Illinois Travel Guide 2008 - (Page 202) TAKE A MAGICAL HISTORY TOUR Southwest Illinois is steeped in heritage. At the Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center in Hartford, learn about the explorers’ history making journey that began in Illinois. Walk among the remains of an ancient Mississippian Indian city at Cahokia Mounds in Collinsville. Illinois’ French Colonial history is carefully preserved at sites such as the Cahokia Courthouse and Fort de Chartres in Prairie du Rocher. Visit Maeystown, a former 1800s German settlement that still maintains its original stone buildings. At the National Great Rivers Museum in Alton, get a historical perspective on the Mighty Mississippi River. The Southwest region is also noted for its great outdoors, including Grafton’s Pere Marquette State Park, the largest state park in Illinois, known as a great place for winter eagle watching. Quirky Southwest sites include tributes to Popeye in Chester, the World’s Largest Catsup Bottle in Collinsville and the statue of Robert Wadlow, the world’s tallest man, in Alton. MARGARET DOYLE OUTHWEST National Great Rivers Museum
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