What's the Most Quaint Illinois Town? One You've Never Heard Of

I've lived in Missouri and Illinois most of my life and I have never been through this town somehow. It's just been named the most quaint town in Illinois and I'm betting you've never heard of it either.

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Thanks in large part to the Mississippi River, both Missouri and Illinois have some pretty neat small river towns. World Atlas just named what they think are the most quaint Illinois towns and there are some great places on the list like Galena, but this isn't that.

Where is the most "quaint" Illinois town?

They say it's tiny little Eslah, Illinois. Population of just 528 as of the census a couple years ago.

The official Eslah, Illinois website says it's "nestled between the limestone bluffs alongside the Great River Road" and that's a great way to describe it. They mention "escaping to Eslah" and I would agree with that assessment also.

Things haven't changed much in Eslah since it was founded in 1853 according to Wikipedia. It says that James Semple was a senator in Illinois that gets credit for founding the town. Eslah apparently thrived as a shipping town for food in the 1800's, but was heavily damaged during the great flood of 1993. It's recovered now though.

"Quaint" is a very good description for Eslah, Illinois and I hope that time never really does cause this small town to change. We need more places like Eslah to stay the way they are so we all have a place to escape fast-paced modern society.

See Inside This Now Abandoned Prison in Illinois

Located just over 30 miles to the southwest of Chicago is the town of Joliet, Illinois. It's here that the abandoned remains of the Old Joliet Prison, with a history that spans more than 160 years, can be found. Once featured in several films, the structure has sat vacant and decaying for more than twenty years now. However, in 2018, the Joliet Historical Museum, reclaimed the property, in partnership with the city.

The Old Joliet Prison can be toured for a fee, with proceeds going to help preserve the site, and recently photographer Annie Chartrand captured images of what remains of the monolithic limestone structure that once housed thousands of inmates. Keep scrolling to experience the Old Joliet Prison through her lens including a look at what appears to be the prison hospital facility.

Gallery Credit: Kat Mykals