Saturday, August 17, 2024 Chris and I celebrated our 33rd wedding anniversary. We marked the occasion by going on a little adventure, it was a beautiful day, perfect for exploring new places and seeing new sights.
We started the day with some thrifting in Hannibal, where neither of us found any treasurers. From there we headed on the Carlinville, IL to do a some exploring. As is our usual mode, we took state highways and county blacktops as much as possible so we could really see and experience the area. To get to our planned destination we were on roads we had never been on or had been on once years age. We crossed the huge Joe Paige Bridge at Hardin, IL over the Illinois river. It was built in 1931 and rehabbed in 2003-2004. It is an amazing operational piece of history.
From the Joe Page Bridge website.
The Joe Page Bridge carries IL Route 100 and IL Route 16 over the Illinois River in Hardin, Illinois and is the southernmost crossing over the river. The next crossing is 10 miles to the north in Kampsville, but provides ferry service only depending on river conditions. The next closest bridges cross at Florence to the north and Alton to the south, both a distance of nearly 40 miles. This bridge serves Calhoun, Greene, and Jersey counties and in addition to Hardin, it serves the communities of Gilead, Batchtown, Meppen, Beechville, Nutwood, Fieldon, Rosedale, and Jerseyville.
The truss bridge includes a 311 foot long vertical lift and was originally built in 1931. The total structure length is 2,150 feet with a roadway width of 22 feet. While this structure has had periodic maintenance, the last major rehabilitation took place in 2004. This work included structural, electrical, and mechanical rehabilitation at a cost of $16 million.
In 2022 the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT), in cooperation with the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), began a study of the Joe Page Bridge. The study will look at options for the rehabilitation or removal and replacement of the existing bridge. The study will include environmental considerations, community impacts, and preliminary engineering. There will be multiple opportunities for public participation throughout this process.
We saw some of the most beautiful river bottom and river bluffs in this area. As we were passing through Carrolton, IL we stopped for a few minutes to enjoy their charming town square. The building that has been taken down to its bare bones offers a chance for so much hope and speculation of what might be going to take place there. It looked to us like they were planning to do something with the building and not just let it fall down…oh the possibilities. We were soon on the way to our planned destination, still enjoying the beautiful countryside.
We arrived in Carlinville and easily found the town square and the courthouse we were hoping to see. They have a very interesting town square, that does not have the Macoupin Co. courthouse in the center, it is a block away. The town square has a quaint little park with an adorable gazebo in the middle instead.
After exploring the square and checking out a very nice antique store we headed over to see the courthouse. It is a beautiful building situated on a lovely court lawn. Being as it was Saturday, we were unable to explore the inside, but we did admire the outside. We were able to tour the old Macoupin Co. Cannonball Jail. Which according to a sign in the jail and the website, has a cannonball in each joint of the rock building.
From the jail’s website.
E.E. Meyers, the same architect who designed the county’s courthouse, designed the historic Macoupin County Jail. Built as part of the Macoupin County Courthouse project in 1867, using the “cannon ball” method, which stopped jailbreaks by making it nearly impossible to remove the blocks to make an escape, this unique medieval inspired fortress housed many law-breakers during its 119 year history. The Macoupin County Jail is said to look more like a fortress than a small town jail. It’s Gothic Revival design features a scalloped parapet, which served as home to the sheriff and his family.
Completed in 1869, just a few years after the end of the Civil War, Meyers incorporated a unique design feature; each stone was hallowed out at the ends and surplus cannonballs were placed between the stones. The cell block’s ceiling, walls, and floors were constructed of one-inch iron plates with 20 inches of solid stone above and below. This made escape by removing sections of the stone wall a virtual impossibility.
The jail was originally designed to hold 17 prisoners but at times saw twice that many, and lacked any of the amenities found in modern facilities.
Since its retirement in 1988, the jail had been a popular tourist attraction.
After exploring the charming little town we had set out to see, it was time to head on down the road. Carlinville is on what once was Route 66, so we decided to follow Route 66 as much as possible to Edwardsville. We managed to follow it all the way there and arrived in time to have supper at our favorite chain fast food restaurant, Lions Choice. We always get the mini dipped ice cream cones after enjoying our roast beef sandwiches and fries. At this location, that we had never been to before, the manage choose to give us our cones for free. I know it was a small thing that she probably does often, but it was heartwarming that it happened on our anniversary.
We avoided major highways and interstates for as long as we could and followed as much of Route 66 as we could, but eventually we had to cross back into Missouri and get on the interstate. Since it was getting dark, we opted to take Highway 61 north instead of 79.
I know traveling the back roads and exploring the small towns that have been bypassed by the interstates or are far away from the major thoroughfares might not be everyone’s idea of the way to celebrate a special day, but for us it was perfect. We both really enjoy exploring new places and experiencing new things, and if we only went to large far away places, we might only get to have an adventure once a year or less. This way we can have adventures whenever we want, and learn more about the area around us and reinforce to ourselves every time that the fly over states are pretty awesome. The best part about what we do is that we can do it together and have a lot of fun in the process.
Back roads are the best for adventures.