I'm sad that I was here on a Sunday afternoon and did not have a chance to properly tour the…read moreinterior of this beautiful home. It's clear that this is a leftover from better days in Cairo, a city that has fallen into deep disrepair like a shopping mall with no tenants. The outside is stunning with well kept grounds including the small gazebo and the brick paths. Even if it's closed for the day, it's still well worth a good walk around. [Review 1242 of 2024 - 197 in Illinois - 22265 overall]

I saw this place on the map and was looking for something to do it was awesome. The tour guide is…read moreso sweet and knowledgeable. He really cares about his job. There's so much to see there. If you have a chance and you like old homes this is a must see. The $8 fee is well worth the money. They were just taking down there Christmas decorations but the place was still impressive. If you can give a call before you go in case he's out that would be great because you don't wanna miss this house.

Not far from the bridges that cross the rivers mentioned in the marker, this points out some of the…read moreearliest explorations of the area. There is plenty of space to pull over to read the marker and there's a BBQ place nearby. The marker reads, "ccompanied by Pere Jaques Marquette, the Sieur Louis Joliet. Commissioned by the French government at Quebec to explore the Mississippi River. Stopped on this bank in 1673. According to the "Jesuit Relations" by Thevenot. They were feasted by the Indians on buffalo meat, bear's grease and white plums." There is no number but it was erected in 1940 by The National Society of the Colonial Dames of America. [Review 286 of 2025 - 301 in Kentucky - 23849 overall]

After enjoying two beers at nearby Many Good Things Brewing, I walked a bit along the riverside. No…read morebarges passing this time but it was still an amazing view that goes north around the bend and south to see the beautiful Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge. Some seating here and a few captions, don't miss the "high water" marks on the floodwall. Holy smokes! [Review 1252 of 2024 - 354 in Missouri - 22275 overall]

Crossing the Ohio River between Wickliffe Kentucky and Cairo Illinois, the Cairo Ohio River Bridge…read morecarries US Route 51, US Route 60 and US Route 62. It was completed in 1938 and updated/refurbished in 1979. One lane in each direction, it has a total length of 6863 feet and is a "cantilever bridge." Note that this is the Cairo Ohio River Bridge. There is a separate Cairo Mississippi River Bridge which obviously crosses the Mississippi River. There is no toll to cross the bridge. There is no pedestrian or bicycle lane. [Review 1240 of 2024 - 271 in Kentucky - 22263 overall]

Used to be a toll bridge, now it isn't! 5-stars just for that!! plus the bridge and scenery and…read morehistory and another toll-free bridge!! this is probably the best mile of driving in Illinois :-) The Cairo bridge is your last (first?) chance to cross the Ohio River. This 5865-foot cantilevered warren through truss is low slung with just 60 feet of clearance. Please be aware that the bridge was erected without regard for or understanding of the New Madrid fault zone running through the countryside so expect a newer, fancier, and much less interesting bridge sooner rather than later. As hard as it is to believe tollway-to-freeway conversions were regular occurrences throughout northern america prior to the turn of the century but this is Illinois, the Prairie State, where no palm has ever been left ungreased this sort of thing just doesn't happen here! and don't expect this to ever happen again, anytime, ever. Perpetual payments are now well established; the excuses are as numerable as they are specious but the sad truth is that once a revenue stream has been established it will only disappear when it is absorbed by a much larger and more wasteful one - picture swine and a trough and you get the idea (my apologies to the farm animals.)

This site is a hop skip and a jump away from Wickliffe Mounds if you are passing through Paducah,…read moreKY. Cross the bridge into Illinois and take a brief excursion through river flood plain to see this site. It is quite impressive even if you are observing the mounds (respectfully) from a distance. I was moved by these features. To think what people accomplished at this site nearly a thousand years ago. Absolutely astonishing to behold. The size of these mounds is amazing.

To be honest, there really isn't that much to see. Unless you are an Ancient World History…read moreenthusiast, you may find this fascinating. It is very interesting that at one point in the past, this was an actual city. The land where the site stands today was once a major trading post on the Ohio River. If you're looking for something spectacular in sight, this probably won't be for you. There are signs and plaques that tell the story, as well as showing what was believed to have existed at the time, but not very much else. The public is not allowed near or on the mounds. Speaking of which, they really weren't that attractive as they looked like their grass hasn't been cut in years. Maybe it is intentional, for all I know. The site is very tricky to get to. The best way to get there is from Brookport, Illinois. You'll see a sign for Kincaid Mounds as you're going onto Unionville Road. It is probably ten miles from the town. Once you pass the small village of Unionville, you'll know you are getting close and follow the signs. The roads are uneven, as there are no paved roads (just dirt and rocky roads) getting to the mounds.

" Loved This Old School Site "…read more Being in Education for 35 years I really enjoyed walking through the Historic Higgerson School in New Madrid, MO. The school was restored to the one-room school that operated at Higgerson Landing in 1948. The Higgerson School is a window to the educational practices that shaped and served rural America from the early 19th century. Nice School !

