7 Most Eccentric Towns In Illinois
As the sixth-most populous state, Illinois does not lack eccentrics. Since over half its population is within the Chicago area, you may think that its quirkiest residents are Chicagoans. Ditch your windbreaker for overalls and let a trip to the boonies disprove that notion. Stop at a giant rocking chair, gold-plated pyramid, revisionist Christian temple, and pink elephant antique mall and wonder at the minds behind those oddities and the towns that authorized their display. While we can't say definitively that those are the "most eccentric" towns in Illinois, they, and the others we will explore, leave little else to imagine in the realm of rural quirkiness.
Casey
If giants existed, Casey would be their home—or at least their department store. As part of a "Big Things in a Small Town" art installation, this 2,400ish-person city hosts dozens of gigantic items, including 12 that hold Guinness World Records. They range from a 56-foot rocking chair to a 30-foot golf tee to a 54-foot wind chime to a 60-foot pitchfork. After admiring items that are too big to use, you can gobble big pretzels at Tetzel Prime and get a big haircut at Tina’s Barber Shop, in front of which stands the 15ish-foot World's Largest Barbershop Pole. Ironically, you can also play miniature golf at Fire In The Hole Mini Golf.
Wadsworth
You've heard of the Great Pyramids of Giza, but what about the Great Pyramids of Wadsworth? In 1977, Jim Onan, a wealthy believer of "pyramid power," began Egyptifying his 11-acre estate in the small village of Wadsworth. He built a gold-plated five-story pyramid house, triple-pyramid garage, 50-foot-tall statue of King Ramesses II, 25-foot-deep moat, and even a life-sized replica of King Tut's tomb. Jim died in 2023 and we can only assume his body has been entombed in the Tut sarcophagus. Despite Jim's death, the property is open for tours and events like the Wounded Warrior Car Show and Global Pyramid Conference.
Exit Pharaoh Jim's Kingdom and you'll find a Land of Milk and Honey, AKA greater Wadsworth. Surrounding oases include the Waukegan Savanna Forest Preserve and the Van Patten Woods Forest Preserve. Wadsworth is worth its weight in gold.
Collinsville
Another small community with big attractions, Collinsville houses about 24,000 people and massive monuments to human ingenuity that could not be more dissimilar. On the west side of town stand the Cahokia Mounds: dozens of platform, ridgetop, and conical formations up to 100 feet tall and 1,300 years old preserving the "most sophisticated prehistoric native civilization north of Mexico." Protected as the Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site, the preserve spans more than 2,000 acres and features an interpretive center with a museum, gift shop, and life-sized village recreation.
On the east side of town stands the World's Largest Catsup Bottle, which is 170 feet tall and commemorates Collinsville's history as a bottler of Brooks Old Original Tangy Catsup. It answers the never before asked question: Do you want giant ketchup with your giant prehistoric mounds?
Metropolis
Unable to sever its connection to Superman, Metropolis leaned into it hard . . . as steel. The Man of Steel occupies a supersized version of Metropolis, so it makes sense that Metropolis contains a supersized version of the Man of Steel. Centering this 6,000ish-person city is a Superman statue standing 15 feet tall, weighing 4,000 pounds, and consisting of not steel but bronze. Other super-attractions in the "Home of Superman" are the Noel Neill as Lois Lane Statue, Super Museum, and Metropolis Superman Celebration, which runs each June and draws canonical actors like Brandon Routh and Kristin Kreuk. For those who think that Superman isn't very super, Metropolis offers non-cartoony attractions like the Hope Light Lighthouse and Fort Massac State Park.
Nauvoo
It's no Utah, but Illinois has many traces of the most eccentric Christian sect forged in America. The Latter-day Saints, AKA Mormons, marched through Illinois in the 1830s after being violently expelled from Missouri. They settled in a one-horse town, renamed it Nauvoo, and made it one of the largest cities in the state. However, as was the case with virtually everywhere they lived until Utah, Nauvoo grew hostile and was free of Mormons shortly after they arrived. LDS buildings remained, though, and, thanks to preservationists and Mormons who returned during peacetime, many still survive as museums, tourist attractions, and active places of worship. They include the Joseph Smith Homestead (c. 1839) and Joseph Smith Mansion House (c. 1843). The Nauvoo Temple, built in 2002, occupies the same site with the same architecture as the destroyed original temple.
Livingston
If you see pink elephants in Livingston, you're probably not hallucinating. Rather, you've likely stumbled upon the Pink Elephant Antique Mall, the trippiest sight—or collection of sights—between Livingston and St. Louis. Housed in the Old Livingston High School, Pink Elephant spans 30,000 square feet of strange trinkets, furniture, and food. And that's just inside. Outside of Pink Elephant are large fiberglass sculptures of everything from an ice cream cone to Donald Trump to an obligatory pink elephant. There's even a Futuro House, a neglected offspring of a Finnish-born fad of flying saucer-shaped homes. All those attractions line Historic Route 66, an infamous highway that, although under a different name, conjures the same mystery. That explains why Route 66 oddities like Pink Elephant are so popular.
Chester
Superman is not the only fictional character with their own Illinois community. A certain thick-forearmed, spinach-eating sailor man calls Chester home (at least symbolically) since his creator, E.C. Segar, was born and raised there. In commemoration, Chesterites raised statues of not just Popeye but Olive Oyl, Swee'Pea, Bluto, Wimpy, and many other characters as stops on the Popeye Character Trail. In addition to Popeye-related statues and trails, Chester boasts Popeye murals, a Popeye museum, a Popeye welcome sign, and an on-again, off-again Popeye festival/picnic. If you have an eye for things not related to Popeye, check out the beautiful Mississippi River and the Lewis & Clark National Historic Trail.
As far as eccentricity goes, da bears in Chicago have nothing on the big things in Casey, the pyramids in Wadsworth, the prehistoric mounds in Collinsville, the Supersites in Metropolis, the Mormon relics in Nauvoo, the pink elephants in Livingston, and the Popeye statues in Chester. Thus, while hunting for gems in Illinois, skip big cities with their trod-upon attractions and choose small towns with under-ogled oddities. Perhaps you'll find new ones along the way.
