Decatur Travel Information
Decatur, population 81,860, was founded in 1829 and grew rapidly in
the 1850s when the railroad came to town. Decatur was home for a time
to Lincoln and the Chicago Bears predecessors, the Staleys. The city
has a manufacturing- and agriculture-based economy. Leading soybean
and corn processing companies are headquartered here. A central
location within the state makes Decatur a popular stopping point for
travelers and site for conventions and meetings. Scovill Park
holds many of the city’s main attractions including the zoo and the
Children’s Museum of Illinois, where hands-on exhibits are the main
event. A large outdoor playground, Project Playground, and the
Japanese-style Scovill Oriental Gardens round out the
mix. Decatur host several large festivals and events throughout
the year. The largest event, the Farm Progress Show, comes to town
every other year. This agriculture tradeshow draws more than 250,000
visitors to the area. Decatur Celebration, a yearly event each August,
is a 3-day family street fair with music, food and games along 22
blocks of the downtown historic district. For outdoor adventure,
Rock Springs Center for Environmental Discovery offers more than 1,000
acres of interactive environmental exhibits, hiking and biking trails,
and the 1860s Homestead Prairie Farm, a National Register of Historic
Places site. Decatur has a variety of city parks, there are four
public golf courses in the area and Lake Decatur provides boating and
fishing. Museums and historic homes preserve the town’s history.
The Macon County Museum Complex houses an 1830s courthouse with
Abraham Lincoln ties. The African-American Cultural Museum and
Genealogical Society of Illinois exhibits documents recording local
and national African-American history. In the city’s downtown historic
district, Millikin Homestead, the home of banker James Millikin is
listed on the National Register of Historic Places. On the university
campus bearing Millikin’s name, the Birks Museum features a collection
of more than 1,000 pieces of art glass, lamps and vases. Decatur
is located 38 miles east of Springfield and 46 miles south of
Bloomington. It is accessible via Interstate Highway 72, U.S. Highway
36 and 51 and State Highways 48, 105 and 121. There are several
national hotel chains in Decatur, locally owned hotels, and bed and
breakfasts.
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