Tourism

The lake at Beaver Dam State Park became a well-known fishing spot in the early 1890s, when 18 men from the Carlinville area formed a Beaver Dam Lake Club. They…

The Weise Family painted the American flag on the side of their barn as a memorial to 9/11.

The residential area once called the “Silk Stocking District” is two blocks east of the Square. East Main Street was the home of Carlinville’s wealthy professional class: merchants, bankers, doctors,…

Construction of the third and present Macoupin County Courthouse began in 1867 with a budget of at most $175,000. By the time construction was halted in 1870, the project had…

Built in 1869 and used for 119 years, this jail is one of the few cannonball jails. While constructing the walls, each end of the stones was carved out to…

This large stone commemorates the site where Abraham Lincoln delivered a speech on August 31, 1858, while campaigning for U.S. Senate against Stephen A. Douglas. He lost that election but…

The Loomis House, the most significant building on the Square, was built by Judge Thaddeus Loomis, one of four commissioners in charge of creating the Macoupin County “Million Dollar Courthouse”…

Carlinville’s historic town square has been on the National Register of Historic Places in Illinois since 1976. Over 20 buildings with cast iron and galvanized steel decorations on the storefronts…

The cement planters around the Square are being painted by Carlinville’s Walldog artists, Bernie Gietl and D.L. Whitlock-Gietl. The subject matter is authentic advertisements printed in the Carlinville newspaper from…

The Carlinville mural was inspired by vintage postcards highlighting the town’s attractions. The mural was painted by Carlinville citizens Bernie Gietl and D.L. Whitlock-Gietl and incorporates components of the Carlinville…