Fort Daniel Conservation Area
Fort Daniel Conservation Area is a 200-acre (0.8 km²) park located 4 miles (6.5 km) east of Mount Zion, Illinois. The land preserve protects the site of a ghost town, ''Whistleville''. Today, the site centers on hiking and picknicking in the Big Creek watershed southeast of Decatur. Five marked trails comprise 4.5 miles (7.0 km) of hiking opportunities that cross and recross Big Creek. At the north end of the conservation area, a recreational complex includes a picnic shelter, playground, and fire ring. Tree watchers are encouraged to find and identify the sugar maples, chinquapin oaks, pawpaw, wafer ash, and Kentucky coffeetrees that grow in the conservation area. The conservation area is maintained by the Macon County Conservation District. In August 2022, a private-sector donor awarded a $2.9 million grant to the MCCD to enable a 236-acre land acquisition adjacent to the existing Area. The grant will roughly double the size of the Area. The neares ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Macon County, Illinois
Macon County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2010 United States Census, it had a population of 110,768. Its county seat is Decatur. Macon County comprises the Decatur, IL Metropolitan Statistical Area. History Macon County was formed on January 19, 1829, out of Shelby County. It was named for Nathaniel Macon, a Colonel in the Revolutionary War. Macon later served as senator from North Carolina until his resignation in 1828. In 1830, future US President Abraham Lincoln and his family moved to Macon County. File:Macon County Illinois 1829.png, Macon County (1829) File:Macon County Illinois 1839.png, Macon County (1829–1841) File:Macon County Illinois 1841.png, Macon County (1841–1843) File:Macon County Illinois 1843.png, Macon County (1843–present) Geography According to the US Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (0.9%) is water. Macon County is primarily flat, as is most of the state and all of ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Kentucky Coffeetree
The Kentucky coffeetree (''Gymnocladus dioicus''), also known as American coffee berry, Kentucky mahogany, nicker tree, and stump tree, is a tree in the subfamily Caesalpinioideae of the legume family Fabaceae, native to the Midwest, Upper South, Appalachia, and small pockets of New York in the United States and Ontario in Canada. The seed may be roasted and used as a substitute for coffee beans; however, unroasted pods and seeds are toxic. The wood from the tree is used by cabinetmakers and carpenters. It is also planted as a street tree. From 1976 to 1994, the Kentucky coffeetree was the state tree of Kentucky, after which the tulip poplar was returned to that designation. Description The tree varies from 18 to 21 meters (60–70 feet) high with a spread of 12–15 meters (40–50 feet) and a trunk up to one meter (3 feet) in diameter. The tree grows at a medium rate with height increases of anywhere from 12" to 24" per year. A 10-year-old sapling will stand ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ghost Towns In Illinois
A ghost is the soul or spirit of a dead person or animal that is believed to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to realistic, lifelike forms. The deliberate attempt to contact the spirit of a deceased person is known as necromancy, or in spiritism as a ''séance''. Other terms associated with it are apparition, haunt, phantom, poltergeist, shade, specter or spectre, spirit, spook, wraith, demon, and ghoul. The belief in the existence of an afterlife, as well as manifestations of the spirits of the dead, is widespread, dating back to animism or ancestor worship in pre-literate cultures. Certain religious practices—funeral rites, exorcisms, and some practices of spiritualism and ritual magic—are specifically designed to rest the spirits of the dead. Ghosts are generally described as solitary, human-like essences, though stories of ghostly armies and t ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states that had seceded. The central cause of the war was the dispute over whether slavery would be permitted to expand into the western territories, leading to more slave states, or be prevented from doing so, which was widely believed would place slavery on a course of ultimate extinction. Decades of political controversy over slavery were brought to a head by the victory in the 1860 U.S. presidential election of Abraham Lincoln, who opposed slavery's expansion into the west. An initial seven southern slave states responded to Lincoln's victory by seceding from the United States and, in 1861, forming the Confederacy. The Confederacy seized U.S. forts and other federal assets within their borders. Led by Confederate President Jefferson Davis, ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Southern United States
The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, or simply the South) is a geographic and cultural region of the United States of America. It is between the Atlantic Ocean and the Western United States, with the Midwestern and Northeastern United States to its north and the Gulf of Mexico and Mexico to its south. Historically, the South was defined as all states south of the 18th century Mason–Dixon line, the Ohio River, and 36°30′ parallel.The South . ''Britannica.com''. Retrieved June 5, 2021. Within the South are different subregions, such as the [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Central Illinois
Central Illinois is a region of the U.S. state of Illinois that consists of the entire central third of the state, divided from north to south. Also known as the ''Heart of Illinois'', it is characterized by small towns and mid-sized cities. Agriculture, particularly corn and soybeans, as well as educational institutions and manufacturing centers, figure prominently. Major cities include Peoria, Springfield (the state capital), Decatur, Quincy, Champaign–Urbana, Bloomington-Normal, Galesburg, and Danville. Geography Historically prairie, Central Illinois is generally flat and includes Douglas County, the state's flattest. The region also hosts a variety of man-made lakes, including Lake Shelbyville, Lake Springfield, Clinton Lake and Lake Decatur. Major rivers in the region include the Illinois, Middle Fork of the Vermilion, Kaskaskia, Sangamon and Mississippi rivers. Protected areas Central Illinois is home to many protected areas, many related to Abraham Linco ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Indiana
Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th state on December 11, 1816. It is bordered by Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the south and southeast, and the Wabash River and Illinois to the west. Various indigenous peoples inhabited what would become Indiana for thousands of years, some of whom the U.S. government expelled between 1800 and 1836. Indiana received its name because the state was largely possessed by native tribes even after it was granted statehood. Since then, settlement patterns in Indiana have reflected regional cultural segmentation present in the Eastern United States; the state's northernmost tier was settled primarily by people from New England and New York, Central Indiana by migrants fro ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Illinois Route 121
Illinois Route 121 (IL 121) is a major state highway in the central part of the U.S. state of Illinois. Although it travels from northwest to southeast, it is marked as a north–south highway.Sarjeant, CharlesIllinois 121. Retrieved May 9, 2006. It travels from IL 130 in Greenup (very near U.S. Route 40) to Interstate 55 (I-55) in Lincoln at the interchange of I-55 and IL 10. Route description IL 121 travels north from Greenup near I-70. While traveling northwest, IL 121 travels through Toledo and has an interchange with I-57 in Mattoon. From there, it travels northwest into the city limits of Decatur but largely goes around downtown using 22nd Street and Pershing Road. On the northwest side of Decatur, IL 121 intersects with the concurrent I-72 and US 51. IL 121 continues further northwest into Lincoln, where it has a concurrency with IL 10 through Lincoln as Keokuk Street and Woodlawn Road before termina ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Macon County Conservation District
The Macon County Conservation District (MCCD) is a public park authority, created in 1966, serving the metropolitan area of Decatur in the U.S. state of Illinois. The conservation district operates five conservation areas and six historic sites, as of 2022, throughout Macon County. Facilities include the park district's flagship open space, Rock Springs Conservation Area; a nature center within the Conservation Area, the Rock Springs Nature Center; and an Illinois State Natural Area, the Bois du Sangamon by Lake Decatur Lake Decatur is a reservoir located in the city of Decatur, Illinois, USA, east of downtown. The city and lake both share the name of U.S. Navy Commodore Stephen Decatur. The lake is above sea level and has a watershed of or reaching into pa .... Current events The District continues to add to the lands under its operational management. In August 2022, a private-sector donor awarded a $2.9 million grant to the MCCD to enable a 236-acre land acquisition ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ptelea Trifoliata
''Ptelea trifoliata'', commonly known as common hoptree, wafer ash, stinking ash, and skunk bush, is a species of flowering plant in the citrus family (Rutaceae). It is native to North America, where it is found in Canada, Mexico, and the United States. It is a deciduous shrub or tree,USDA – ''Ptelea trifoliata'' (common hoptree) Accessed 8.24.2011 with alternate, trifoliate leaves. Description ''Ptelea trifoliata'' is a small tree, or often a shrub of a few spreading stems, growing to around tall with a broad crown. The bark is reddish brown to gray brown, with short horizontal[...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Decatur, Illinois
Decatur ( ) is the largest city and the county seat of Macon County in the U.S. state of Illinois, with a population of 70,522 as of the 2020 Census. The city was founded in 1829 and is situated along the Sangamon River and Lake Decatur in Central Illinois. Decatur is the seventeenth-most populous city in Illinois. The city is home of private Millikin University and public Richland Community College. Decatur has an economy based on industrial and agricultural commodity processing and production, including the North American headquarters of agricultural conglomerate Archer Daniels Midland, international agribusiness Tate & Lyle's largest corn-processing plant, and the designing and manufacturing facilities for Caterpillar Inc.'s wheel-tractor scrapers, compactors, large wheel loaders, mining class motor grader, off-highway trucks, and large mining trucks. History The city is named after War of 1812 naval hero Stephen Decatur. Decatur is an affiliate of the U.S. Main Street ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Asimina Triloba
''Asimina triloba'', the American papaw, pawpaw, paw paw, or paw-paw, among many regional names, is a small deciduous tree native to the eastern United States and Canada, producing a large, yellowish-green to brown fruit. ''Asimina'' is the only temperate genus in the tropical and subtropical flowering plant family Annonaceae, and ''Asimina triloba'' has the most northern range of all. Well-known tropical fruits of different genera in family Annonaceae include the custard-apple, cherimoya, Sugar-apple, sweetsop, ylang-ylang, and soursop. The pawpaw is a cloning, patch-forming (clonal) understory tree of hardwood forests, which is found in well-drained, deep, fertile bottomland and also hilly upland habitat. It has large, simple leaves with drip tips, more characteristic of plants in tropical rainforest, tropical rainforests than within this species' temperate climate, temperate range. Pawpaw fruits are the largest edible fruit Indigenous (ecology), indigenous to the United State ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |