Illinois

☆ = Visited
★ = Interested in seeing

National Parks and Monuments

Chicago: Pullman National Monument – the first model, planned industrial community in the United States.

Springfield: ★ Lincoln Home National Historic Site – preserves the Springfield, Illinois home and a related historic district where Abraham Lincoln lived from 1844 to 1861, before becoming the 16th president of the United States.

Natural Attractions

Cairo: ★ River Merge Observation Deck [RA] – The observation deck overlooks the point where the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers converge and flow south.

Herod: ☆ Garden of the Gods – These rock formations are over 300 million years old. Getting to see this epic view is not as daunting as it looks, as the path around here is just .25 miles.

Oglesby: ★ Starved Rock State Park – a wilderness area on the Illinois River in the U.S. state of Illinois. It’s known for its steep sandstone canyons formed by glacial meltwater. Several, including St. Louis, French, and Wildcat canyons, have waterfalls. A wooded trail leads to Lover’s Leap Overlook, with views of the river and Starved Rock Dam.

Makanda: Giant City State Park – best wilderness trails in the state with huge bluffs of sandstone with some very interesting geological formations.

North Utica: Matthiessen State Park – This park is located right around the corner from Starved Rock, and while it is not nearly as popular, a lot of people like it better. You get the same sort of canyons and interesting tree formations. There are some waterfalls. And the dells area is just phenomenal. Lower dells can get a little muddy, so bring shoes you don’t really care much about.

Rockford: ★ Anderson Japanese Gardens – One of the largest and most authentic Japanese gardens in all of North America. The style of these gardens is actually a 13th-century “pond strolling” garden. You can see waterfalls, streams and rock formations.

Savannah: Mississippi Palisades State Park – This park is located where the Apple and Mississippi Rivers join up. The result is this incredibly lush scenery that you just will not believe, set on bluffs with a river as its backdrop. Erosion has resulted in some really, really interesting rock formations – most famously, Indian Head and Twin Sisters.

Wolf Lake: Inspiration Point – just .8 mile trail. The path is located in Shawnee National Forest. You will have panoramic views and see the Mississippi Valley like never before.

Canoeing

Chicago River, IL
Mississippi River, IL
☆ Big Vermilion River, IL
☆ Rock River, IL (West of Chicago)
Big Muddy River, IL (Shawnee National Forest, Southern tip)
Cache River, IL (Wetlands, Southern tip)
Kankakee River, IL (South of Chicago)
Kishwaukee River, IL (Near and West of Chicago)
Illinois River (Starved Rock State Park, SW of Chicago)

Attractions

Athens

Abraham Lincoln Long Nine Museum – Originally built by Veteran Col. Matthew Rogers (War of 1812), this building in Athens, Illinois is now home to the Abraham Lincoln Long Nine Museum. In 1837, a dinner party was held in the banquet room on the second floor to honor those legislators (“The Long Nine”) who were effective in passing a bill to relocate the capital of Illinois from Vandalia to Springfield. Among those influencers in attendance, was Abraham Lincoln, who gave the evening’s toast. Here you can enjoy an audio, narrated diorama tour recounting the stories of the men of The Long Nine. Each diorama includes hand carved characters created by Art Seiving with backgrounds painted by artist, Lloyd Ostendorf. The diorama tour, the original flooring, original steps on display, the banquet room where Lincoln gave his famous toast, the history room with many copies of Lincoln’s handwritten letters, and the basement history room with Rogers’ fireplace make this museum a unique travel stop.

Bloomington

David Davis Mansion State Historic Site – also known as Clover Lawn, is a Victorian home in Bloomington, Illinois that was the residence of David Davis, Supreme Court justice and Senator from Illinois. The mansion has been a state museum since 1960.
McLean County Museum of History –

Decatur

Chevrolet Hall of Fame Museum – Car museum featuring an expansive display of American-made iron & fiberglass vehicles.

Lincoln

DeWitt County Museum
★ Lincoln Heritage Museum – Located on the campus of the only college named for Lincoln in his lifetime, the Lincoln Heritage Museum exhibits a rare and valuable collection of artifacts that tell the story of the life and times of Abraham Lincoln. The museum houses many rare Lincoln artifacts, including an 1860 campaign poster, a lock of his hair, Mary Lincoln’s jewelry and Tad Lincoln’s rocking chair. Also includes a 9/11 exhibit and other presidential artifacts.

Rockford

★ Midway Village Museum – Exhibits of historic artifacts, household items, documents & photos plus a living Victorian village
Sinnissippi Park – On the banks of the Rock River, this park includes beautiful gardens and a popular jogging, walking and nature path.
Tinker Swiss Cottage is a historic house museum located in the heart of Rockford, Illinois. The museum complex contains the historic house museum, barn, and carriage house from the Tinker family. In addition, the property is the home of the founding site of Rockford and contains a Pre-Columbian Native American conical mound. http://www.tinkercottage.com/
The Laurent House is the only building designed by architect Frank Lloyd Wright for a person with a disability. The single-story Usonian home is a rare mid-century design featuring a solar hemicycle footprint, and is considered one of the most well-preserved Wright homes in existence. https://laurenthouse.com/

Springfield

★ Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum [RA] -This state-of-the-art facility was carefully designed with exacting historical detail. Amazingly well-preserved artifacts tell the entire life story of our nation’s 16th President. Dedicated to the life and legacy of Abraham Lincoln, the Presidential Museum, unlike any other in the U.S., features hi-tech exhibits, interactive displays, and multimedia programs, as well as a reproduction of the White House as it looked in 1861. The holographic and special effects theatres will entertain, educate and mesmerize you with ghostly images, live actors and high action. Witness the 1860 Presidential Election as though it were happening today, complete with television news coverage and campaign commercials. Items from the institution’s world-class Lincoln Collection, numbering in the tens of thousands, are exhibited on a rotating basis in the Museum’s Treasures Gallery, including an original hand-written copy of the Gettysburg Address, the evening gloves in President Lincoln’s pocket the night he was assassinated, and the quill pen used to sign the Emancipation Proclamation. Visitors can also have their photos taken with life-size models of Abraham Lincoln as a boy and an adult, as well as with Mary Todd and the Lincoln children
- Acts of Intolerance Sculpture. Race Riot Memorial [RA] – Located across the street from the Lincoln Library, A deadly race riot swept Springfield in 1908. Over a hundred years later two stark “ruined chimneys” were erected as a memorial — but they were engraved with hopeful images, including Barack Obama as a drum major.
Lincoln Tomb & War Memorials – 1500 Monument Ave Oak Ridge Cemetery. Daily: 9 am – 4:45 pm. Free. Judging from the appearance of Abe’s big bronze head, lots of those visitors make it a point to stop and give a rub to Lincoln’s nose.
Lincoln Home National Historic Site & Visitor Center – Lincoln home and related historic district where Abraham Lincoln lived from 1844 to 1861, before becoming the 16th president of the United States. The presidential memorial includes the four blocks surrounding the home and a visitor center. Lovingly restored, the 12-room structure can only be accessed by visitors on ranger-guided tours. The free daily tours of this National Historic Site are understandably popular, so be aware that it’s first come, first served.
Great Western Depot – often overlooked amid all of the Lincoln historical sites situated in the Sangamon County area. It shouldn’t be. The railway station is the site of Abraham Lincoln’s memorable farewell address to friends and citizens before leaving on his journey to Washington DC to become the 16th president of the United States. Two blocks from the Lincoln home. Today, the depot serves as a museum with displays of Lincoln artifacts relating to his 1860 presidential campaign, his 1861 departure and farewell address. A video, narrated by Scott Simon, which describes Lincoln’s 12-day journey to Washington DC, is shown on the second floor.
Lincoln-Herndon Law Offices State Historic Site – Built in 1840, this building is where Abraham Lincoln maintained working law offices.
Edwards Place Historic Home – Edwards Place is owned by the Springfield Art Association. You begin your tour at the Associations entrance, where your docent dramatically leads you from their working area through a large portal into a time warp of another day. The home is not furnished with its original contents, but interpreted to represent 1857, and furnished with examples of Victorian furniture, including some pieces that did belong to the Edwards family. You will see, however, the authentic “Lincoln Courting Couch” relocated from the parlor of the Ninian Edwards home where Abraham Lincoln and Mary Todd were married, and a piano that was likely played at their wedding.
Springfield Visitors Center is located on the first floor of the Lincoln-Herndon Law Office across from the Old State Capitol. Pick up an Explorer Passport – Abe’s Hat Hunt & Living Legends and Landmarks of Route 66. The free passport is filled with 25 sites, attractions, museums and culinary treasures in one pocket-size passport of fun! While you are there, be sure to see the installation of the Lincoln-Herndon Law Office as well as the U.S. Post Office, which was located in the building from 1841-1849.
Illinois State Museum inspires exploration of Illinois’ past and present to inform and enrich everyday life and to promote stewardship of cultural and natural resources for the future. The Museum’s extensive collections and research activities provide the foundation for exhibitions and public programs that tell the story of the land, life, people, and art of Illinois.
★ Illinois State Military Museum – This is a small but very interesting museum, especially if you like military museums. It is free and has limited hours. It depicts the Illinois citizen soldier from the War of 1812 to present day. Lots of genuine artifacts. Tuesday – Saturday: 1 pm – 4:30 pm
- ★ Santa Anna’s Leg [RA] – Illinois State Military Museum. This is a small but very interesting museum, especially if you like military museums. It is free and has limited hours. It depicts the Illinois citizen soldier from the War of 1812 to present day. Lots of genuine artifacts. In 1847, his artificial leg was captured by soldiers of the 4th Illinois Infantry, which is why it’s here.
Illinois State Capitol – Historic Greek Revival building that serves as Illinois’ State Capitol and was the site of many cases tried by Abraham Lincoln. Tours may be booked online at visit-springfieldillinois.com or by calling 217-789-2360.
Old State Capitol State Historic Site – Painstakingly rebuilt after being disassembled in the 1960s, this Greek Revival masterpiece saw Lincoln serve as a lawyer and legislator. In 1858, Lincoln delivered his landmark “House Divided” speech in the Capitol’s Representatives Hall. Daily tours explore the restored Rotunda, wood panelled libraries and courtrooms.
Dana-Thomas House – Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1902 for Susan Lawrence Dana, a forward-thinking socialite living in Springfield, Illinois. The home, the 72nd building designed by Wright, contains the largest collection of site-specific, original Wright art glass and furniture. Wright’s first “blank check” commission, the home has 35 rooms in the 12,000 square feet of living space which includes 3 main levels and 16 varying levels in all. Reservations required. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/guided-tour-of-dana-thomas-house-tickets-138010167125?aff=ebdssbdestsearch
Washington Park – Walking path, a botanical garden, lake with birds. Garden consisting of 9,000 square feet of greenhouse area and a conservatory featuring more than 150 species of tropical plants.
- Rees Memorial Carillon – Concert everyday at 6:30 pm, Sat/Sun also plays at 2 pm. Tours by appointment.
Illinois Governors Mansion – The Illinois Governor’s Mansion has been home to Illinois governors and their families since 1855. It is the third oldest continuously occupied governor’s mansion in the United States and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1976. More than a renewal of building and landscape, its purpose has been reimagined. It is now a place where visitors can glimpse Illinois history, witness its artistic side, and experience its long-heralded hospitality.The Governor’s Mansion is ADA accessible. Please visit our website to schedule your tour.
Pearson Museum [RA] – public medical exhibits. The Pearson Museum doubles as a meeting room for the medical school, so there’s no guarantee you can get in if you just show up. We suggest you call first.
Air Combat Museum – A private plane collection rather than the typical “museum”. Those seeking to learn about the history of air combat weapons, tactics, battles, etc. will be need to go elsewhere. This air combat museum is more a plane collection than a “museum” containing educational content, prepared exhibits, etc. The hard-to-find museum is in the set of buildings broadly across the street from the National Guard airbase. It houses about a dozen aircraft claimed to be flyable with a P40 and others still being restored. Some of the aircraft are civilian, and there is no particular descriptions or content about “air combat”.

