportation. There is even a display of items from the Stone Age retrieved during a local archaeological dig. Changing displays and Special Exhibits from the Museum collection and "on loan" items provide awesome journeys through the pages of history.

CITY: Waterloo

Peterstown House

Built in 1830, this is the only stagecoach stop still intact along the 60-mile Kaskaskia-Cahokia trail.

CITY: Waterloo

Rex's Museum

A Lionel train set shares space with a Li'l Abner Dogpatch Band windup toy and British toy soldiers. Antique collectibles, clothing, glassware, a mule deer antler chandelier, and many more unusual items fill the 2,000 sq. ft. "extra room" added onto the house.

CITY: Waterloo