This route highlights a series of historic towns in Western Illinois, departing from Springfield and moving north, crossing the Illinois River and then heading west to the Mississippi River. We use the acronym TGWIE for the route and pronounce it “twiggy” for ease of reference.

TGWIE includes sites pertaining to American Indian tribes that first occupied this land, and then the nineteenth century pioneers who settled the prairie – in the process of which dispossessing the Indigenous people. The route includes the Mormons as American pioneers. Along the way there are famous people, such as the ubiquitous Abraham Lincoln and the great Carl Sandburg, as well as lesser known historical figures deserving of widespread recognition such as Macomb’s Lizzie Magie. The route encompasses local venues of major events in American history, such as the War of 1812. Indeed, four (Fulton, Knox, McDonough, Hancock) of the six counties encompassed in this route were part of the Military Tract, a land of opportunity for former soldiers. Ironically, these same four counties became part of “Forgottonia“, when, in the 1970s, citizens of sixteen western Illinois counties were so aggrieved with Springfield and Washington D.C. for the lack of investment in the region that they proposed to secede. Timewise the route continues into the twentieth century.

Illinois Humanities has produced an outstanding one-hour video covering early settlement to the present day in part of the TGWIE area: CLICK HERE.

The key towns we promote in the TGWIE route are:

Petersburg: CLICK HERE 
Lincoln’s New Salem:  CLICK HERE
Havana:  CLICK HERE
Jacksonville:
Lewistown:  CLICK HERE
Canton:  CLICK HERE
Galesburg:  CLICK HERE
Macomb:  CLICK HERE
Colchester: CLICK HERE
Carthage:  CLICK HERE
Nauvoo (Mormon period): CLICK HERE
Nauvoo (after the Mormons):  CLICK HERE
New Philadelphia:
Warsaw:  CLICK HERE
Winchester: CLICK HERE