As I swung my camera up to snap a photo of the Shelby County Courthouse, a delivery truck came to a stop and the driver waited patiently while I shot the picture.
That’s pretty much how things are in this east-central Illinois community–friendly folks and lots of picturesque Queen Anne, Second Empire and Italianate homes and buildings.
Both Shelbyville (population 4,943) and Shelby County were named for Gen. Isaac Shelby, a veteran of the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812, and the first governor of Kentucky. The red brick and white stone courthouse was built in 1879-81 and is a combination of Greek Revival and Second Empire architectural styles, with porticos and soaring mansard roofs.
Shelbyville’s other architectural gem is the Chautauqua Auditorium, a huge, 20-sided, barnlike structure dating from 1903. Inside, the auditorium stage has old-fashioned, hand-painted backdrops and a statue of the Greek Muses done by local artisan Robert Marshall Root. Now a National Historic Landmark, the auditorium was designed to seat 5,000, and in the early part of this century drew crowds from far and wide to hear speakers like William Jennings Bryan, evangelist Billy Sunday and concerts by John Phillip Sousa’s band. Today it’s used for local events such as the Shelby County 4-H Fair Queen Contest (July) and each year hosts the State of Illinois Fiddler’s contest (this year Sept. 19).
Both the courthouse and Chautauqua Auditorium are included on a walking-driving tour of lovely old homes and buildings in Shelbyville. Other buildings include the former Shelby County Jail (1892), now home to the Shelby Country Historical and Genealogical Society Center, which features local history displays and genealogical records, and the Horace M. Tallman House (1905), built by the inventor of the first mechanical hay baler. The Tallman House is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is the office of the Shelby Historic House and Inn (visitors welcome).
Shelbyville has managed to maintain its 19th Century appearance and small-town values despite its role as the bustling southern gateway to manmade Lake Shelbyville, a haven for sightseers, campers, fishermen and boaters–about 4 million each year.
Marking its 25th anniversary this year, the 26-mile-long, 11,000-acre lake was created in 1970, when the Army Corps of Engineers dammed the historic Kaskaskia River. The lake is used both for flood control and recreation. Eleven corps recreation areas, two Illinois state parks and three large marinas lie along its 172 miles of forested shoreline.
The huge dam that holds back the Kaskaskia and the Corps’ Lake Shelbyville Visitor Center are located 1 mile east of Shelbyville along Illinois Highway 16. The visitors center offers audio-visual programs, natural history and wildlife displays and Native American artifacts.
The earthen dam is 3,025 long and 110 feet high, and has a road across the top. The concrete spillway, where water is released from the lake through three 45-foot-wide gates in the dam, is 384 feet long and 156 feet wide, and a popular fishing spot. Guided tours of the dam are offered on summer weekends.
Campgrounds located at six of the corps recreation areas have some 700 campsites, including more than 500 with electrical hookups. Facilities include drinking water, restrooms, showers, playground and picnic areas, boat launching ramps and, at some locations, laundry facilities. Interpretive programs that include nature walks and evening campfire programs are offered throughout the summer.
Sand swimming beaches with showers are at the Shelbyville Dam West, Wilborn Creek, and Sullivan Beach day-use areas, and at Coon Creek and Lithia Springs recreation areas.
Wolf Creek State Park (2,000 acres) and Eagle Creek State Park (1,463 acres) face each other across the lake about 5 miles north of Shelbyville. Each offers picnic areas and shelters, hiking and nature trails, boat launching ramps, summer interpretive programs, tent and backpack camping sites, and a total of nearly 500 campsites with showers and electricity.
Wolf Creek has a sand swimming beach, horseback riding trails and an equestrian camping area. Horses may be rented in the park. Eagle Creek offers cross-country skiing and the Chief Illini Trail, a National Recreational Trail that meanders southward along the lakeshore for 15 miles to the corps’ Lone Point Recreation Area.
Eagle Creek is best known for the Inn at Eagle Creek Resort and Conference Center, which offers luxury accommodations, two restaurants, an indoor pool and spa, tennis courts and other amenities. The Eagle Creek Golf Course, a challenging 18-hole course.
If you feel like exploring the byways around Lake Shelbyville, the Thompson Mill Bridge, one of five remaining historic covered bridges still standing in Illinois, is about 15 miles south of Shelbyville near the village of Cowden.
DETAILS ON THE AREA
Getting there: Lake Shelbyville (and the communities of Shelbyville, Findlay, Bethany, Sullivan and Windsor) lies in Shelby and Moultrie Counties, about 200 miles south of Chicago and 20 miles southeast of Decatur. Interstate Highway 57 is the most direct route from Chicago, passing about 15 miles to the east of the lake.
Visitor center: The Lake Shelbyville Visitor Center, 1 mile east of Shelbyville along Illinois Highway 16, is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays from late March until Memorial Day when it begins daily hours (8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.) through Labor Day. Call for hours rest of year. Admission is free.
Free guided tours of the Lake Shelbyville Dam are offered at 3 p.m. Saturdays and at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Sundays through Sept. 3.
Campgrounds: Corps of Engineers campgrounds ($6-$12 per night) are open from late March through October. Swimming beaches are open from April 22 through Sept. 10.
Eagle Creek and Wolf Creek State Parks offer year-round camping ($6-$11 per night). Campsite reservations are accepted by mail ($5 per campsite) for Wolf Creek only. Park admission is free. For both parks, contact: Superintendent, Eagle Creek State Park, Route 1, P.O. Box 6, Findlay, Ill. 62534; 217-756-8260.
Events: Shelbyville, Findlay, Bethany, Sullivan and Windsor will celebrate Lake Shelbyville’s 25th anniversary with a range of special events July 28-30.
Lodging: The Inn at Eagle Creek Resort and Conference Center (Findlay, Ill. 62534; 800-876-3245) offers a double room for $65 per night through April, $85 per night May through summer.
The Shelby Historic House and Inn (816 W. Main St., Shelbyville, Ill. 62565; 800-342-9978) has double rooms for $52-$69 per night. The inn’s office is located in the historic Horace M. Tallman House, which welcomes visitors (free admission) from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily.
Accessibility: The Lake Shelbyville Visitor Center is barrier free. Corps of Engineers day-use and recreation areas provide restrooms, campsites and picnic shelters that are wheelchair accessible; showers at some recreation areas are barrier free. Wolf Creek and Eagle Creek State Parks provide campsites, restrooms and showers that are wheelchair accessible. However, many older buildings in Shelbyville are reachable only by steps.
Information: For information on the visitor center, Corps of Engineers campgrounds and anniversary events, contact: Lake Shelbyville Management Office, Route 4, P.O. Box 128B, Shelbyville, Ill. 62565 (217-774-3951). For Shelbyville and other Shelby County attractions, contact: Shelby County Office of Tourism, 315 E. Main St., Shelbyville, Ill. 62565 (800-874-3529).
