Honest Abe, Adlai I, and Historic Metamora, IL

As a young lawyer, Abraham Lincoln traveled the Illinois' famed 8th Judicial Circuit -- heading from town to town, representing his clients in now-historic courthouses across central Illinois.

One of the towns on the 8th Circuit was Metamora, located in Woodford County a short drive from the city of Peoria.

On a recent trip through central Illinois, after stopping by the Reagan Museum at Eureka College, we headed north for about 15 minutes to visit Metamora.

On the way into Metamora, on Route 23, there is actually a small Lincoln plaque on the side of the road that servers as a reminder that Lincoln once traveled the same route during his 8th Circuit Days.

The small downtown area borders the Village Park on the Square. Across from that park is the historic Metamora Courthouse, which is on the National Register of Historic Places. Unfortunately, the courthouse was undergoing renovation and we were unable to go inside.

Across from the courthouse, in the Village Park, is a statue of Honest Abe with his wife, Mary Todd. Here's a photo of the statue with the courthouse in the background.

Metamora is also home to the former home of Adlai E. Stevenson I, who served as Vice President of the United States from 1893-1897. As you can see from this plaque, Stevenson and his wife moved into this house shortly after their marriage, and he practiced law in the Metamora Courthouse. If you recall, we previously visited Stevenson's grave in our post about Bloomington's Evergreen Cemetery.

Metamora was a quick stop, but chock full of history. I hope to visit again once the courthouse renovation is complete and grab some photos of the interior.

In the meantime, the slideshow below contains all my pics from our brief Metamora visit:

Historic Route 66: Chenoa, IL

Our next stop along Route 66 was the small town of Chenoa. We've included some pics here of our quick stop.

Chenoa is home to the state historic site home of Matthew T. Scott -- the de facto founder of the town.

Scott was a local "agriculturist" and real estate developer. He was born in Kentucky and spent some time in Ohio before coming to central Illinois to develop farmland. As part of that effort, he created the town of Chenoa, which was officially founded in 1854.

A little later in his career, he also founded the McLean County Coal Company, in partnership with Adlai Stevenson I, whose grave we visited in this post.

According to Wikipedia, "the area surrounding Chenoa boasts some of the richest soil in the world," rivaled only be patches of farmland in Argentina, the Ukraine, and along the Yellow River in China."

The population of Chenoa was 1,851 in 2009, and the town is currently home to antique dealers and a handful of small manufacturers.

Historic Route 66: Bloomington, IL (Part I: Evergreen Cemetery)

The next stop on my Route 66 sightseeing tour: Bloomington, IL.

I have to be honest, by the time I rolled into Bloomington, I was running way behind. There are many more great sites to visit here, and I just hit three "quickies".

First, I stopped at Evergreen Cemetery, which is "home" to the graves of Adlai Stevenson, former Congressman and Vice President under Grover Cleveland (1893-1897). His wife, Letitia Green Stevenson, is also buried at Evergreen.

His son, Adlai Stevenson II, is also buried here. The younger Stevenson served as the Governor of Illinois (1949-1953), Ambassador to the United Nations (1961-1965), and twice served as the Democratic nominee for the U.S. Presidency (1952 and 1956).

In addition to his various posts in government and politics, Stevenson is also remembered for his role in helping bring an end to the Cuban Missile Crisis. On October 25, 1963, he addressed a special session of the U.N. Security Council, forcefully confronting the Soviet Representative. As Wikipedia reports:

He forcefully asked the Soviet representative, Valerian Zorin, if his country was installing missiles in Cuba, punctuated with the famous demand "Don't wait for the translation, answer 'yes' or 'no'!" Following Zorin's refusal to answer the abrupt question, Stevenson retorted, "I am prepared to wait for my answer until Hell freezes over." In one of the most memorable moments in U.N. history, Stevenson then showed photographs that proved the existence of missiles in Cuba, just after the Soviet ambassador had implied they did not exist.

You can click here to read the full text of Stevenson's speech to the U.N. Security Council.

Tomorrow, I'll a recap of my next Bloomington stops: the David Davis Mansion and the Beer Nuts Factory (yes, I said the Beer Nuts Factory).