Grand Army of the Republic Memorial Museum – Our collection includes relics of the Civil War but highlights the membership and work done by the Grand Army of the Republic (G.A.R.) and their auxiliary, the Woman’s Relief Corps (W.R.C.). Visitors to the museum receive a brief description of what the museum is and what you will see. You have the option to view the displays and read the interpretive panels on your own or receive a guided tour complete with additional descriptions and more in-depth commentary. Depending on the date of your visit, special exhibits may be on display. There is no entry fee but the Museum receives no City, State or Federal funding and relies entirely on the membership of the WRC and the donations of visitors.
Lincoln Memorial Garden – A native woodland garden, not flower garden, designed by Jens Jensen located on the south side of Lake Springfield. This 100 acre site has 6 miles of wood-chipped hiking trails as well as a wonderful nature center.
Adams Wildlife Sanctuary – Run by the Audubon Society, this 40-acre park was built around the Adams family estate dating from the mid 1800s. The Sanctuary is covered with walking trails where regional flora and fauna can be glimpsed in their natural habitat.
Route History, Inc. is a tourist attraction and souvenir shop where visitors can experience and learn about the tragedy, resilience, and excellence of Black people, Black-owned businesses and related events and places located along historic Route 66. Learn about pioneers that made significant contributions to Illinois, the city of Springfield, and the greater society. Of note are Springfield’s role as a haven along the Underground Railroad, the Race Riot of 1908, which led to the formation of the NAACP, and the lifesaving commodities and guidance provided by Black-owned businesses during the Jim Crow era.
Illinois Fire Museum – State Fairgrounds. Tours by appointment.
Elijah Niles House and the Museum of Springfield History – Springfield’s oldest home circa 1830s, built in Greek Revival style by City Founder Elijah Iles. A Sangamon County History exhibit can be found on the lower level including original period, as well as modern reproduction items. Upstairs, on the main level of the home, the Phyllis Herndon Brissenden donations of 19th C. Springfield art, photos, and furnishings from her family are on view.
Daughters of Union Veterans of the Civil War Museum – The Museum preserves countless artifacts and history of the Civil War and the Grand Army of the Republic, including rifles, medals, photographs, currency, drums, uniforms, and letters from soldiers at the front.
Clayville Historic Site – Constructed by the Broadwell family as a stagecoach stop between Springfield and Beardstown in 1824, the Inn is the oldest brick building in Sangamon County. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Inn is surrounded by numerous other historic buildings from central Illinois that were moved to Clayville in the 1960s to recreate an early frontier pioneer village.
Route 66
- Route 66 Drive In
- Route 66 Motorheads Museum – If you are a fan of vintage gas station signs, Route 66 memorabilia, or classic cars, this is the place to visit! Walk around and see signs and items from Springfield’s historic past including several items from Shea’s Gas Station Museum, Sonrise Donut sign, motels signs of Springfield past and a cant miss “Worlds Largest Route 66 Sign”. This is a must see for all Route 66 lovers!!
- Route 66 Experience at Illinois State Fairgrounds – This experience will offer visitors a chance to walk Illinois Route 66 from Chicago to the Chain of Rocks Bridge and learn about communities and attractions along the way in microform. You won’t want to miss the newly installed Neon Sign Park, the Route History Green Book experience and the opportunity to snap a pic with a true Route 66 giant!
- Historic Brick Road – Snell & Curran Rds Auburn. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, this beautiful 1.4 mile-long piece of restored hand-laid brick road is a segment of the original Route 66,completed in 1931 and placed over a concrete roadbed.
- Ace Sign Company Museum – The Ace Sign Co. Sign Museum is a collection of over 85 historic signs from Springfield and Route 66. Our collection is constantly growing and transforming as we strive to maintain some of the most memorable and iconic signs in the area. Come experience the ambiance and character of the neon glow under wood-barreled ceilings alongside our state-of-the-art modern sign manufacturing facility.

Offbeat Attractions and Oddities

Abingdon: Tallest Totem Pole East of the Rockies [RA] – 83 feet tall.

Addison: Nike Missile Complex Remains [RA] – The radar installation and control tower of Nike missile complex C-72 now rub shoulders with a softball field, tennis courts, and a playground.

Aledo: World’s Largest Rhubarb [RA] – Aledo calls itself “Rhubarb Capital of Illinois,” and in June 2016 it unveiled a 10-foot-tall metal rhubarb — three big leaves with rhubarb’s familiar red stem — in time for the city’s 25th annual Rhubarb Festival.

Altamont: Giant Miller Lite Beer Can [RA] – A giant 24-ft. tall can of Miller Lite beer created from a salvaged water storage tank stands next to a modestly rural section of US-40. Lit at night. Bonus: Tow Mater truck, and a rooftop skeleton biker with a keg.

Alto Pass: Bald Knob Cross of Peace [RA] – 111 feet tall, and at the top of Bald Knob, which makes it easy to spot. Built 1959-63, renovated 2009-11

Alton:

Robert Wadlow, World’s Tallest Man [RA] [AO] – he stood eight-foot-eleven, a life-size bronze statue
The Piasa Bird [RA] [AO] – A fearsome monster known as the Piasa (pie-a-saw) once terrorized the Illini Indians near what is now Alton, Illinois. The first white explorers in the area were startled to see a painting of the Piasa on a limestone bluff overlooking the Mississippi. Current picture is a repainted replica.
Curiosity Museum (Historic Museum of Torture Devices) [RA] – 50 brutal gadgets
Alton Museum of History and Art, Relics of the World’s Tallest Man [RA] –
Lincoln-Douglas Debate Statues [RA] – Life-size bronze statues of Senatorial candidates Abraham Lincoln and Steven Douglas stand on the exact spot of their seventh and last debate on October 15, 1858.
Miles Davis Statue [RA] – Bronze of the famous jazz trumpeter blowing his horn. Davis was born in Alton in 1926, and the statue was unveiled in 2015.
Ruins of Civil War Military Prison [RA] – A small corner of a formerly large, rock-walled prison was so historically important that it was moved across the street to make way for a parking lot.

Arcola:

One and Only Hippie Memorial [RA] – an artwork some sixty-two feet long.
★ Birthplace of Johnny Gruelle, creator of Raggedy Ann and Andy. A local museum, monument and yearly festival honors them.
World’s Largest Antique Broom Collection [RA] – The collection of over 1,000 antique brooms belonged to Louis Klein. Volunteers at the 1885 train depot building give free tours and a detailed history of Arcola’s role in manufacturing brooms.

Aroma Park: Smiley Face Water Tower [RA] – A white, bulbous municipal water tower is emblazoned with grinning smiley face art.

Atlanta:

★ J.H. Hawes Grain Elevator Museum [RA] – The museum is inside the oldest wooden grain elevator in Illinois, built in 1904.
Smiley Face Water Tower [RA]

Barrington: Baby Face Nelson’s Last Gunfight [RA] – A bloody shootout between the FBI and gangster Baby Face Nelson took place at this now-serene location. According to a plaque on a rock, two FBI agents tried to arrest Public Enemy #1 Baby Face Nelson on November 27, 1934. The gun battle followed on this spot, ending with the deaths of all three men.

Belleville: ★ National Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows [RA] – Features the impressive Millennium Spire, a towering spiral of metal outfitted with LED lights that transmit prayers to God.

Belvidere:

1967 Tornado Disaster Monument [RA] – A stainless steel tornado, over six feet tall, engraved with the names of all 24 people who were killed by its swirling counterpart.
National Sewing Machine Company Foundry Ladle [RA] – Battered, outdoor iron foundry ladle is the only survivor from The National Sewing Machine Company, which was bulldozed in 1991. Ladle has its own informative sign.

Benton:

Franklin County Jail Museum – Charlie Birger Gallows and George Harrison Artifacts [RA] – Charlie was executed in a public hanging in Illinois in 1928. George visited Benton in 1963, and got the radio station to play a record by a strange new group named The Beatles.
Giant George Harrison Cut-Out [RA] – A freestanding photorealistic mural by John Cerney, west of I-57, celebrates when George Harrison came to Benton to visit his sister in 1963.
First Beatle in America [RA] – a historical marker points out that George Harrison was the first Beatle in America when he visited with his sister Louise for two weeks, in Benton, in September 1963. The other Beatles didn’t arrive in America until four months later.
Franklin County Garage Museum [RA] – Built in 1910, the first Ford dealership in Franklin County was 90 years old when it was restored and turned into a museum. The building still has its original belt drive machinery, and displays several restored vintage cars, including one of the first Model Ts in a color other than black. Another highlight of the collection is the 1912 Ford owned by notorious local gangster Charlie Birger.

Benville: Benville Church, Grave of Robert Earl Hughes, World’s Heaviest Man [RA] – He is buried in the church graveyard beneath a modest grey granite headstone labeled with his name and ‘World’s Heaviest Man’. Nothing flashy – a very peaceful resting place for an extraordinary man.

Bloomington:

★ Evergreen Cemetery
- Poppy Plane Crash Memorial [RA] – On a 1948 Memorial Day flyover to drop poppies, a 2-seater plane crashed into this cemetery tree and burst into flames. In 2015 the dying tree was carved into a plane crash sculpture.
- Tree Carved Grave of Old Hoss Radbourne [RA] – Charles “Old Hoss” Radbourne, a Hall of Fame baseball pitcher, has his likeness carved out of a dead tree next to his his grave.
- Wizard Of Oz Dorothy Grave and Statue [RA] – Infant Dorothy Gage died of Congestion of the Brain when she was five months old. Her uncle, writer L. Frank Baum, used Dorothy’s name in the Wizard of Oz. In 2018 a dead oak tree near the grave was carved into a likeness of the fictional Dorothy.
- Longest Epitaph In Granite [RA] – 147 words of wisdom from the deceased are crowded onto the granite tombstone of Richard L. Jones (1937-1986). Ripley’s dubbed it the longest epitaph in granite.
Metal skeleton of Courhouse Dome [RA] – from the county courthouse that burned in the Great Fire of 1900. Later served as an animal cage.
Miller Park Artillery [RA] – Retired artillery and armor from the Civil War, WWI and WWII is arranged along the north edge of a public park.
McLean County Museum of History, Park Bench Abe Lincoln [RA] – A sculpture by Rick Harney of America’s 16th President sits on a park bench, available for photo ops and imagined conversations.
Abe Breaks Up A Fight Statue [RA] – Unveiled in 2010, local artist Andrew Jumonville’s bronze sculpture is named Convergence of Purpose, but Abe appears to be thwarting his buddies Jesse Fell and David Davis from hitting each other.
Large Head On A Roof [RA] – A large, full color head of Aphrodite lies on its side on the low roof over the entrance to the McPherson Theater. Students modify it annually.
Bear Tree [RA] – an old, dead tree in their front yard and carved about a dozen little bears climbing around it.
Front Yard Civil War Monument [RA] – County monument for fallen soldiers, dedicated in 1869 in Franklin Park, struck by lightning, replaced in 1913 and moved to this spot, later subsumed by a suburban neighborhood.
Nord Animal Hospital, Animal Hospital Line-Up [RA] – Arrayed in size order: a menagerie of mass-produced animal statues, from a mouse up to a giraffe.
Prairie Aviation Museum [RA] – Mostly indoors. There’s an outdoor selection of fenced-in fighter jets with steps that enable paying customers to peek into the cockpits.
Sit with Adlai Stevenson II [RA] – at the Central Illinois Regional Airport. Airport hall photo op of Illinois Governor Adlai Stevenson, an unsuccessful nominee for President against Eisenhower. The bronze statue as travel companion features a suitcase and his famous worn out shoes.

