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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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