October. The Homestead Prairie Farm is located at Rock Springs Nature Center, 3939 Nearing Lane in Decatur, 217- 423-7708. Free tours are offered June-October from 1 p.m.-4 p.m. Sat. and Sun. Special tours and programs may be scheduled by appointment at other times for students or various groups. Go to www.maconcountyconservation.org/historic.php.
the Ogelsby family. In 1880, Ulysses S. Grant stopped to see the governor. Governor Ogelsby’s Mansion is open on the first Sunday of the month from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. except for the months of December -February. The mansion is located at 421 W. William Street, Decatur, Ill. To schedule a tour, call 217-492-9422. Admission is $2. More information can be found at www.maconcountyconservation.org/historic.php.
Governor Oglesby Mansion Also operated by the Macon County Hieronymous Mueller Museum Historical Society, Gov. Richard J. For something truly different, stop in Oglesby, who was a friend and political the Hieronymous Mueller Museum in ally of Honest Abe, lived in this historic Decatur. It holds examples of the more mansion he built in 1874. Elected gov- than 500 patented inventions Mueller ernor three times, he was also a created. He was known as a pioneer in United States Senator and made a the development of the automobile small fortune In the California gold and he and his family invented the rush. He served in the military fighting water-cooled radiator, the spark plug in both the Mexican War and Civil War, and variable speed transmission, ending his military career as a gen- along with plumbing and gas equiperal. The Italianate style of the man ment. The family also invented plumbsion is accented by period furnishings ing and gas equipment.
with several items actually owned by
Open Thursday-Saturday from 1 p.m. until 4 p.m. Admission is $2 for adults and $1 for children. The museum is located at 420 W. Eldorado, Decatur, Ill. Call 217-423-6161 for details.
J.H. Hawes Grain Museum
Built in 1903, the state’s only wooden grain elevator operated until 1976. It was purchased by the city of Atlanta in 1988 and restored in 1993. A museum inside the elevator demonstrates the unique systems used to empty horsedrawn wagons and later unload grain trucks. The museum also includes a brick engine house and a wooden scale house/office. The elevator is open for public tours 1-3 p.m. each Sun., June-August. Admission is free, but donations are accepted. School groups can arrange tours by calling 217-648-5077.
The J.H. Hawes Grain Elevator Museum is located at 301 S.W. Second St. in Atlanta. Call 217-648- 2056 or 217-648-5077 or go to
www.haweselevator.org/museum_in fo_visit.html.
Southwestern Farm and Home Museum John Stampe, a retired farmer, built a living memorial to farmers in Shipman, 70 miles south and west of Springfield.
Inside his museum are items depicting farming in the past and giving visitors insight into rural life. Antiques on display include a grinding stone, reaper, wagon, horse drill, bobsled and household items. Although Stampe is gone, niece Carol Barnett and her husband, Wayne Barnett, and other volunteers continue to operate the museum and a nearby one-room schoolhouse.
The highlight of the site’s year is the Labor Day Weekend Fall Festival and Quilt Show. The Southwestern Farm Museum is located at Shipman Community Park, Route 16 and Park Street, in Shipman. Open April-Nov. 1-4 p.m. Fri.-Sun. Admission: $2 per adult and $1 per child.