Bourbonnais: Childrens Memorial to Amtrak Crash [RA] – On March 15, 1999, an Amtrak crash in Bourbonnais killed 11 and injured more than 100. It is called “Children’s Memorial,” dedicated in March, 2000, and also honors “residents who died as children.” Bricks in the walkway show the names of the beloved.

Breese: Cholera Cross [RA] – 25 foot cross with a plaque that reads: “In 1832, Cholera plagued this area. Entire families were wiped out, sometimes overnight. Jos(eph) Altepeter made a covenant with his maker if his large family was spared he would erect a large cross on his farm near the public road as a perpetual memorial. The family was spared and the original wooden cross that was built was replaced many times.”

Brownstown: Yard Art with Trucks [RA] – One half-buried truck has a real tree with birdhouses growing out of its engine compartment, while a blue-tinted waterfall pours out of its driver’s-side window. The other, a ’46 Ford tow truck, pops a wheelie pulling a ’48 Chevy out of a pond, which has blue-tinted water pouring out its back window and flowers growing in its engine compartment.

Brussels: Small Jail [RA] – Brussels is a small town, so, it is fitting their jail is small. Small red building. Looks more like a shed than a jail. Held prisoners from 1876 to 1952, A sign states that it was built in 1876. There are two beds and a table inside. There is an interesting fact sheet framed on the inside of the door.

Buncombe: Yard Skull [RA] – 5 ft fiberglass skull in front yard.

Bunker Hill: Lincoln Points at Kneeling Liberty [RA] – Unveiled September 1904. Lincoln looms, Liberty kneels,

Cahokia: Air and Space Museum: Spacesuits and Underwear [RA] – at the Greater St. Louis Air and Space Museum. The spacesuits and underwear of Grissom and Cooper occupy a showcase of honor.

Cambridge: Jesus in Cowboy Boots Tombstone [RA] – at Rose Dale Cemetery. Tombstone sculpture of Savior in boots carrying his cross. Identical to the more famous tombstone in Paris, Texas.

Carbondale:

Jeremy Rochman Memorial Park, Dungeons and Dragons Park (Castle Park) [RA] – a memorial park with a Dungeons & Dragons theme. Several D&D characters statues and a wood and stone castle that is actually an elaborate jungle gym of tunnels, stairs, and bridges.
Pyramid of King Tut the Dog [RA] – SIU mascot buried in 1954 at the corner of the university football stadium.

Carmi: Big John – Grocery Clerk [RA] – at Little Giant Deli. A towering fiberglass hulk-man hoists car-sized bags of groceries in the parking lot of a supermarket.

Carthage: ★ Museum of Funeral Customs Exhibits – Lincoln Casket [RA] – at Kibbe Hancock Heritage Museum, world’s most perfect replica of President Lincoln’s casket. Kibbe has some unusual exhibits of its own, such as a woman’s muff made from monkey hair and a two-headed pig.

☆ Casey:

World’s Largest Rocking Chair [RA] – Not only the World’s Largest Rocking Chair, but the largest chair in all of America. A towering 56.5 feet tall. Completed Aug. 25, 2015.
Giant Mailbox [RA] – Towering residential mailbox with a staircase so that visitors can stand inside. If you mail something from inside the mailbox, the red flag goes up.
Giant Bird Cage [RA] – sit-on perch in a giant bird cage.
World’s Largest Pitchfork [RA] – Unveiled in July 2015, the pitchfork is 60 feet long and weighs nearly a ton.
Giant Antlers [RA] – A colossal set of antlers are carved from wood, with a photo-op seat where the head would be.
15-Foot-High Barber Pole [RA] – the largest in the world made of metal and glass that spins like a typical barber pole.
Giant Bookworm [RA] – Painted green, wearing the expected cartoony nerd glasses, the Bookworm undulates in and out of the lawn of the town library.
Giant Mouse Trap [RA] – Pose as if caught in an oversized mouse trap, mounted vertically for easy snapshots.
Giant Pencil [RA] – An impressive 32.5 feet long, the real wooden pencil is one of several “World’s Largest” creations that line the streets of downtown Casey.
Giant Yardstick [RA] – Instead of 36 inches long, the yardstick in Casey is 36 feet long.
Minion [RA] – even-foot-tall Minion
World’s Largest Golf Club [RA] – so large that it uses a light pole as its handle.
World’s Largest Golf Tee [RA] – Erected in January 2013, the golf tee stands 30.5 feet tall.
World’s Largest Knitting Needles [RA] – Both the World’s Largest Knitting Needles and World’s Largest Crochet Hook are displayed inside a yard store. The needles are nearly 14 feet long.
World’s Largest Pizza Slicer [RA] – Built in 2020. It’s eight feet long, with a blade that could slice a pizza over a foot thick.
World’s Largest Teeter Totter [RA] – The teeter totter is functional. We walked across it. A volunteer assists visitors and closes a gate so you can walk across (and teeter it) and back.
World’s Largest Truck Key [RA] – an exact scaled-up replica of the artist’s own truck key.
World’s Largest Twizzle Spoon [RA] – Nearly 12 feet long, displayed vertically
World’s Largest Wind Chime [RA] – The wind chime stands over 55 feet high and weighs over eight tons.
World’s Largest Wooden Shoes [RA] – They are 11.5 feet long and 5.5 feet wide and weigh over a ton apiece. Displayed indoors.

Cave-In-Rock: Cave-In-Rock: River Pirates [RA] – Bandits use to hide in the cave-in-rock and prey on passersby.

Centralia:

Coal Mine Explosion Museum [RA] – The explosion, on March 25, 1947, killed 111 men, one of the deadliest mine disasters in U.S. history. A monument to the event is in nearby Wamac, and the Centralia Area Historical Museum has a lot of pictures and details about the accident.
Centralia Carillon, Downtown Musical Bell Tower [RA] – 16 stories tall, the highest structure in town by far. Looks like a misplaced lighthouse. Visitors can schedule a tour, climb to the top.

Champaign: Big Cheesy Noodle [RA] – Workers at the Kraft Foods plant swell with pride each morning upon spotting the big noodle near the employee parking lot. Have to take pictures thru chain link fence.

Charleston:

1864 Riot Mural [RA] – A downtown mural depicts the March 28, 1864 gunfight and riot between Copperheads (Confederate sympathizers) and Union troops. Nine killed, 12 wounded. Lincoln eventually pardoned the offending Copperheads.
Abraham Lincoln on a Log [RA] – Broad-shouldered, tiny-headed Abe Lincoln was hewn from a tree trunk with a chainsaw. Gettysburg Address on a plaque.
Grace the Dress-Up Shark [RA] – Built out of cement in 2009 by landowner Pat Goodwin, Grace the Great White Shark appears to be leaping up out of a pasture. Pat dresses Gracie for seasonal events and holidays.

Chatsworth: Horrible Train Wreck Happened Here [RA] – There is a state historical marker near the site. The event was one of the great horrors of late Victorian America, a prairie precursor to the Titanic.

Chenoa: Bouncy Horse Gallop [RA] – An equestrian procession of rocking horses extends through a field, inviting sitting. Farmer Robert Wenger created the procession; he died in 2019. There were 46 in the line-up in varying stages of repair.

Cherry: Cherry Mine Disaster Mass Grave [RA] – The coal mine caught fire. A monument marks the mass grave.

Chesterville: Grave of the Chesterville Witch [RA] – Big oak tree covers a little fenced-in grave. Folklore sasy the grave is of a teenage witch, and that the tree is the only thing holding her in her grave.

Chestnut: Geographic Center of Illinois [RA] – a concrete pillar set into a square slab marked with the four compass points.

★ Chester:

Only Sherlock Holmes Statue in the USA [RA] – A granite statue depicts the famous detective in his cape and deerstalker hat
Poopdeck Pappy [RA] – Popeye’s father Poopdeck Pappy is at the Cohen Complex, a sports area in Chester.
★ Popeye Museum [RA] – Not much more than a big room in a store named Spinach Can Collectibles, but every inch of the place is filled with Popeye; over 2,000 items on display, dating back to 1931.
Rough House: Popeye Character [RA] – Rough House the cook is the 11th of 16 planned granite sculptures of characters from the Popeye comic strip, which was created by Chester native Elzie Crisler Segar.
Statue of Alice the Goon [RA] – Alice the Goon is the most famous of the Goons enslaved by Sea Hag
Statue of Bluto [RA] – Popeye’s chief rival is frozen in granite
Statue of Castor Oyl and Bernice the Whiffle Hen [RA]
Statue of Cole Oyl [RA]
Statue of Olive Oyl, Swee’Pea, and the Jeep [RA]
Statue of Popeye [RA]
Statue of Sea Hag and Bernard the Vulture [RA]
Statue of Stinger the Yellow Jacket [RA]
Statue of Wimpy [RA]

Collinsville:

☆ World’s Largest Catsup Bottle [RA] – water tower. 70 feet tall, atop a 100-foot-tall steel tower, it could hold up to 640,000 bottles of regular catsup (or 100,000 gallons of water).
☆Early 1900s Bull Durham Sign [RA] – Painted on the outside brick wall of a building, the colorful tobacco-selling bull may be 100 years old

Cornell: Friendship Shoe Fence [RA] – Hundreds of shoes dangle along the Friendship Shoe Fence, which invites all to add or take a pair of shoes.

Covell: Charles Lindbergh Crash Site #2 [RA] – Less than two months after Charles Lindbergh, an air mail pilot, crashed outside of Sulphur Springs, Illinois.

Crestwood: Missile in the Park [RA] – Military surplus (and de-weaponized) “Honest John” missile has been the symbol for Illinois’ “Village on the Move” since 1980.

Cullom: Farm Town Jet Fighter [RA] – Vietnam-era jet fighter — a A-7 Corsair II — is an unexpected sight in the shadow of the grain elevators in the middle of a small Illinois farm town.

Danville:

Brick People – Danville USA [RA] – Donna Dobberfuhl sculpted an architectural brick crowd to express the “lively, personable people that I encountered here, the depth of the souls who live/lived in this place.”
Lindley Sign Post Forest [RA] – Back in 1942, Carl Lindley was so homesick he posted a sign in the Yukon with the mileage to Danville, his hometown. Now Danville posts dozens of signs pointing to towns all over the U.S. Carl Lindley was a Danville native and GI who started a Sign Post Forest where he was stationed, at Watson Lake in the Yukon, in 1942.
Wall of Hometown Celebrities [RA] – Danville was the hometown of Dick and Jerry Van Dyke, Gene Hackman, Donald O’Conner, Bobby Short, and Helen Morgan. The mural faces the theater where these stars began their careers.

DeKalb:

Barbed Wire History Exhibit, Little House [RA] – Elwood House Museum. Displays in mansion of a barbed wire baron show the varieties and dangers of his prickly product. Queen Anne style 1891 Little House was built as a contractor’s model and parade float.
The Grotesque – Ill-Fated College Gargoyle [RA] – Northern Illinois University. Stone gargoyle named “Olive Goyle” is a campus landmark, knocked from its Altgeld Hall perch by lightning in 1966, beheaded by vandals in 1996, decorated with gag heads for years, finally restored in 2013 and waiting for the next indignity.

Decatur: Big Large Mouth Bass [RA] – Wild Dog Saloon. A bar attracts patrons with its large fish statue, impaled on a pole in mid-leap onto the building’s roof.

Deerfield: Minifig Vault [RA] – The Minifig Vault is a free museum with over 3,000 LEGO Minifigures. They also have a gift shop with minifigures, LEGO sets, and custom LED lighting for LEGO sets. This place is tons of fun and the staff is very helpful. You can learn the entire history of the LEGO minifigure as well as see a huge collection of custom printed ‘figs.