Under renovation but always a nice place for a little side trip…read more Great history lessons when staff on site

Sept 2015, Tony, Noel and I along with our doggie Sammi, went to several State Parks in Missouri…read moreand we stopped at Bollinger Mill State Historic Site to check out the old grist mill and the Burfordville Covered Bridge. The park is FREE to enjoy. The parking lot is full of trees and gravel and makes for a nice shaded area. There are picnic tables and NO grills but you can bring a picnic basket with food in it. We walked around the grist mill and the Covered bridge. It is a very lovely park and easy to find once you put in the GPS information. History of the Bollinger Grist Mill. The Bollinger Mill State Historic Site is a state-owned property preserving a mill and covered bridge that pre-date the American Civil War in Burfordville, Cape Girardeau County, Missouri. The park was established in 1967 and offers mill tours and picnicking. It is managed by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources Mill History: In 1797, George Frederick Bollinger received a land grant from the Spanish Government and moved with several other families from North Carolina to what is now Burfordville, Missouri.[4] In 1800, Bollinger began building a log dam and mill on the Whitewater River. In 1825, Bollinger rebuilt the mill and dam using limestone. After Bollinger's death in 1842, his daughter Sarah Daugherty and her sons continued to operate the mill until the Civil War, when the mill was burned by the Union army in order to prevent the supply of flour and meal to the Confederate army. Following the war, the mill site was sold to Solomon R. Burford. The current four-story brick mill was completed by Burford in 1867 and is built upon the limestone foundation of the 1825 building. Burford owned the mill until 1897, when the Cape County Milling Company took over operations and continued operating the mill until 1953 when the mill was sold to the Vandivort family, relatives of George Bollinger. The mill was donated to the Cape Girardeau County Historical Society in 1961 and to the State of Missouri in 1967.[3] Three years later, the mill was added to the National Register of Historic Places

What a great park! I will admit as a first time visitor the actual "Eiffel Tower" is...a bit…read moresmaller than I thought it would be. But it's still really cool and a cute addition to this town which has a lot of character. The park itself is great, very well maintained and clean. The trails are great--easy but scenic. There's a great pool as well as pickle ball courts and plenty of parking. Really everything you could want in a city park.

I absolutely love this park. It's a great place to just relax, or do some walking. I enjoy sitting…read morein the parking lot to eat any food I buy from around the area.

Most tunnels have just one function - they allow traffic to go under a mountain or hill as an…read morealternative to going over the mountain or cutting a big gap in it. Expensive to build and maintain. So to find this tunnel in Cairo that provides a dual function was special. Yes, it takes US-51 under the Canadian National Railroad line, the tunnel was also built to function as a flood control gate, protecting downtown Cairo from the Ohio River. It is a riveted steel plate floodgate that operates as a counterweighted structure that was originally designed to be lowered into place during floods. The flood gate was built by Stupp Brothers Bridge and Iron Company of St. Louis, Missouri. No longer used, it has been replaced by modular flood control gates that are stored off-site which would be inserted into a slot into the abutment of another nearby bridge in the event of a major flood today. Clever engineering. [Review 1244 of 2024 - 199 in Illinois - 22267 overall]

Driving past, the sign mentioned "Thebes Historic Courthouse" and it rang a loud bell in my mind…read morebut I could not remember why this courthouse was so important. And so I made the turn to check it out. Completed in 1848, the courthouse is in the Southern Greek Revival style and the view from the porch of the famous Thebes Bridge (reviewed separately) and the Mighty Mississippi River (also reviewed separately) is tremendous. Inside, this classic structure are two hundred years of history, artifacts, photographs and some very helpful and friendly ladies who are more than happy to talk. Abraham Lincoln visited the courthouse when he was a frontier lawyer. One of the more infamous Supreme Court cases began its journey here when fugitive slave Dred Scott was imprisoned in the courthouse dungeon. Yeah, that Dred Scott and the ruling from SCOTUS in 1857 was that the US Constitution did not extend American citizenship to people of black African descent. This was thankfully overturned by the Civil War and the Fourteenth Amendment. [Review 1247 of 2024 - 201 in Illinois - 22270 overall]

In Sept 2015, Noel, Tony and I started on a road trip with Sammi from Nashville TN to Skull, KS. On…read morethe way, we saw this sign for a Historical Courthouse overlooking the Mississippi River. So we had to stop. This courthouse is had something to do with the very important Dredd Scott trial. The courthouse was closed but I got some really great photos of the courthouse. It had a great location on the Mississippi River. There is nothing left of this important River Port Town..but I just wonder what it all looked like? Sitting high atop a bluff overlooking the Mississippi River in Thebes, Illinois is the 1848 Courthouse. Standing 165 years, it is a testament to architect Henry Ernst Barkhausen, who was awarded the contract for designing and supervising the erection of the Thebes Courthouse in 1845. This landmark was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972.