Discover Jerseyville: History and Special Places

If you’re looking for a hotel for a trip to Jerseyville, local themes can give your stay a sense of direction. The area’s history ranges from historic vehicles and Indigenous artifacts to buildings with clearly dated stories. It also includes StoryWalk® at Wock Lake and the history of the Jersey County Fair.

Collections and Historic Buildings

The holdings at the museum and in the Flautt Addition include an 1880 racing sleigh, a 1909 Sears Motor Buggy, and a 1916 Ford Model T. The dates span 36 years, allowing the three vehicle examples to be compared over time. Their distinct names also offer concrete points of reference: the racing sleigh sits alongside two named motor vehicles, bringing together different types of vehicles and different periods in the collection.

The Flautt Addition also houses an extensive collection of Indigenous artifacts. In addition, a mammoth bone and a mammoth tooth were found near Otterville in Jersey County. The find location and the collection location are distinct: the remains came from the area around Otterville, while they belong to the collection at the museum in Jerseyville. This part of the area’s history thus connects Indigenous artifacts with a mammoth find from a specific location, without attributing both to the same origin story.

Cheney Mansion dates to 1827. Its middle section was the first structure built in Jerseyville and was called the Little Red House. In addition to its building history, the operator offers private paranormal investigations and directs interested visitors to its calendar. The historic building and the activity on offer are therefore two distinct ways to engage with the mansion.

For Fulkerson Mansion, 1998 marks its listing on the National Register of Historic Places. This is a different kind of historical date from the one associated with Cheney Mansion: Cheney Mansion is dated to 1827, while 1998 marks Fulkerson Mansion’s listing on the register. This distinction helps separate building history from later historical recognition.

More Topics for Planning Your Trip

StoryWalk® consists of permanently installed stations around Wock Lake in Jerseyville. The pages of a children’s picture book are spread along the path, and the experience is free. Unlike the collections brought together in the museum, the book’s pages are arranged across multiple stations. The children’s book theme gives this installation its own point of reference.

The nondenominational Union Forest Church was officially dedicated in December 1920. It can also serve as a venue for small, intimate weddings. The church thus combines a clearly dated historical connection with a possible use that is expressly limited to small, intimate celebrations.

The Jersey County Fair was founded in 1868; the first fair took place later that same October. This sequence identifies two distinct steps in its early history: first the founding, then the first event.

Jersey County as a whole also offers a historical point of reference: Lone Star School was built in 1877 in the western part of the county, near the intersection of Route 16 and Route 100. It was one of the examples of one-room schools that once shaped the Jersey County landscape. This regional perspective expands the area’s history to include a historic type of school and a specific location in the county.

Discover more destinations: Elsah, Grafton

Go to the main travel overview: Jersey County.