Des Plaines:

Giant Golf Ball and Club [RA] – A driving range complex marks its parking lot entrance with a huge golf ball on a tee, and the imposing head of a golf club.
★ Meals Delivered by Train [RA] – Choo Choo Restaurant, a model train transports a burger and fries straight to your placemat.
Robert Wadlow Shoes [RA] – Displayed in a shoe store, they were worn by the tallest man in the world as a teenager, when he was already a size 26.

Diamond: Diamond Mine Disaster Monument [RA] – On Feb. 16, 1883, the weight of melting snow and heavy rains collapsed part of the mine and killed at least 74 miners. Only 28 bodies were recovered after weeks of pumping the mine; the rest of the dead were sealed in the mine.

Dixon:

rochHorsey Ronald Reagan [RA] – A heroic President on horseback, but instead of George Washington in uniform it’s Ronald Reagan in a t-shirt. A tribute to Reagan’s visit to Dixon in 1950, when he rode in the town’s “Injun Summer Days” parade.
Fake Berlin Wall [RA] – The hometown of Ronald Reagan couldn’t get a real slab of The Wall, so they had somebody make one up, complete with fake graffiti.
John Deere Historic Site [RA] – Free attraction marks the spot where John Deere invented the steel self-scouring plow. A museum, blacksmithing demonstrations, a statue of Deere, an archaeological dig showing the remains of his original forge, and a gift shop.
Only Statue of Lincoln in Uniform [RA] – The 10 ft. tall bronze sculpted by Leonard Crunelle depicts Captain Lincoln at age 23. It was dedicated in 1930.
Ronald Reagan Boyhood Home [RA] – Restored to the way it looked in 1920, when nine-year-old Ronnie moved in with his family.
Tank, Jet, Helicopter [RA] – Small veterans memorial park displays well-preserved (non-operational) military hardware.

Dover: Cars Movie Theme Display [RA] – A roadside mechanic shop has several old cars in its front yard painted to match characters from the animated movie “Cars.”

Durand:

★ Tractor on a Silo [RA] – a farmer used a crane to hoist an old tractor to the top of his silo.
★ Tree Made of Steel Wheels [RA] – Almost 400 metal wheels from old farm machinery welded into a “tree” 46 feet high. Unexpected sight on a rural road

Dwight: Cardiff Memorial: Mine Explosions [RA] – A small memorial recalls a series of mine disasters that reduced the population of Cardiff, a town that now no longer exists.

East Moline: ★ Tour World’s Largest Farm Equipment Factory [RA] – John Deere Harvester Works, The building covers 90 acres and has 14 miles of automated track. Tours take an hour and a half.

East Peoria:

Ice Cream Cone Building [RA] – Twistee Treat custard cone-shaped building.
Quonset-Hut-Style Church [RA] – Last Harvest Ministries. this semicircle-roofed church is not a repurposed WWII quonset hut. The roof was made in 1937 in a local factory by manufacturer R.G. LeTourneau, who was also a member of the church.
Rooster in a Top Hat [RA] – Carl’s Bakery. Ten-foot-tall statue. Its formal attire looks like a homemade addition, and is unexplained.

Edwardsville:

25-Foot-Tall Geriatric Walker [RA] – Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. Giant version of a medical walker, on the campus of SIU Edwardsville, north of Circle Dr. between Evergreen Hall and the Engineering Building.
Geodesic Dome Mini-Earth [RA] – Center for Spirituality and Sustainability. On the campus of Southern Illinois University. A kind of daylight planetarium, with the continents painted on the glass and seen in reverse from the inside.
Only Genuine Pair of Robert Wadlow’s Shoes [RA] – Madison County Historical Museum. Robert Wadlow has been dead for over 70 years, but he remains the tallest known human who ever lived.

The shoes are displayed at the museum in front of a life-size photograph of the giant, so they’re difficult to miss. Also on exhibit in the museum is the mysterious bird-headed Ramey Tablet, found by a farmer near a local Indian mound. This tablet was found east of Monks Mound on the Ramey farm sometime during the 19th century. It dates to around 1250 A.D.

Effingham:

★ America’s 2nd Largest Cross [RA] – The height of the cross was carefully chosen to exceed the dimensions of the Groom cross (which is 196 feet) but to still be below the 200 foot mark. A small theater in the Effingham Cross welcome center shows a video. The massive slab into which it’s anchored is awash in piped-in church music and surrounded by monuments for each of the Ten Commandments, which deliver inspirational audio homilies at the touch of a button. Granite blocks, set flush with the earth, serve as simple memorials and as billboards for testimony. “Live 4 Jesus Die is Gain” reads one. Another proclaims, “In These Trying Times a Sign — God is in Control.”
★ My Garage Museum [RA] – Collection of vintage Corvettes and VWs includes the Crocodile Corvette from the movie Death Race 2000and a stunt Herbie the Love Bug VW.
Duct Tin Man [RA] – Made of HVAC ducts, a Tin Man stands in front of a heating/air conditioning business.
Restored 1920 Gas Station [RA] – A vintage gas station moved from Casey, IL, and restored. No gas, but the public is invited to pull in and take pictures of their cars at the pumps.

Eldorado: Big John – Grocery Clerk [RA] – The Big John grocery store chain first commissioned these grinning fiberglass mascots in the 1960s. They stand 28-30 ft. tall — larger than most Muffler Men — and tower over their assigned parking lots holding four bags of overflowing food products.

Ellsworth:

★ Wind Farm Lookout Platform [RA] – Twin Groves Wind Farm – A public viewing area was created next to a wind farm to provide unique perspectives of 240 wind turbines running in the surrounding fields.

Elsworth: Baseball Water Tower [RA] – The softball field in the little town of Elsworth faces a water tower topped with a big baseball.

Eldred: ★ Stag Beer Grain Silo [RA] – A silo that was hand-painted and designed to resemble a beverage container by a farmer who really loves Stag Beer.

Elizabeth: Shark Statue [RA] – Though this restaurant is no longer named “Sharks,” it still displays the man-killer.

Eureka: Berlin Wall Slab [RA] – Eureka College. A small, clean slab, it stands upright in the Ronald Reagan Peace Garden, which is behind the Ronald Reagan Museum.

Evanston: American Toby Jug Museum [RA] – The obsessive collection of Stephen M. Mullins. Over 8,000 examples of colorful ceramic mugs shaped like everything from Hitler to the stars of Star Wars.

Findlay: Goat Tower of Baaa [RA] – Built in 1998, one of only three Goat Towers in the world, supposedly. It’s 31 feet tall, made of 5,000 bricks with 276 exterior spiral steps, and it looks like a castle turret. Watch the goats climb!

Forrest:

Jerry’s Hat Museum [RA] – The name is misleading. Jerry’s museum not only has hats, but also key rings, coin purses, penknives, ice scrapers, calendars, matchbooks, thermometers, ice cream scoops, fly swatters, bottle openers, rulers and yardsticks — anything that can be mass-produced and branded with a business name. “When I opened in 2017 I had 100 pens,” he told us. Four years later, he had nearly 24,000.
Wabash Turntable [RA] – Wabash Railroad Model Train Museum. An old railroad turntable has been restored on the grounds of a local model train museum, which was a former depot. Also here: an old caboose.

Freeport: Zombie Harry Caray, Little Wrigley Field [RA] – A little-league-size version of the famous Chicago ballpark, opened on April 28, 2008. A carved statue of announcer Harry Caray resembles a hungry member of the walking dead.

Fulton:

★ Dutch Windmill [RA] – De Immigrant Windmill Cultural Center. Supposedly one of only two working Dutch windmills in the U.S. Big and wooden and antique-looking.
Fishing Dutchman [RA] – Fashioned by a local sheet metal company, the cartoony Dutchman is about eight feet tall and sits with a fishing pole. His only part that isn’t metal is his comically oversized wooden shoes.
★ Heritage Canyon [RA] – The canyon is an old limestone quarry with a 19th century village built in it, including a church, blacksmith shop, dentist office, clay pipe shop, school, covered bridge and log cabins. There is a waterfall, swinging bridge and marked trails.

Galena:

★ John Martinson’s West Street Sculpture Park [RA] – Welded and sculpted whimsical junk art by John Martinson, displayed on his wooded property, includes a 9/11 sculpture of a tiny plane and a giant cube.
Mrs. Butterworth Statue of First Lady Julia Grant [RA] – Ulysses S. Grant Home State Historic Site. Also an unflattering statue of the controversial First Lady of President Ulysses S. Grant.
Scarlett’s Green Dress Curtains [RA] – Belvedere Mansion and Gardens. The green velvet drapes converted into a dress in the movie “Gone with the Wind” are in the living room. Photos prohibited.

Golconda: Lightning Rod Jesus [RA] – San Damiano Retreat Center. A 35-foot-tall bronze of Jesus holding a lamb. Very prominent lightning rod protrudes from the statue’s neck.

Gays: ★ Two-Story Outhouse [RA] – Samuel Gammill built the outhouse at the rear of his general store. There were apartments upstairs, and the second floor of the building connected to the second floor of the outhouse across a short ramp, giving 19th century tenants a private bathroom. The store was torn down in 1984, but the outhouse was carefully spared. Gays had been promoting it as a tourist attraction since the 1960s.

Granite City:

Car Wash Fake Tree Cell Tower [RA] – An absurdly fake evergreen tree fails to disguise the town’s cell phone tower. A car wash below touts, “Get Squeaky Clean Under the Evergreen.”
Clown Head [RA] – A 2019 art installation titled “Bill the Clown” features a 10-foot-high, disembodied, styrofoam clown head.
Ten-Person Swing [RA] – Built out of logs by Brian Depauli, its official name is “Giant Swing For All My Friends.”

Greenville: ★ Museum of Initiation Pranks [RA]

Gridley: Telephone Museum of Gridley [RA] – two-room museum

Griggsville: Purple Martin Capital of the Nation [RA] – an alarming number of tall poles supporting multiple-dwelling birdhouses. The are many cities claiming to be purple martin capitals, but Griggsville is unique as a town whose principal industry is the manufacture of Purple Martin living quarters. J.L. Wade, a nature lover and former antenna manufacturer, started his Trio Manufacturing Company down the PM housing path over 40 years ago.

Hartford: Lewis and Clark Confluence Tower [RA] –

Two 180-foot tall concrete towers, one for Meriwether Lewis and one for William Clark, with open-air observation decks at 50, 100, and 150 feet. The towers stand near where Lewis and Clark camped and are named for the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers. To the east, the un-picturesque view is of multiple oil refineries and industrial sites. To the west is the river confluence, which I found difficult to distinguish and somewhat of a disappointment. Still, I love the towers.

Herod:

Herod Cave and Fairy Cliff Cafe Ruins [RA] – Roadside rock shelter was once augmented with the Fairy Cliff Cafe (1930s-1960s). Just ruins now, but the cave is still there.
Sassy the Bigfoot [RA] – Sassy is a seven-foot-tall Bigfoot statue that marks the crossroads where several real Bigfoot have been sighted.

Hillsboro:

Abe Lincoln with a Sore Back [RA] – Poor bronze Abe has his suitcase at his feet and is stretching his long, sore back, apparently after stepping off a stagecoach in front of the Montgomery County Courthouse.
Gettysburg Address Time Capsule [RA] – Plaque on the ground of the Gettysburg Address next to a Bicentennial time capsule, both guarded by a cannon.

Hooppole: Rolle Bolle Rosary [RA] – St. Mary of the Fields Catholic Church. A giant rosary laid out along the ground, made from the balls and pucks used in the game Rolle Bolle.

Hudson:

Gas Station Memorabilia [RA] – A scattering of old gas signs, a couple of phone booths and other signage from days gone by. Still easily mistaken for an operating business.
World’s Largest Square Knot [RA] – “A symbol of unity and strength,” according to its accompanying plaque. Maybe eight feet high, sculpted out of metal in 2010.

Hutsonville: Hutson Massacre Memorial Mini-Town [RA] – A “town” made up of original, furnished log cabins, a log barn, and a log church, and named in honor of the Isaac Hutson family that was massacred by Indians in 1813.

Inverness: Al Capone’s Silo Hideout [RA] – The building consists of a refurbished bar and two cement/brick silos. It was in these silos that Capone had his hideaway — from hidden (now not-so-hidden) windows he and his crew had an unobstructed view of the neighboring countryside and could see any approaching lawman well before they were within striking range. The silos are now used as the village’s offices and tours may be arranged.

Iuka: ★ Mr. Rooster, Built of Scrap Iron [RA] – 13-foot-tall tall rooster, looking over the fence,

Kankakee:

Big Flowerpot [RA] – Featured in the center of the 5th Avenue Community Garden is a flower sculpture designed and created by Michael Hart. Steel leaves at the top of the giant plant collect and funnel rain water into a 55 gallon drum hidden inside the cinderblock-and-steel pot that forms the base of the statue. Gardeners who rent plots can dispense water for their plants through the spigots at the bottom of the plant’s pot. The sculpture is approximately 15 feet tall.
Dairy Queen Franchise #1 [RA] – Not the first Dairy Queen, but the first franchise Dairy Queen. An important distinction among purists (the first was in Joliet). For ultra-purists, the building on the site in not the original.
Giant Abe Lincoln [RA] – 28 feet tall, Abe stands in front of a heavy equipment rental lot, and holds signs that promote whatever its owner feels strongly about at the moment.

Kaskaskia: Liberty Bell of the West [RA] – This big bell is actually older than Philadelphia’s Liberty Bell. It was rung to celebrate the liberation of Kaskaskia from the British in 1778, back when Kaskaskia was America’s western frontier. No touching, but there’s an audio loop that tells its story. Sign on front lawn; plaque next to the front door.

Kent: Blackhawk War Monument – Gravedigger Abe [RA] – A creek running through the community was named after Major Stillman of the Illinois Militia who led troops in the first named battle of the Black Hawk War on May 14, 1832. The battle and the creek became humorously known as “Stillman’s Run” after Stillman and his men fled the battlefield believing they were being chased by thousands of Chief Black Hawk’s warriors. The day after the battle, Abraham Lincoln helped bury the dead soldiers from the battle.

Kewanee: Hog Capital of the World [RA] – A pig in a brick doghouse lends credibility to the claims of the local hog industry.

Lerna:

Grave of Lincoln’s Dad [RA] – Thomas Lincoln and Sarah Bush Lincoln, father and step-mother of Abraham Lincoln, are buried under a white marble obelisk erected after their son became famous and died.
Lincoln Log Cabin, But Not Abe Lincoln’s [RA] – This is actually Abe Lincoln’s parents’ log cabin, which they built and lived in for 14 years after Abe had left home to climb the political ladder in Springfield. And it’s not even the real cabin, but a replica, built in the 1930s as a Depression make-work project.
World’s Fastest Soda Machine [RA] – Vintage outdoor pop soda machine is so fast that a purchaser can’t press a select button and catch the can with the same hand.

Lexington: Crazy Presidential Elephant [RA] – Kasey Wells hauled this crazy-looking scrap metal elephant around the USA in 2020 in a failed attempt to become President of the United States.

Liberty: Mystery Baby-Making Boulder [RA] – many stories about it — the most interesting is that long ago it was used by the Indians of the area in fertility rituals. Any new bride climbing up and sitting on the stone would become pregnant within a year!

Lincoln:

☆ World’s Largest Covered Wagon and Big Lincoln [RA] – Unveiled on Veterans Day 2001. The covered wagon is built out of five tons of oak, with wheels 12 feet high — the wagon is capable of rolling — and the tops of its canvas-covered hoops are 24 feet high. It’s a natural wind catcher and its hoops are sometimes stripped of canvas. Abe is 12 feet tall.
Lincoln Watermelon Monument [RA] – Obscure monument commemorates a visit by then-lawyer Abe Lincoln, who christened his namesake town with watermelon juice.
Phone Booth on a Roof [RA] – Local lore says that the phone booth — which is on top of city hall — was installed for Civil Defense air raid spotters during the Cold War.
Tiny Church [RA] – Tiny church in a parking lot. It was locked, but a sign says it was built to draw attention to Jesus Christ, who offers hope to a broken world. Built by the nearby Zion Lutheran Church.

Livingston: ★ Pink Elephant Mall: Outdoor Retro [RA] – Although the purpose of the Pink Elephant Antiques Mall is to sell antiques, it has developed a separate reputation as a repository for retro-roadside statuary and buildings.

Loda: Jail in Town Park [RA] – The “Loda Calaboose” was purchased in 1914, an outdoor cage-like jail that could hold four lawbreakers in discomfort. Now displayed in a town park.

Lynwood: Giant Man Made of Plastic Barrels [RA] – Plastic Barrel Man has disappeared and then been rebuilt several times since he was first reported in 2001.

Macomb: Courteous Car Parts Man [RA] – A friendly tip of the wheel rim hat from a man made of metal car parts, standing outside an auto repair shop.

Macon: ★ Muffler Man – Soda Jerk [RA] – muffler man holding a ice cream cone.

Makanda:

Monument to Boomer, 3-Legged Hero Dog [RA] – plaque commemorating a three-legged dog that tried to put out the flame in a hotbox on the speeding train of his beloved fireman-master.
★ Smiley Face Water Tower [RA] – A yellow smiley face water tower wearing a sporty bow-tie is the friendly mascot of this town.
★ Buck Rogers-esque Water Tower [RA] – Near Giant City State Park, a water storage sphere is held by spindly sci-fi columns above an observation platform. Visitors can climb the spiral staircase for the scenic view.
Non-Gyrating Gyrator [RA] – Large replica of a spinning top that doubles as a sundial and solar calendar. Has languished in obscurity since 1988.
★ Rainmaker Art Grotto [RA] – Artist Dave “Rainmaker” Dardis has a shop full of his work, and a 1 acre backyard grotto of metal tree and insect sculptures, stone paths and bridges.

Mapleton: ★ Wizard of Oz Garden [RA] – In a public park you can walk a Yellow Brick Road and see photo-ops of some of the famous characters from Oz.

Marseilles: Southwest Asia Memorial Wall [RA] –

Marshall:

★ 1918 Brick National Road [RA] – bricked section of the National Road
World’s Largest Gavel [RA] – On the covered porch of the Clark County Courthouse. 16-foot-long hammer of justice.

Martinsville:

★ Home of the Moonburger – Moonshine Store [RA] – Home of the moonburger. Visitors from all over earth have come to see this quaint old country store and try the world famous moonburger. South of Casey, IL in the middle of nowhere.
★ World’s Largest Horseshoe [RA] – Certified by Guinness World Records in 2013

Matanzas Beach: The Boat Lady [RA] – In the town of Matanzas Beach there is a genuine boat on a stick. What made this more interesting was the lady waving from the boat

Mattoon:

★ Ice Cream Cone-Shaped Stand [RA] – Frigid Queen. Pre-fab building in the shape of a soft ice cream cone with a cherry on top.
The Burger King [RA] – This “Burger King” has been in business since before the national fast food franchise, so it’s allowed to use the name.

Metropolis:

☆ Super Museum [RA]
☆ Big John – Grocery Clerk [RA] – A well-meaning hulk hoists car-sized bags of groceries in a supermarket parking lot. His right arm fell off in August 2014; returned from repairs May 2015.
☆ Superman Statue [RA] – 15-foot-tall, three-ton Superman statue
Birdman of Alcatraz Grave [RA] – Masonic Cemetery
☆ Fort Massac – Aaron Burr’s Plots to Conquer Mexico [RA] – A recreated 1802 American log fort along the Ohio River. Former VP Aaron Burr came here to plot the overthrow of Mexico. The plot failed, but don’t blame the fort.
☆ Lois Lane in Bronze [RA] – Comic book ace reporter Lois Lane is immortalized in a bronze statue just three blocks from a towering fiberglass statue of The Man of Steel.

Milford: Nazi Buzz Bomb [RA] – It’s a U.S. Army prototype of a German V-1 pulse engine unmanned flying bomb, nicknamed a “Buzz Bomb” by the British and the “Doodlebug” by U.S. pilots. Made from scavenged parts found in England. The U.S. designation was the ” JB-2 Loon,” hence the red/white color scheme. They were being tested as a possible weapon against Japan before the war ended.

Monmouth: Bagpiper Statue [RA] – A peculiar college mascot, the honking bronze bagpiper stands on a low pedestal just outside the football field, one foot propped on a pile of books.

Mount Carroll: Raven’s Grin Inn [RA] – Praised by some as the best Haunted House attraction in the U.S. It’s in a real haunted house, for starters, and its owner has added many embellishments.

Mount Morris:

Illinois Freedom Bell [RA] – A replica of the original Liberty Bell, this bell is located in a tower in the town square.
★ Largest tree in Illinois – Byron Forest Preserve District’s new Bald Hill Prairie Preserve is now the home of the biggest tree of any species in the state of Illinois. The Eastern Cottonwood tree is 28.5 feet in circumference, more than nine feet in diameter and 122 feet tall.

Mount Olive: Grave of Mother Jones [RA] – Mother Jones died in 1930, before working people had the cash and free time to take vacations on The Mother Road. But the elaborate grave monument of the gray-haired labor activist can be glimpsed from Route 66. Mother Jones lived to be 100, and spent her Golden Years fighting for the rights of the laboring class, particularly miners. She’s buried in a miners cemetery with the victims of the “Battle of Virden,” one of many miner vs. mine owner mini-wars at the turn of the 20th century. Her memorial shaft — by far the largest in the graveyard — is flanked by life-size bronze statues of a miner and a factory worker.

Mount Pleasant:

Grave of King Neptune the Pig [RA] – King Neptune was the unofficial mascot of the U.S. Navy for nearly nine years. Died in 1950.
Rest Stop Memorial to King Neptune the Pig [RA] – Unveiled in 1989. King Neptune was a local pig whose “auctions” raised $19 million in war bonds during World War II. You can visit his actual grave only two miles away; this memorial is for travelers who don’t want to get off the interstate.

Mount Vernon:

Pose with Stovepipe Hat Abe [RA] – A nine-foot-tall bronze Lincoln statue stands directly on the ground to encourage visitor interaction.
Road Sign Art [RA] – This chaotic mess of highway signage (and one traffic light), deliberately massed into a piece of outdoor art, has no explanatory plaque that we could find.

Newton:

Burl Ives in Granite [RA] – Sit with a granite version of folk singer and actor Burl holding his granite guitar. He was the voice of the singing snowman in “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.”
★ Minions in Metal [RA] – Outside a welding shop stand two oversized cartoon minions, a cyclops strumming a guitar, the other with its hand upraised in a tenuous greeting.
★ Mug Tree [RA] – Successor to previous Mug Tree in nearby Yale that fell down in late 2018. Bring a mug.

Normal:

Ice Cream Muffler Man [RA] – Outside of Carl’s Ice Cream in Normal, Illinois stands a 15-foot tall Muffler Man. He holds an ice cream cone in one hand and a hamburger in the other.
Sprague’s Super Service: Restored 1930s Gas Station [RA] – Built in the early 1930s, Tudor-style Sprague’s Super Service had a gas station, garage, restaurant, and living quarters for both the owner and the gas station attendant.

Norridge: Grave of JFK’s Assassin’s Assassin: Jack Ruby [RA] – Westlawn Jewish Cemetery

North Riverside: Uncle Pete The Scotsman [RA] – Statue of a kilted Scotsman in traditional regalia. If you push the button, you’ll hear a bagpipe playing “The Craigielee March.”

