The Ronald Reagan Trail is a collection of

highway A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It is used for major roads, but also includes other public roads and public tracks. In some areas of the United States, it is used as an equivalent term to controlled-acces ...

s in central

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...

that connect villages and cities that were of importance to former

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

Ronald Reagan. The trail was established in 1999 by the Illinois General Assembly, five years prior to former President Reagan's death in June 2004. The Reagan Trail was the brainchild of the late mayor of Eureka, Illinois Joe Serangeli. A volunteer-run Reagan Trail Association maintained a web presence and promoted the trail for its initial years, but the board was dissolved in July 2016 and website transferred to the care of the Ronald W. Reagan Society of Eureka College.

Destinations

The trail takes on the general shape of a

triangle A triangle is a polygon with three edges and three vertices. It is one of the basic shapes in geometry. A triangle with vertices ''A'', ''B'', and ''C'' is denoted \triangle ABC. In Euclidean geometry, any three points, when non- colline ...

, and can be summarized into the following segments:

Monmouth to Eureka

The southwest segment of the trail follows U.S. Route 34 from

Monmouth, Illinois Monmouth is a city in and the county seat of Warren County, Illinois, United States. The population was 8,902 at the 2020 census, down from 9,444 in 2010. It is the home of Monmouth College and contains Monmouth Park, Harmon Park, North Park, Warf ...

Interstate 74 } Interstate 74 (I-74) is an Interstate Highway in the Midwestern and Southeastern United States. Its western end is at an interchange with I-80 in Davenport, Iowa (Quad Cities); the eastern end of its Midwest segment is at an interchange ...

east to

Galesburg, Illinois Galesburg is a city in Knox County, Illinois, United States. The city is northwest of Peoria. At the 2010 census, its population was 32,195. It is the county seat of Knox County and the principal city of the Galesburg Micropolitan Statistical ...

. It then follows I-74 east to Peoria, Illinois, and

U.S. Route 24 U.S. Route 24 (US 24) is one of the original United States highways of 1926. It originally ran from Pontiac, Michigan, in the east to Kansas City, Missouri, in the west. Today, the highway's eastern terminus is in Independence Township, Mic ...

east to

Washington, Illinois Washington is a city in Tazewell County, Illinois, United States. Washington is on U.S. Route 24 and Illinois Route 8, northeast of East Peoria. The population was 15,134 at the 2010 census, a 39.6 percent increase over 2000. It is a suburb of ...

and

Eureka, Illinois Eureka is a city in Olio Township, Woodford County, Illinois, United States. The population was 5,295 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Woodford County. Eureka is part of the Peoria, Illinois Metropolitan Statistical Area. Eureka is ...

. This segment has the following attractions: * Monmouth — Reagan lived in Monmouth from 1918-1919. There is also a separate exhibit in the city. * Galesburg — Reagan attended the first grade in Galesburg. At some point Reagan also lived in Galesburg. * Washington — A frequent stop of Reagan when traveling to and from Eureka College. * Eureka — Reagan went to college at Eureka College, located in the town of Eureka.

Peoria to Tampico/Dixon

The east segment of the trail starts at

in Peoria and follows

Illinois Route 29 Illinois Route 29 (IL 29) is a two to four lane state road that runs south from U.S. Route 6/ Illinois Route 89 at Spring Valley to U.S. Route 51/ Illinois Route 16 at Pana, running through Pekin, Peoria and Springfield. The nearest major n ...

north to

Bureau Junction, Illinois Bureau Junction, usually called Bureau, is a village in Bureau County, Illinois, Bureau County, Illinois, United States. The population was 281 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. The village name is shown as both "Bureau Junction" and ...

. It then follows

Illinois Route 26 Illinois Route 26 (IL 26, Illinois 26) is a north–south state highway in central and north-central Illinois. It runs from Illinois Route 116 just north of East Peoria to Highway 69 at the Wisconsin border near Orangeville. This is a distan ...

Ohio, Illinois Ohio is a village in Bureau County, Illinois, United States. The population was 465 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Ottawa Micropolitan Statistical Area. History Ohio was first incorporated as a village on January 22, 1877. A post office ca ...

where it branches to

Tampico, Illinois Tampico () is a village located in Tampico Township, Whiteside County, Illinois, Tampico Township, Whiteside County, Illinois, Whiteside County, Illinois, United States next to Rock Falls and Sterling, Illinois. As of the 2010 census the village ha ...

Illinois Route 92 Illinois Route 92 (IL 92 or Route 92) is an east–west state highway in northwest Illinois. It runs from the Norbert F. Beckey Bridge across the Mississippi River where it meets the eastern end of Iowa Highway 92, east to U.S. Route ...

and Dixon, Illinois on Illinois 26. This segment has the following attractions: * Peoria Heights — Contains two visitor's sites not related to Ronald Reagan. * Chillicothe — Home of one of Reagan's close friends, George Taylor. *

Henry Henry may refer to: People *Henry (given name) * Henry (surname) * Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry Royalty * Portuguese royalty ** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal ** Henry, Count of Portugal, ...

— Home of the trail's national headquarters and Visitor Center. *

Princeton Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ni ...

— An antiquing destination and frequent

underground railroad The Underground Railroad was a network of clandestine routes and safe houses established in the United States during the early- to mid-19th century. It was used by enslaved African Americans primarily to escape into free states and Canada. ...

stop. *

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

— Another frequent stop of Reagan when traveling to and from college. *

Tampico Tampico is a city and port in the southeastern part of the state of Tamaulipas, Mexico. It is located on the north bank of the Pánuco River, about inland from the Gulf of Mexico, and directly north of the state of Veracruz. Tampico is the fifth ...

— Birthplace of Ronald Reagan, Tampico Main Street Historic District, and the H.C. Pitney Variety Store. * Dixon — Boyhood home of Ronald Reagan after age 9. The Dixon Historic Center, First Christian Church, Lowell Park, and the Wings of Peace and Freedom Park are all in Dixon.

Princeton to Galesburg

U.S. Route 34 merely connects Galesburg to Princeton to complete the trail.

References

{{Reflist

External links