Chester

Beans and Corn Cahokia Chester Chicago Covered Bridges Frank Lloyd Wright Galesburg Grave Markers I & M Canal Lake County La Salle Litchfield Our Lady of the Snows Rt 66 to Branson Rosemont Springfield Starved Rock Utica

Chester

 

Mississippi River Bridge at Chester, Illinois

Chester is a town located on the bluffs of the Mississippi River Valley in Randolph County, Illinois. The population was 8,400 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Randolph County and is located 63 miles south of St. Louis, Missouri.

 

 

 

 


Chester is the birthplace of Elzie Segar, creator of the comic character Popeye. The town motto is "The Home of Popeye," and there is a statue of Popeye in the town. The annual Popeye's Picnic each September celebrates the character with food, games, carnival rides, and events.

 

 

 

 

 


The Chester area includes a number of state parks and historic sites. The Fort Kaskaskia State Historic Site has a beautiful overlook of the Mississippi River. Across the river from the fort is Kaskaskia Island, the only part of Illinois west of the Mississippi River. The island was the site of the first state capital of Illinois. A historic church founded by French explorer Pere Jacques Marquette still holds weekly mass on the island. Five miles northeast of Chester is the Randolph County State Recreation Area, which has a 65 acre lake for fishing as well as hiking and equestrian trails. South of Chester is the Turkey Bluffs State Fish and Wildlife Area, which has many scenic overlooks and trails to spot its namesake turkeys. Part of the Middle Mississippi River National Wildlife Refuge, a division of the Mark Twain National Wildlife Refuge Complex is located along the Mississippi River at Chester.

 

 


Chester High School is the local public high school. Chester's newspaper is the Randolph County Herald Tribune and radio station is KSGM 980AM.

 

Randolph County Courthouse

Chester is centered around the intersection of Illinois Route 3 (Great River Road) and Illinois Route 150.

 

Former Courthouse

The city was the filming location of scenes of the 1993 movie "The Fugitive.

Text from Wikipedia

 

Lutheran Church

 

Post Office


Beans and Corn Cahokia Chester Chicago Covered Bridges Frank Lloyd Wright Galesburg Grave Markers I & M Canal Lake County La Salle Litchfield Our Lady of the Snows Rt 66 to Branson Rosemont Springfield Starved Rock Utica

Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Missouri Mississippi Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington Washington D.C. West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming

World Heritage Mosaics Roman World Africa Antarctica Asia Atlantic Islands Australia Caribbean Central America Europe Indian Ocean Middle East North America Pacific Islands South America The Traveler Recent Adventures Adventure Travel

 

People and Places