Norway:

Agricultural Crash Monument [RA] – A downed plane is an obscure “crash” monument dedicated to the 1980s agriculture bust.
Viking Memorial [RA] – Memorial to the first Norwegian settlers in the US. There are stone markers with inscriptions and another display with information about the Peerson and Nelson families. This is also the site of Nelson Cemetery with grave markers from the 1800s.

Odell: 1932 Standard Oil Filling Station [RA] – See what it was like to pull into a gas station during the Great Depression. You can’t buy gas, but you can take a picture of your car at the pumps.

Oglesby:

Peter Toth Giant Indian Head [RA] – Artist Peter Toth carved this head of Indian chief Walks-with-the-Wind, part of his Whispering Giants series.
Woody the Root Beer Man [RA] – Woody is an A&W Papa Burger statue from the 1960s. He’s outlived several businesses in a couple of different towns.

Olney:

★ Home of the White Squirrels [RA] – City Park is Olney’s albino Ground Zero. A granite slab on the park’s White Squirrel Drive tells of how, in 1902, local farmers William Yates Stroup and George Ridgeley each caught white squirrels and brought them to one of Olney’s saloons. Apparently a love match was consummated, the squirrels were released into a local wood, “and so populates the city of Olney.” The slab was placed in 2002 to mark the centennial of this town-changing event.
Auto Parts Family [RA] – A family has been made up of auto and household items, located at Stanley Repair on Main Street in Olney.
Birthplace Of Solar Power [RA] – The first experimental solar power plant was built in Olney. Plaque in park.
White Squirrel Souvenirs [RA] – Olney Chamber of Commerce.

Oquawka: Norma Jean, Elephant Killed By Lightning [RA] – Norma Jean was a 6,500-pound elephant and the star attraction of the Clark and Walters Circus. That ended abruptly on the morning of July 17, 1972, when she was struck and killed by a bolt of lightning. Signs pointing toward “Elephant Killed By Lightning” direct you to Norma Jean’s grave from all points in Oquawka.

Oregon:

☆ Black Hawk, the Rock River Colossus [RA] – Dedicated in 1911 as “The Eternal Indian,” but the locals call it Chief Black Hawk. At 48 feet high, it’s the second-tallest monolithic concrete statue in the world.
The Pride of Oregon is an authentic Paddle Wheel Riverboat. 102 feet of real river charm. She docks at the historic Maxson Riverside Restaurant and Paddlewheel Inn. Built as a replica of the famous Rosie O’Shea paddlewheel in 1989, her festive exterior and graciously appointed interior provide a relaxing atmosphere for memory-making cruises. She has the capacity of 149 sight-seeing passengers. Lunch, Dinner and Sight-seeing Cruises (by reservation only) https://www.maxsons.net/
☆ Indian with a Fish Head [RA] – A serious, outdoor bronze statue depicts a lifelike Native American wearing a fish as a hat. An identical statue stands cross-state in Batavia.

Ottawa:

Statue of the Radium Girl [RA] – In the 1920s hundreds of young women worked at the Radium Dial Company in Ottawa, Illinois, putting tiny strokes of glowing paint on itty-bitty wristwatch dials. Unfortunately, the glow came from radium, and the company encouraged the women to keep their brush tips sharp by licking them. Even after the women’s bones began dissolving and their jaws started falling off, the company insisted that nothing was wrong. It wasn’t until a group of the women — dubbed “The Radium Girls” by the press — successfully sued Radium Dial that the practice ended.
Boy Scout Founder Grave Monument [RA] – Ottawa Avenue Cemetery
Lincoln vs. Douglas Fountain [RA] – During the 1858 senatorial campaign, Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas had seven one-on-one debates. The first one was on a platform now occupied by a fountain and statues of the two men.
★ Peter Toth Big Head [RA] – Another of Peter “Wolf” Toth’s giant hand-carved Indian head sculptures.

Pana: Giant Hand with Painted Nails [RA] – 18-foot-long hand with red painted nails, severed at the wrist, lays on a patch of grass next to a busy road.

Pekin: Ice Cream Cone with Eyeballs [RA] – Double D’s Soft Serve. It’s the overscooped mascot of an ice cream parlor whose specialty is ice cream cones with eyeballs.

Peoria Heights: ★ Tower with Large Woodpecker [RA] – Park with an unusual 200-ft. tall Observation Tower that takes you up to a lookout over the river and the beautiful estates along Grand View Drive. There is a large woodpecker hanging on the side of the tower. For a minimal fee you can take the Willy Wonka type elevator up to the top. Could be too hot in the elevator on a sunny day.

Peoria:

★ Uniroyal Gal: Vanna Whitewall [RA] – The 17-ft. tall statue of a bikini-clad woman along Washington Avenue, known as Vanna Whitewall. Used to hold a tire.
★ Wheels O’ Time Museum [RA] – the Wheels O’ Time Museum is its de facto repository of city antique memorabilia.
Statue of Richard Pryor [RA] – a nine-foot-tall statue. Richard Pryor grew up in one of Peoria’s more affluent brothels and died in 2005.
Milt, the MG Car Planter [RA] – 1968 MG sports car turned into an outdoor urban planter with colorful painted murals. Dented by another car in Dec. 2020, so the artists added a large band-aid to its side.
Scale Model of the Solar System [RA] – Starts at the Peoria Riverfront Museum, then radiates out through central Illinois. You can walk along the riverfront trail to Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars, but Pluto is 40 miles away. he most complete large-scale model of the Solar System in the world. The scale factor is 99,000,000:1, spread across 6,000 square miles of Central Illinois.

Peru:

Sapp Bros. Pot of Coffee Sign [RA] – the Sapp Brothers’ promotional coffee pot water towers are being replaced with flat — albeit large — coffee pot signs.
Star Trek Vulcan Hand [RA] – An old tree has been carved into the Vulcan “Live long and prosper” greeting by an anonymous Star Trek fan (if not an actual Vulcan).

Petersburg: Grave of Lincoln’s Sweetheart [RA] – Oakland Cemetery. Ann Rutledge died in 1835. Years later she was dug up and moved here by an undertaker who wanted to attract visitors to this cemetery.

Plainfield: Tornado Victim Memorial [RA] – The Plainfield Tornado Memorial is a black granite triangle, near the high school and obscured by trees. It is dedicated to 29 people who lost their lives as a result of the twister that cut a 12-mile long swath of devastation through the area on August 28, 1990.

Pontiac:

Abe Lincoln Hair Strands [RA] – Livingston County Historical Society. Tiny strands of Abraham Lincoln’s hair are preserved and visible under a magnifier. The museum exhibits other obscure items.
Pistol-Shaped Building [RA] – The former Illinois State Police District 6 Headquarters is shaped like a handgun if seen from above. On the ground you can look at an explanatory historical marker.
★ Walldog Museum [RA] – This might be the only museum in the world dedicated to the art of mural painting, particularly the history of the Walldogs, a group of traveling artists, as well as to the pioneers of the craft who created large outdoor advertising signs and billboards.

Port Byron: 30-Foot-Tall Old Fashioned Bicyclist [RA] – A 30-ft. tall statue of an old-timey bicyclist (on a Penny Farthing) stands along the Mississippi River.

Princeton:

★ Red Covered Bridge [RA] – The Red Covered Bridge is a beautiful bridge, built in 1863. It’s the only one of six remaining covered bridges in Illinois that is still open to regular vehicle traffic.
Underground Railroad Hidey-Hole [RA] – This modest two story home was once used as a station on the Underground Railroad for the “Liberty Line” that ran through Princeton, IL. Come see the “hidey-hole” where fleeing slaves hid, and see where the honorable Owen Lovejoy lived.

Quincy: Grave of USA’s First African-American Priest [RA] – St. Peters Cemetery is the final resting place of the Rev. Augustine Toulton, the first African-American Roman Catholic priest in the United States. He was ordained in Rome on April 24, 1886.

Rantoul: ☆ Hardy’s Reindeer Ranch [RA] – Seasonal attraction featuring live reindeer kids can feed, a corn maze, a pumpkin cannon and a working Christmas tree farm.

Rend Lake: Golf Ball and Tee Water Tower [RA] – A regular spheroid water tower painted like a golf ball atop a giant tee. Promotes the golf course beneath it.

Roanoke: Flintstones Car and Biplanes [RA] – Large wooden car, three biplanes, baseball bat, hand, and Indian chief.

Rochelle: Railroad Intersection, Hobo Fire Pit [RA] – Rochelle, IL is the home of the Rochelle Railroad Park. The Park sits in front of the country’s only Quad Diamond rail intersection where the Union Pacific and Burlington Northern Sante Fe Rail Lines intersect. On any given day over 150 trains cross this intersection. The park is open 24 hours a day 7 days a week and features a pavilion with radio traffic of both lines pumped in on speakers so you can hear what train is next to come flying through this busy intersection. The pavilion is elevated so that when sitting on the picnic tables in the pavilion you are at eye level with the engineers running the trains as they go by. The park also features a Hobo Fire Pit that you can build fires in at night and watch trains go by.

Rock Island:

☆ Atomic Cannon [RA] – on display in Memorial Field, part of the Rock Island Arsenal Museum on Arsenal Island.
Chief Black Hawk: Big Metal Sign [RA]
Jake and Elwood Blues Brothers [RA] – Statues of Dan Ackroyd and John Belushi as the Blues Brothers Elwood and Jake sit in their fictional hometown.
Rex the Loyal Grave Dog [RA] – Metal two-sided Blackhawk Indian cutout towers above a nearly empty shopping center.
Shark Statue [RA] – This lifesize shark is on the roof of Cabanas in downtown Rock Island Illinois.

Rockford:

★ Rockmen Guardians [RA] – These are statues made of rock, affectionately known as the “Rock Men.” They are right along the Rock River in Rockford.
★ Home of the Sock Monkey [RA] – Midway Village and Museum Center. Birthplace of the famous Nelson Red Heel sock. Has a sock monkey sort-of museum, six-foot-tall fiberglass sock monkeys scattered around town, and an annual Sock Monkey Madness Festival in early March.
“Gertrude” the Guernsey Cow [RA] – located at the Childrens Farm at Lockwood Park. She is 21 feet from nose to tail, and stands 19 feet high from horns to hoof.
Big Abraham Lincoln Bust [RA] – A five-foot-tall bronze bust of Abraham Lincoln keeps watch over Courthouse Square. People rub Abe’s nose for luck.

Roscoe: ★ Historic Auto Attractions [RA] – Famous cars, TV memorabilia & artifacts from American presidents and celebrities displayed in an eclectic museum

Rosemont: Rose Water Tower [RA] – A water tower painted to resemble a rose has been the symbol of the Village of Rosemont for decades.

Savanna: Savanna Army Depot [RA] – Decommissioned munitions depot and storage, with old bomb factories and base facilities (1918-2000). Miles of roads, rows of bomb bunkers under earthen mounds. Converted to a wildlife sanctuary.

Scott AFB: Air Force Air Park [RA] – Public display outside of Scott Air Force base features six aircraft and a world globe sculpture.

Seneca: LST Memorial [RA] – During World War II, 27,000 Seneca area employees constructed 157 Landing Ship Tank (LST) vessels used in various military conflicts. The city park contains a monument with a small carved version of a typical LST.

Shelbyville:

Best Man Mobile Wedding Chapel [RA] – the mobile church was created by the TV show “Trick My Truck.” If not busy, may be parked behind the old church.
Dishwasher Monument [RA] – An upright, engraved slab of granite marks the spot where Josephine Garis Cochran “invented one of the first mechanical dishwashers ever built” in 1886. Exhibited at the 1893 Chicago Columbian Exposition, where it won “the highest award.”
Freedom Square [RA] – A classic courthouse square monument, dedicated in 1907 to the local Soldiers and Sailors of the Spanish-American, Civil, Mexican, 1812 and Revolutionary Wars, has been updated to include conflicts up through “Desert Storm.” Beneath it, a new black marble pedestal hosts an eternal flame in “Freedom Square,” and photo etchings of US Marines raising the flag at Mt. Suribachi and Gen. MacArthur walking ashore. Around the perimeter are dozens of flags, yellow ribbons tied around each pole.

