Jefferson: Nature, Art, and History

When searching for a hotel in Jefferson, you can first consider which themes you want to shape your stay. Nature and water activities offer a different focus from art, sculptures, and local history. The following places and landscapes provide different ways to explore these themes.

Rend Lake: Landscape and Water Activities

Wayne Fitzgerrell State Recreation Area overlooks the 19,000-acre Rend Lake reservoir. Three-quarters of the recreation area’s perimeter borders the shoreline. Rend Lake State Fish and Wildlife Area offers another perspective on the landscape: about 5,000 acres there are managed as a waterfowl refuge. The acreage figures refer to different features—the reservoir and the managed refuge—and thus describe different aspects of the nature theme.

Rend Lake has more than 21 miles of paved multi-use trails for hiking and biking. There are also six water trails accessible via boat ramps. Two public swimming areas, South Sandusky Beach and North Marcum Beach, are open from sunrise to sunset. Check current recreation information before your trip, especially if trails, water trails, or swimming areas are important to your plans.

Wayne Fitzgerrell State Recreation Area also has 243 campsites with electrical hookups and sanitary facilities. Since this is current information about park facilities, it is advisable to check before arriving. This also provides a practical way to consider the nature theme without equating camping options with hotels.

Art and Local History

Cedarhurst Center for the Arts in Mount Vernon has a significant collection of American paintings from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The center includes the 80-acre Goldman-Kuenz Sculpture Park. Admission to the sculpture park is free; some events at Cedarhurst Center for the Arts are excluded. The collection and the outdoor art offer different ways to explore the theme of art.

Jefferson County Historical Village includes a jail building known as a calaboose, dating to around 1820. The museum and buildings reflect life since the early days of Jefferson County. The calaboose provides a tangible historical point of reference, while the other buildings and the museum offer a broader view of local history.

Several other places each have their own focus. Jefferson County Hall of Honor at Mount Vernon Airport honors local military personnel and veterans who served the community and the country in wartime and peacetime. Colonel R.D. White Veterans Museum houses hundreds of military-history artifacts from all major conflicts. Their focuses differ: one honors the service of local people, while the other presents objects from military history.

The Appellate Courthouse in Mount Vernon was built in 1857 as the southern division of the Illinois Supreme Court. In 1859, Abraham Lincoln successfully argued a tax case there. These two dates mark different chapters in the building’s history: its construction and the later court case. Also in downtown Mount Vernon is the restored Granada Theatre, an Art Deco landmark from the 1930s.

Planning Guidance

Aquatic Zoo Water Park is immediately east of Interstate 57 Exit 94. This specific location can help with map orientation; by itself, it says nothing about opening hours or current availability. Overall, the interests described here range from landscapes and water activities to art and different forms of regional history.

Discover more destinations: Mount Vernon, Union County, Jersey County, Wayne County, Livingston County, Boone County, De Witt, Morgan.

For the broader travel overview: Illinois.