Interactive Map

Heritage Corridor Convention & Visitors Bureau, serving the I&M Canal communities including Starved Rock 

In 1839, early members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints—called “Mormons”—established this place of peace and beauty on a great bend in the Mississippi River.  Today, Nauvoo is one of America’s premier historic communities. Visitors can explore more than 30 historic sites from the 1839-1846 time period all year long!

The I&M Canal Visitor Center presently has visitor information for sites throughout the national heritage area to help you plan your trip. Our map table is especially of interest to many.  A story band and an 8 foot by 40 foot mural help tell the canal story.  

The Route 66 Association of Illinois Hall of Fame and Museum is the repository for thousands of pieces of historic memorabilia from the glory days of the Mother Road.

Come learn the history of Route 66 in Illinois, see images of the road's wonderful history, and hear a few great stories about life in America when Route 66 was the most important highway in the nation. 

Jacksonville, Illinois is a community rich in historical treasures, with thriving arts, education, and culture, and all wrapped in Midwest hospitality. Centrally located between St. Louis and Chicago, and near Springfield, Jacksonville offers an excellent place to live, work, and visit.

To the first time visitor, Jacksonville is full of the unexpected. From their Civil War and Abraham Lincoln connections, to the modern businesses of today, the area offers something for everyone. There is a small-town friendliness mixed with a vibrancy from a richness of natural sites, intellectual institutions, and businesses.

Visitor information is available at the Jacksonville Area Convention & Visitors Bureau at 310 East State Street in downtown Jacksonville. You can also call (217) 243-5678, or (800) 593-5678, if you have questions about planning your trip.

Explore Joseph & Emma Smith’s Nauvoo. Guided tours begin in the Visitor Center, and include the Homestead, Mansion House, Red Brick Store, and the Smith Family Cemetery.

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. 

In 1861, Abraham Lincoln left the only home he ever owned to serve as the 16th President of the United States.  The Lincoln Home is completely restored to its 1860 appearance and reveals much about Lincoln as a husband, father, neighbor and politician.  Tours of this national treasure are conducted by National Park Service Rangers.

Free tickets are required for house tours and may be obtained at the Lincoln Home Visitors Center – which also houses a scaled model of 1860 Springfield.

A variety of historic exhibits are located throughout the four-block neighborhood surrounding the Lincoln Home and can be viewed on a self-guided basis.

Lincoln Log Cabin State Historic Site, part of the Abraham Lincoln National Heritage Area, preserves the 19th-century home of Thomas Lincoln and Sarah Bush Lincoln, father and step-mother of our 16th president. Abraham Lincoln was a lawyer living in Springfield by the time his parents moved here, but his burgeoning law practice often brought him to Charleston and the farm, especially during the 1840s. Abraham Lincoln also owned a portion of the farm which he deeded back to his father and step-mother for their use during their lifetime.

Today Lincoln Log Cabin is an 86-acre historic site that is owned and operated by the State of Illinois, managed by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, Division of Historic Sites. The site includes an accurate reproduction of the Lincolns’ two-room cabin that was reconstructed on the original cabin site in 1935-1936 as a Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) project. The National Park Service oversaw the creation of Lincoln Log Cabin State Park with CCC labor. The CCC camp, Camp Shiloh, was located within the park’s boundaries and its enrollees were WWI veterans. Today the ten acres in the northwest corner of the park where Camp Shiloh was located is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

A working, living history farm has been developed around the cabin, and a second historic farmstead, that of Stephen and Nancy Sargent, has been moved to the site to help broaden visitors’ understanding both of life in the 19th century and Lincoln’s legal practice in the community. The site also includes the Moore Home, where Lincoln bid farewell to his family in 1861 before leaving to assume the Presidency, and the gravesites of Thomas and Sarah Lincoln at the Thomas Lincoln Cemetery.

The Logan County Tourism Bureau/Visitor Center is uniquely positioned in Downtown Lincoln, at the Historic Train Depot. The Depot was built in 1911 by the Chicago and Alton Railroad. Back in the mid-late 19th Century the City of Lincoln was a hub for the train. This depot replaced the original one that was built in 1853. It acted as a train station until most of the building was closed to the public in 1972.

Today, when you visit the Bureau office and Visitor Center, you can learn about all that Logan County has to offer and see. Also on display in the Depot is a bronze statue of Abraham Lincoln christening the town with a watermelon in 1853, as well as replica lifecastings of his hands. Head outside on the South lawn, to the Lincoln Christening Site, where you can read more about Abraham Lincoln, his connection to the City of Lincoln, and this historic event for the City of Lincoln.