The contrast between the quiet rural hinterlands and the buzzing urban center could hardly be greater. That said, Illinois does hold a few places to head for, though, apart from a couple of mildly exciting college towns, most are of historic rather than current interest. First explored and settled by the French, in 1763 the area that's now Illinois was sold to the English. Granted statehood in 1818, Illinois remained a distant frontier until the mid-1830s when, after a series of uprisings, the native Sauk were subjugated and settlers began to arrive in sizable numbers. Among these were the first followers of Joseph Smith, founder of the Mormon Church, who established a large colony along the Mississippi at Nauvoo. The Mormons met with suspicion and persecution and, after Smith was murdered by a lynch mob in 1844, fled west to Utah.
Other early immigrants included the young Abraham Lincoln , who practiced law from 1837 onward in Springfield , the state capital and home of a wide range of Lincolniana, including his restored home, his law offices and vari ous other period buildings and artifacts, as well as his monumental tomb. Indeed, Illinois' self-proclaimed nickname - emblazoned on its car license plates - is "Land of Lincoln," and many other central Illinois towns claim important roles in the making of the sixteenth US president.
Illinois city guides
| Chicago | Springfield |
| Galena |
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