Historic National Road - Illinois
Illinois National Road Museum Tour
| Departure: | Lincoln School Museum, Illinois |
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| Destination: | Collinsville Historical Museum, Illinois |
| Time to allow: | 1 day |
This tour takes the traveler through some of the museums located on the National Road in Illinois. The tour begins in Martinsville and goes to Collinsville (east of St. Louis).
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Start: Lincoln School Museum
This quality museum was originally built in 1888, the school is open to groups for an interpretation of early pioneer days.
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Stop 1: Franciscan Monastery Museum
Directions from previous place: Go south on Pleasant View and turn right onto E. Ohio St. Take another right onto N. York St. and go 1 mile. When you come to US 40 turn left onto it and start going southwest. Follow US 40 for 35 miles until you get into Teutopolis. Then turn left onto Garrett St. Follow this road until you see the Monastery.
Distance from Previous Site: 38 miles / 60.8 km Travel Time from Previous Site: 43 minutes Suggested Time at This Site: 40 minutes Dating back to 1858, this historic monastery has a wonderful museum that displays artifacts from early settlers as well as the Franciscan Fathers. Visitors can view pioneer items such as toys and kitchen utensils, and religious items such as Bibles and vestments. There also antique legal documents on display such as marriage licenses.
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Stop 2: My Garage Corvette Museum
Directions from previous place: Go north on S. Pearl St and turn left onto US 40. Follow US 40 for 4.5 miles. Stay straight to go onto W. Fayette Ave. and make a U-turn to get to the museum on the other side of the road.
Distance from Previous Site: 5.96 miles / 9.5 km Travel Time from Previous Site: 13 minutes Suggested Time at This Site: 35 minutes This museum is a must for automobile lovers. On display are vintage Corvettes from the 50s and 60s, a perfect museum for the National Road.
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End: Collinsville Historical Museum
Directions from previous place: Go east on W. Fayette Ave. and turn right onto US 40. Follow US 40 for 68.16 miles. Merge onto I 55 and take it southwest until you can turn left and go south on IL 159. After 2.6 miles turn right and go onto E. Clay St. Follow it to N. Guernsey St. and then turn left onto W. Main St. Follow W. Main St. until you see the museum.
Distance from Previous Site: 91.23 miles / 146.0 km Travel Time from Previous Site: 2 hours 14 minutes This museum offers the visitor a unique glance into lives of the region's residents, all the way back to John Cook, the first settler in 1810. Many interesting artifacts are on display, including a variety of Civil War objects and miners tools.
