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Calhoun
County, Illinois
 Bald
eagles can be seen in abundance in teensy Calhoun County –
sometimes referred to as The Kingdom of Calhoun – located in
southwestern Illinois, with its southernmost tip situated at
the Mississippi River and the Illinois River. The county is 37
miles long and 7 miles wide at its widest point, and is
basically a long peninsula between the rivers. Four ferries
and the Joe Page Bridge take people back and forth, from state
to state.
Calhoun County was named after John Caldwell Calhoun, who
served as vice president under both John Quincy Adams and
Andrew Jackson, and secretary of state under President John
Tyler. The county was established in 1825, seven years after
Illinois became a state. Prior to becoming a county, the area
that’s now Calhoun County was part of the Military Tract.
These were bounty lands given to War of 1812 veterans.
Calhoun County has only five incorporated towns, and Hardin,
its largest, is the county seat. Though only 1,100 people live
in Hardin, there is a surprising amount of things to do and
see there. Nature lovers will appreciate the Two Rivers
Wildlife Refuge, which offers 8,500 acres of protection to
endangered and threatened species (such as bald eagles); the
24,000-acre Mississippi River State Fish & Wildlife Area;
and the McCully Heritage Project, a 940-acre outdoor classroom
for students and teachers, and 12 miles of hiking trails.
History lovers should visit the Center for American Archeology
in Kampsville, which features excavations of early American
Indian habitation sites. Formed in 1953, the CAA exists to
uncover the story behind 10,000 years of human occupation and
thousands of recorded archaeological sites in the area
surrounding the confluence of the Mississippi and Illinois
rivers, often referred to as the “Nile of North America.”
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