Silvis: Hero Street USA Monument [RA] – A bronze eagle clutching a flag and a rifle tops a memorial honoring the 100 people from this neighborhood who have served the United States since the start of World War II. In particular, eight men from this historically Mexican community died in WWII. Second Street was renamed Hero Street USA.

Springfield:

30-Foot-Tall Skinny Abe Lincoln Statue [RA] – This clean-shaven statue of young Mr. Lincoln stands in front of the Illinois Exhibits building at Gate 1 of the State Fair Grounds. He is about 30 feet tall, a thin, gawky pre-grow-a-beard Abe. The statue is named “The Rail Splitter,” and holds an ax almost in Muffler Man configuration. He dates from 1967 when he was built by local department store display director Carl Rinnus, who used fiberglass, a welded metal frame, and telephone poles for Abe’s legs.
★ Lincoln’s Tomb and Lucky Nose [RA] – 200,000 people a year visit Lincoln’s Tomb in Springfield’s Oak Ridge Cemetery. Judging from the appearance of Abe’s big bronze head, lots of those visitors make it a point to stop and give a rub to Lincoln’s nose.
★ Lauterbach Tire Muffler Man [RA] – Flag-carrying giant has been standing at this business since 1978.
★ Santa Anna’s Leg [RA] – Illinois State Military Museum. This is a small but very interesting museum, especially if you like military museums. It is free and has limited hours. It depicts the Illinois citizen soldier from the War of 1812 to present day. Lots of genuine artifacts. In 1847, his artificial leg was captured by soldiers of the 4th Illinois Infantry, which is why it’s here.
★ Pinky: Elephant with Martini [RA] – A pink elephant holds a martini glass with his trunk and wears comically oversized glasses. On a trailer. He’s usually here, but sometimes he’s rented out for special occasions.
9/11 Memorial with Pittsburgh Misspelled [RA] – Illinosi State Capitol. Spelling is a surprise victim on this small black granite monument recalling lives lost in the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
Abe Lincoln Pixel Mural [RA] – Young Abe Lincoln walking down a tree-lined road is rendered in a pixel/pointillism style 2013 mural by traveling artist Michael J. Mayosky.
Abe Lincoln Totem Pole [RA] – A fiberglass replica of a totem pole originally carved by an Eskimo in 1883. It reportedly wasn’t made to honor Abe, but to honor a chief who had seen a white man — and the only white man that the carver could find was a picture of Lincoln.
★ Car Bumper Deer [RA] – Capitol Complex Visitors Center. “White-tailed Deer” was created in 1994 by John Kearney from old chrome car bumpers welded together.
Carpet Spartan HS Mascot [RA] – Southeast High School has modified a large Carpet Viking statue into a large Mediterranean warrior as their sports team mascot.
★ Cozy Dog Drive In: Birthplace of Hot Dog on a Stick [RA] – Where the first hot dog was served on a stick — before the idea was copied and renamed the corn dog. Don’t ever ask for a corn dog at the Cozy.
Departure Point Of The Donner Party [RA] – A plaque, placed in 1957, delicately mentions the pioneers’ “ill-fated trip to California.” They wound up eating each other.
Green Elephant [RA] – On trailer parked at the record store. Standard, life-size elephant statue, usually painted pink elsewhere. Green here, and seems to be missing the top of its skull.
Illinois Firefighter Memorial [RA] – A 14-ft. high stone cairn is scaled by a bronze firefighter on a ladder, while two others wrangle a hose, and a fourth holds a rescued child. Dedicated in 1991. A small black granite 9/11 monument stands nearby.
Lincoln Funeral Train Monument [RA] – A monument at the Springfield Amtrak station commemorates the final train stop of Abraham Lincoln.
Lincoln Ledger [RA] – Chase Bank. A ledger showing that in 1853 Lincoln deposited $310 in what was then the oldest bank in Illinois.
Mahan’s Gas Station [RA] – Tiny, rustic service station, opened in 1917 in Middletown. In 2000 it was moved to Springfield as the centerpiece of Shea’s Route 66 Gas Station Museum. After Shea died in 2013, the station was moved here in 2016. It is next to a pizza and pasta restaurant.
Pearson Museum [RA] – public medical exhibits. The Pearson Museum doubles as a meeting room for the medical school, so there’s no guarantee you can get in if you just show up. We suggest you call first.
Race Riot Memorial [RA] – Located across the street from the Lincoln Library, A deadly race riot swept Springfield in 1908. Over a hundred years later two stark “ruined chimneys” were erected as a memorial — but they were engraved with hopeful images, including Barack Obama as a drum major.

St. Anne: Caboose on a Lawn [RA] – The orphaned caboose sat in the residential yard since it was moved there in the 1950s, and has been maintained by subsequent homeowners.

St. Elmo: Teepee, Big Buffalo, and Fighting Horses [RA] – Outside of a large shop of Native American crafts and souvenirs, the big buffalo still stands and the teepee appears to have gotten a new covering. These two roadside attractions have been joined by a pair of huge, welded metal horses in the middle of a fight!

Stewardson: Giant Bull [RA] – Giant bull and tiny pig, goat, and lamb were found at Moomaws Elevator & Trucking south of Stewardson, IL in Shelby County.

Stickney: Reverse Relief Jesus [RA] – Mt. Auburn Cemetery. Three-ton marble slab bearing a large, carved face of Jesus. His eyes seem to follow you when you move!

Stockton: Pizza Man [RA] – Custom-built pizza chef, maybe ten feet tall, stands outside a liquor store/pizzeria holding a thin crust pizza.

Streator:

★ Statue of the Coffee Pot Lady [RA] – Canteen Monument. Coffee pot ladies were volunteers, often middle-aged, who greeted troop trains during World War II with sandwiches and large, steel pots of steaming coffee. Long forgotten, these unsung heroines of The Good War have now been honored.
★ Tributes to Pluto Discoverer [RA] – Hometown of Clyde Tombaugh, astronomer who discovered the the ninth planet. Pluto sculpture unveiled July 1, 2017. Also honored in the town’s historical museum and with an outdoor mural.

Tampico:

12-Year-Old Ronald Reagan [RA] – Future President Ronald Reagan was born in Tampico. As a kid, he would play on an old Civil War cannon in the town park. Ninety-odd years later, the town decided to freeze that moment in bronze.
Birthplace of Ronald Reagan [RA] – Ronald Reagan Birthplace and Museum. Reagan lived in this red brick upstairs apartment for his all-important first three years. See the room where The Gipper was born, and pose with your feet on the “Reagan Stept Here” rug (he really did). Birthplace sign on exterior wall.

Taylorville:

Monument to Kay the Elephant [RA] – Kay was the matriarch of the Carson & Barnes Circus elephant herd. Her nickname, “Fatso,” hints at the gluttony that defined her life and eventually ended it.
JFK in a Graveyard, But Not His Grave [RA] – A statue of President Kennedy with squinty eyes, eight feet tall, carved from white Italian Carrara marble, stands atop a pedestal surrounded by graves in Oak Hill Cemetery. Although the pedestal is engraved with JFK’s name and lifespan, he is not buried here; his grave is 800 miles away in Virginia.
Abe Lincoln and Pig Statue [RA] – Christian County Courthouse. Taylorsville’s rustic, pig-infested courthouse was familiar to Lincoln the lawyer. The town turned its porker heritage into a unique Lincoln statue.

Teutopolis: ★ Monastery Museum [RA] – This monastery, built in 1858, is now a museum. Visitors can see a novice’s cell, many religious artifacts, a mausoleum, and St. Francis of Assisi Church. The Friars who once lived here used crafts to maintain themselves. Visitors will see their cord machine, an intricate invention that feeds 62 spools into a loom to weave a cord of unique texture and strength. These cords were worn around the waist by the Friars.

Troy Grove: Birthplace of Wild Bill Hickok [RA] – marked with a monument, a bust, and a historical marker.

Urbana:

College Lincoln’s Lucky Nose [RA] – University of Illinois, The Abraham Lincoln bust in the foyer stairs of Lincoln Hall is said to deliver temporary academic performance boosts for University of Illinois students who rub his nose.
Cyber-Woman Engineer [RA] – University of Illinois. Bronze sculpture features a young woman who’s solving engineering problems on the run.
Diss-Connections [RA] – University of Illinois. A set of several upright wires held together by twist-on connectors, made giant-size by sculptor John Adduci in 2014.
★ Pollinatarium: Bees and Bats [RA] – A no-frills building, tucked away on a lightly-traveled unpaved road, offers exhibits on bees, bats, butterflies, and other pollinators. The observation honeybee hive is a highlight. Formerly a Bee Research Facility for the University of Illinois. Out front: a large, rusty bee sculpture.

Vandalia:

★ Kaskaskia Dragon [RA] – You pull off the highway, drop a dragon coin ($1 / token) into a slot labeled “Insert Token Dragon Breathes Fire,” then Phoooosh! The 35-foot-long metal monster shoots flame from its sooty snout with a propane roar while its light bulb eyes glow red.
Abe Lincoln Reading Newspaper [RA] – Young, beardless of Lincoln reads across the street from the old Illinois Capitol, where he served in the legislature. There’s room on the split log bench to sit with him.
Gateway Arch Replica [RA] – The “baby arch” tribute seems to date back to the 1960s, and for decades it was compromised by serving as a signpost for a motel. In recent years it’s just been an arch.
Madonna of the Trail [RA] – Madonna of the Trail statues stand in twelve locations from Maryland to California, tracing a historic travel route from “covered wagon days.” The 18-ft. tall monuments were a project of the Daughters of the American Revolution, installed in 1928-29, and are a tribute to pioneer mothers who traveled west with their crazy husbands.

Vienna: Home of the Big Bike [RA] – This is the “Home of the Big Bike.” Every year the town hosts a 100 mile run. This huge bicycle is at an old depot/museum (Forman Depot Museum) and Vienna City Park, which is where the race starts.

Volo: ★ Volo Museum: Bonnie and Clyde Death Car [RA] – Officially, it’s just the Volo Auto Museum — but that name doesn’t do justice to an attraction that winds through a half-dozen warehouse-size buildings, and whose exhibits include a roadside bomb from Iraq, a Bonnie and Clyde Death Car, and a 14-foot-tall animated King Kong.

Washington:

★ Giant Lincoln and Perry Como-like guy [RA] – a 31-foot-tall statue. It’s a giant copy of Seward Johnson’s life-size bronze in Gettysburg. Abe, returning from the 1860s to the almost-present, is gesturing toward the window there where he wrote the Gettysburg Address. Perry was a local boy who made good in the 1950s.
Bronze Footprints Where Lincoln Walked [RA] – Sets of bronze footprints denoting where Abe Lincoln stood — not major Lincoln historic events mind you, but where he stood while he waited for a ride, or while he waited for a meeting with someone you’ve never heard of.

Watseka: Smiley Face Water Tower [RA]

Wedron: Charles Lindbergh Crash Site #1 [RA] – In 1926, Charles Lindbergh was flying a mail plane from St. Louis to Chicago when his aircraft crashed in a field near the Fox River by Wedron. Lindbergh parachuted to safety. A farm family a few hundred yards away took in Lindbergh for the night. The family’s house still stands, with a marker in front of the house noting the crash.

Wenona:

Coal Mine Car Monument [RA] – Replica mine car filled with coal serves as a memorial to a mine that went 555 feet down at this spot a hundred years ago.
F-84F Thunderstreak [RA] – Old fighter jet on display in a parking lot.

Westport: Lincoln Enters Illinois Monument [RA] – Unveiled in 1938, the monument marks the spot where Abe Lincoln dumped Indiana and entered Illinois (the future “Land of Lincoln”) for the first time.

Willow Hill: Grave of Burl Ives [RA] – Mound cemetery. Burl Ives was a folk singer and actor who became a pop culture mainstay as the singing snowman in the animated Christmas special Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.

Wheaton:

★ Billy Graham Center Museum [RA] – On the campus of Wheaton College. This museum has exhibits illustrating the history of evangelism in America, and shows how Billy Graham began as a simple son of a farmer to became a pastor who could fill football stadiums and advise Presidents. The very last exhibit is the “Cloud Room,” which depicts an idea of what it’s like in Heaven, with endless blue skies and puffy white clouds.
DuPage County Hall of Fame [RA] – The DuPage Heritage Gallery is a small “museum” of famous people who have some connection to DuPage County.
Perry Mastodon Exhibit [RA] – Armerding Hall, Wheaton College. the mastodon is proudly displayed on a revolving turntable that can be viewed from both indoors and outside at the new Science Center.
Site of World’s First Radio Telescope [RA] – Built in 1937 in Grote Reber’s backyard, later disassembled and moved for posterity to Greenbank, West Virginia. The backyard site is now a parking lot, but it does have a historical marker.
Tolkien’s Desk: An Unexpected Location [RA] – The Marion E. Wade Center at Wheaton College contains a wealth of information on seven British authors – Owen Barfield, G.K. Chesterton, C.S. Lewis, George MacDonald, Dorothy L. Sayers, J.R.R. Tolkien, and Charles Williams. Highlights of the Center include the wardrobe that was the inspiration for C.S. Lewis’ “The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe” and the writing desk used by J.R.R. Tolkien when penning “The Hobbit” and portions of “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy.
Windmill House [RA] – The Windmill House is a private residence built in 1942 with materials recycled from a nearby farm. A German family raised 12 children in the house, the youngest of which is now the owner. The east-facing house is not open to the public.

White Hall: Monument to the Schoolteacher Tornado Martyr [RA] – In 1927 Annie Louise Keller sacrificed her life to save a classroom full of children from a tornado. A sculpture of her protecting two children marks the spot.

Woodlawn: ★ Elvis Museum [RA] – contains more than 1,000 items.

Chicago Metro

Aurora:

Giraffe Bursts Through Roof [RA]
Lifesize Mastodon Statue [RA]
Mastodon Slide [RA]
Wayne’s World Car Replica [RA]

Batavia:

Batavia Depot Museum, Mary Todd Lincoln’s Sanitarium Bed [RA] – Ten years after President Lincoln’s assassination, Mary Lincoln was committed to “a sanitarium for disturbed ladies” in Batavia by her son, Robert Todd Lincoln. Relics from her stay are on display
Broken Symmetry: Particle Physics [RA]
City of Windmills [RA]
Dress-Up Oil Tank Cow [RA]
Fermilab Pi Power Poles [RA]
Man With A Fish Head [RA]
Particle Accelerator Buffalo Herd [RA]
Particle Physics Playground [RA]
Self-Made Man [RA]

Berwyn: World’s Largest Laundromat [RA]

Blue Island: Doughboy Cannon [RA]

Braidwood:

Brookfield:

Brookfield Zoo, Trachodon from NY World’s Fair [RA] – The Trachodon lurking in an Illinois forest is 38 feet tall, 16 feet long. visible from the Salt Creek Nature Trail.
Big Bull [RA] – A large fiberglass bull is dwarfed by the expanse of roof he stands atop at the Brookfield Restaurant.

Burbank: Frankenmufflerman [RA] – Frankenstein’s Monster, towering over a miniature golf course and batting cage at Haunted Trails.

Burr Ridge: Parachute Martyr Memorial [RA]

Carol Stream: Giant Jukebox Entrance [RA]

Calumet City:

Chicago:

Chicago Heights: Cow With a Chef’s Hat [RA]

Cicero:

Crystal Lake:

Muffler Man – Indian [RA]
Muffler Man – Bunyan [RA]
Muffler Man – Lumberjacks [RA]

Darien: World’s Largest Religious Wood Carving [RA]

Des Plaines: Meals Delivered by Train [RA]

Downers Grove:

Elburn: Larsen’s Christmas Lights [RA]

Elk Grove Village: Elk Pasture – Town Elk Herd [RA]

Elmwood Park: Large Radio Flyer Wagon [RA]

Elwood: Ammo Plant Dead Statue [RA]

Evergreen Park: Muffler Man – Bunyan [RA]

Forest Park:

Woodlawn Cemetery, Memorial to Circus Train Wreck Dead [RA] – Five elephant statues mark the boundaries of Showmen’s Rest, a plot of 750 grave sites at Woodlawn Cemetery. The rumor, perpetuated by generations of Illinois schoolchildren, is that elephants killed in a train wreck couldn’t be moved and were buried where they fell. The statues actually mark the site of a mass grave of 56 (or perhaps 61) Hagenbeck-Wallace circus employees who were killed on June 22, 1918, when an empty troop train piloted by a napping engineer plowed into the four rear sleeping cars of the circus train near Hammond, Indiana.
Zombie Dad [RA] – A full-color ceramic version of Richard P. White sits on the front porch of his townhouse, wearing a baseball cap, t-shirt, shorts, and sandals with socks. It was sculpted by his artist daughter in 2017. She named it Zombie Dad.
Giant Wind-Up Teeth [RA] – Off the ground, mounted on a chimney at a dentist’s office. The toothy chompers are accessorized with a big wind-up key and a couple of Converse-All-Star-clad feet.

Fox River Grove: Castle Replica Home [RA]

Gardner

Geneva

Glen Ellyn:

Glenview: Stuffed Moray Eel in Appliance Store [RA]

Gurnee: Planes, Trains And Automobiles Motel [RA]

Harvard:

Hebron: Basketball Water Tower

Highland Park:

Hillside: Al Capone’s Grave [RA]

Homewood: Largest Collection of Richard Haas Murals [RA]

Joliet:

Justice:

Resurrection Cemetery
- 20-Foot-Tall Pope [RA] – Pope John Paul II, 20 feet tall in bronze atop a seven-foot-tall black granite pedestal. The Pope alone weighs four tons. The statue took three years to make and was unveiled in May 2016.
- World’s Largest Stained Glass Window [RA] – in a mausoleum

Lemont: Touch A Piece Of The First Nuclear Reactor [RA]

Libertyville: Muffler Man and Bessie the Cow [RA]

Lincolnshire: Par-King Miniature Golf [RA]

Lincolnwood: Novelty Golf and Bunny Hutch [RA]

Lockport:

Lombard: Weber Grill Restaurant – Giant Grill [RA]

Lyons: Explorers Marquette and Joliet in Steel [RA]

Malta: Mighty Mouse and Elephant [RA]

Marengo: Big Ice Cream Cone [RA]

Melrose Park: Kiddieland Amusement Park Sign [RA]

Midlothian: Most Haunted U.S. Cemetery? [RA]

Mokena: Huge Black and White Cow [RA]

Naperville:

Niles:

Leaning Tower of Niles [RA]
Booby’s Sign [RA]

Niles: Sit with Lincoln on a Couch [RA]

North Aurora: Store Filled with Oddities [RA]

North Riverside: Caledonia Senior Living and Memory Care, Uncle Pete The Scotsman [RA] – Statue of a kilted Scotsman in traditional regalia. If you push the button, you’ll hear a bagpipe playing “The Craigielee March.” Also on the premises is the Scottish-American Museum and Hall of Fame, the world’s only Scottish-American Museum.

Oak Brook: Headless Mammoth, Giant Bird Nest [RA]

Oak Forest: King Tin Man [RA]

Oak Lawn: Big Chief: World’s Largest Cigar Store Indian [RA]

Palatine:

Miniature Golf in a Funeral Home [RA]
Spine Carved From Dead Tree [RA]

Park Forest:

River Grove: Hala-Kahiki Tiki Bar [RA]

Riverdale: Light Bulb Water Tower [RA]

Rolling Meadows: Puppet Opera in Focus [RA]

Roselle: Pharmacy Museum in a Drug Store [RA]

Salem: Pollard’s Collection [RA]

Sandwich:

Schaumburg:

Medieval Times [RA]
Half-Buried Giant Woman [RA]

South Barrington: Pumpkin on Silo, Seasonal Hungry Dinosaur [RA]

South Elgin: Fox River Trolley Museum [RA]

St. Charles:

Stone Park: Tiny Vatican [RA]

Streamwood: Car Wash Extruding VW Beetle [RA]

Sycamore: Statue of Mr. Pumpkin [RA]

Union:

Illinois Railway Museum: Largest in North America [RA]
Donley’s Wild West Town [RA]

University Park: Exhausted Paul Bunyan [RA]

Villa Park: Animals of Safari Land [RA]

Wadsworth: Golden Pyramid House [RA]

Waukegan:

Ray Bradbury Rides a Rocket [RA]
Big Onan Man with Garage [RA]

Wheeling: SuperDawg II with Extra-Large SuperDawgs [RA]

Willowbrook: Del Rhea’s Chicken Basket [RA]

Wilmette: Bahai House of Worship [RA]

Wilmington: Gemini Giant: Space Age Muffler Man [RA]

Winnetka: Home Alone House [RA]

Woodridge: Blues Brothers And Bluesmobile [RA]

Woodstock:

Groundhog Day Movie Town [RA]
Groundhog Day B&B [RA]
Groundhog Day Puddle Plaque [RA]
Orson Welles and Dick Tracy Tributes [RA]
Shoe Tree [RA]

Zion: Russell Military Museum [RA]

Route 66

Atlanta:

The Bunyon Giant, Hot Dog Muffler Man [RA]
Palm’s Grille Cafe – Route 66 [RA] – The original Palm Grille Cafe opened in 1934, closed in the late 1960s, and was revived in the recent Route 66 boom to expose new generations to the virtues of bologna and SPAM road food.

Auburn: Brick 66 [RA] – The stretch of highway was part of the Mother Road from 1926 to 1930. But the brick wasn’t added to the roadbed until a year later — after Route 66 had been routed to the less-trafficked east side of Springfield.

Broadwell: Pig Hip Restaurant Memorial Rock [RA] – roadside and homemade signs to a restaurant that closed in 1990, and burnt down in 2007.

Dwight: Restored 1930s Texaco Gas Station [RA] – Built in 1933, this filling station pumped until 1999 and was the longest operating station along Route 66. Restoration (without services) to its 1940-ish style was completed in 2007. Now it’s the Dwight Visitor Center.

Lincoln

The Mill: Route 66 Museum [RA] – Windmill restaurant first opened on July 25, 1929. Reopened as museum on April 29, 2017. Relics include hand-built robots from a local gas station, and the human leg prop that was a favorite of the Mill’s long-time customers. Or just admire the stubby windmill from outside.
Old Neon: Tropics Dining Room [RA] – Classic Route 66 neon glowed from 1956 to 2004. After a decade of darkness it was taken down, restored, then returned and re-lit in 2018. Establishment no longer exists.

Granite City: Old Chain of Rocks Route 66 Bridge [RA]

McCook: Vegas Sign: Fabulous McCook [RA] – Flashy Las Vegas-style entrance sign greets Route 66 travelers: “Welcome to Fabulous McCook, Illinois.”

Pontiac:

Illinois Route 66 Hall of Fame and Museum [RA]
Burma Shave Signs [RA]

Romeoville: Wacky Old Route 66 Restaurant [RA]

Staunton: Henry’s Ra66it Ranch [RA] – With its front yard on Route 66, Henry’s Ra66it Ranch hops over countless other self-referential Mother Road attractions with its population of about 20 live bunnies. The back has the ends of a half-dozen Volkswagen Rabbits jut from the ground, a tribute to Cadillac Ranch further west on Route 66.

Wilmington, The Gemini Giant