Category: Illinois
Elzie Segar’s Story
http://americancountryside.com/wp-content/gems/2021/08/01Sep21-Chester-Illinois-Popeye-1.mp3Podcast: Download (Duration: 3:00 — 2.1MB)The name Elzie Segar doesn’t resonate with most folks, unless you happen to live in Chester, Illinois. Folks there know…
Secret Routes to Freedom
http://americancountryside.com/wp-content/gems/2021/08/31Aug21-Alton-Illinois-Underground-Railroad-2.mp3Podcast: Download (Duration: 3:00 — 2.1MB)Imagine unearthing history from nearly two centuries ago to find the secret routes people used to gain their freedom. That’s…
The Path to Freedom
http://americancountryside.com/wp-content/gems/2021/08/30Aug21-Alton-Illinois-Underground-Railroad-1.mp3Podcast: Download (Duration: 3:00 — 2.1MB)Railroads spanned these two cities on opposite sides of the Mississippi River, but it was a secret railroad that had…
The Stage Door Canteen
http://americancountryside.com/wp-content/gems/2021/07/21Jul21-Pontiac-WWII-Home-Band-Exhibit-2.mp3Podcast: Download (Duration: 3:00 — 2.1MB)Imagine a chance to get to hear one of the biggest bands of the day and dance with movie starlets. …
The $25 Per Month Home Mortgage
http://americancountryside.com/wp-content/gems/2021/07/20Jul21-Pontiac-WWII-Home-Band-Exhibit-1.mp3Podcast: Download (Duration: 3:00 — 2.1MB)As time passes there are fewer Americans that can recall the life on the homefront during the years of World…
The Music of the Civil War
http://americancountryside.com/wp-content/gems/2021/07/16Jul21-Pontiac-Civil-War-Music-Museum-1.mp3Podcast: Download (Duration: 3:00 — 2.1MB)Many museums cover the history of the Civil War, but few cover this specific topic within that war. That doesn’t…
Titanic of Pontiac, Illinois
http://americancountryside.com/wp-content/gems/2021/07/15Jul21-Pontiac-Titanic-Museum.mp3Podcast: Download (Duration: 3:00 — 2.1MB)Many museums cover the history of the Civil War, but few cover this specific topic within that war. That doesn’t…
The Woman at the Helm of a Vast Empire
http://americancountryside.com/wp-content/gems/2021/05/26May21-King-Neptune-the-Pig-3.mp3Podcast: Download (Duration: 3:00 — 2.1MB)He was a hero of World War II. And that’s saying something for a pig. Yes, a pig named King…
The Pig that Built a Battleship…Sort Of
http://americancountryside.com/wp-content/gems/2021/05/25May21-King-Neptune-the-Pig-2.mp3Podcast: Download (Duration: 3:00 — 2.1MB)It costs a lot of money to build a battleship. The U.S. government was building all kinds of ships as…
The 4-H Pig That Became A War Hero
http://americancountryside.com/wp-content/gems/2021/05/24May21-King-Neptune-the-Pig-1.mp3Podcast: Download (Duration: 3:00 — 2.1MB)Let’s face it – most hogs are destined to become pork chops and bacon. But this hog had a change…
Finding New Markets in a Pandemic
http://americancountryside.com/wp-content/gems/2021/04/17May21-Ropp-Jersey-Cheese-3.mp3Podcast: Download (Duration: 3:01 — 2.1MB)When the Covid pandemic hit this country, this small business suddenly found half of its sales gone. It was a…
Ropp Jersey Cheese
http://americancountryside.com/wp-content/gems/2021/04/14May21-Ropp-Jersey-Cheese-2.mp3Podcast: Download (Duration: 3:01 — 2.1MB)It may be difficult for a small dairy producer to make a living. However, just outside of Normal, Illinois, Ken…
The Ropps of Ropp Road
http://americancountryside.com/wp-content/gems/2021/04/13May21-Ropp-Jersey-Cheese-1.mp3Podcast: Download (Duration: 3:01 — 2.1MB)Ken laughs when people tell him he must be pretty famous to have a road named after him. It is…
The Bronze Star Optometrist
http://americancountryside.com/wp-content/gems/2021/04/12May21-Kermit-Bell-3.mp3Podcast: Download (Duration: 3:01 — 2.1MB)Over two decades after he first entered the army…Kermit Bell was now on his way to Vietnam. Not only would…
Fighting the Second of Three Global Wars
http://americancountryside.com/wp-content/gems/2021/04/11May21-Kermit-Bell-2.mp3Podcast: Download (Duration: 3:01 — 2.1MB)For Kermit Bell, the Korean was just the second of three world conflicts he would find himself in…
How the Batchtown Farm Kid Made it to West Point
http://americancountryside.com/wp-content/gems/2021/04/10May21-Kermit-Bell-1.mp3Podcast: Download (Duration: 3:01 — 2.1MB)Kermit Bell never intended to make a career in the military…but by the time he retired from the army he…
The Cozy Dog
http://americancountryside.com/wp-content/gems/2021/04/06May21-Route-66-Cozy-Dog.mp3Podcast: Download (Duration: 3:00 — 2.1MB)Route 66 is full of pieces of Americana…and in central Illinois you’ll find a drive in over 70 years old…and…
Cruising in the Land Yacht
http://americancountryside.com/wp-content/gems/2021/04/05May21-Route-66-Pontiac-Illinois-2.mp3Podcast: Download (Duration: 3:00 — 2.1MB)If you asked someone in the U.S. to name a famous foreign highway, maybe they’d mention the German Autobahn or…
Museum of the Mother Road
http://americancountryside.com/wp-content/gems/2021/04/04May21-Route-66-Pontiac-Illinois-1.mp3Podcast: Download (Duration: 3:00 — 2.1MB)It’s the museum of the Mother Road. And you know you’ve got quite a historic route when there is an…
Crossing the Ohio at Cave in Rock
http://americancountryside.com/wp-content/gems/2021/04/03May21-Cave-in-Rock-Illinois-2.mp3Podcast: Download (Duration: 3:00 — 2.1MB)It’s the end of the road in Illinois, and if you want to go further south on Route 1, you’ll…
