http://americancountryside.com/wp-content/gems/2009/12/Dickson-Mounds-2.mp3Podcast: Download (Duration: 2:02 — 950.8KB)Before interstate highways existed, something apparently linked America’s first large cities. But we don’t know exactly what. Andrew McCrea examines…

http://americancountryside.com/wp-content/gems/2009/12/Dickson-Mounds-1.mp3Podcast: Download (Duration: 2:02 — 1.9MB)Dickson, Illinois, is a nice town on the Illinois River. But it’s far from the first city in that location….

Here are seven places my family and I have discovered in the American Countryside listening area that are not only fun to visit, but also…

http://americancountryside.com/wp-content/gems/2013/06/ScenicRoute-009.mp3Podcast: Download (Duration: 5:02 — 1.2MB)Would you believe there’s a man who helped save the world from nuclear holocaust, and you don’t even know his…

http://americancountryside.com/wp-content/gems/2013/06/06Jun13-Christian-Christiansen-2.mp3Podcast: Download (Duration: 2:59 — 2.0MB)The military exercise was top secret.  When this mission was finally opened to the public, the reverend who played the…

http://americancountryside.com/wp-content/gems/2013/04/05Jun13-Christian-Christiansen-1.mp3Podcast: Download (Duration: 2:59 — 2.1MB)During World War II the Germans raced against the Americans to be the first to successfully build an atomic bomb….

http://americancountryside.com/wp-content/gems/2013/04/03Jun13-Gardner-Illinois-2.mp3Podcast: Download (Duration: 2:59 — 2.0MB)The old lunch wagon began as a horse drawn vehicle.  Over the years in became a permanent fixture here, a…

http://americancountryside.com/wp-content/gems/2013/04/31May13-Gardner-Illinois-1.mp3Podcast: Download (Duration: 2:59 — 2.0MB)The need for maximum security prisons is an unfortunate reality of life.  On the other end of the spectrum is…

http://americancountryside.com/wp-content/gems/2013/04/30May13-Pontiac-Illinois-2.mp3Podcast: Download (Duration: 2:59 — 2.0MB)Pontiac, Illinois is an interesting mix of the old and new.  It’s a place that’s worked to preserve its heritage,…

http://americancountryside.com/wp-content/gems/2013/04/29May13-Pontiac-Illinois-1.mp3Podcast: Download (Duration: 2:59 — 2.0MB)Many a family has recorded the heights of their growing children by placing a mark on a door or doorpost…

http://americancountryside.com/wp-content/gems/2013/04/28May13-Pontiac-Illinois-Route-66-Museum.mp3Podcast: Download (Duration: 3:00 — 2.1MB)Pontiac, Illinois is home to a Hall of Fame for a very famous American road.  The museum itself is very…

http://americancountryside.com/wp-content/gems/2012/01/13Jan12-Route-66-Turkey-Tracks.mp3Podcast: Download (Duration: 2:58 — 1.4MB)There is definitely an art to tracking and calling a wild turkey.  Jerry Law had no trouble tracking this turkey….

http://americancountryside.com/wp-content/gems/2012/01/12Jan12-Luna-Cafe.mp3Podcast: Download (Duration: 2:59 — 1.4MB)In front of the Luna Café, on old route 66 near Mitchell, Illinois, you’ll find a beautifully restored neon sign….

http://americancountryside.com/wp-content/gems/2011/12/15Dec11-Alton-Illinois-Underground-Railroad-2.mp3Podcast: Download (Duration: 2:00 — 938.0KB)Imagine unearthing history from nearly two centuries ago to find the secret routes people used to gain their freedom. That’s…

http://americancountryside.com/wp-content/gems/2011/12/14Dec11-Alton-Illinois-Underground-Railroad-1.mp3Podcast: Download (Duration: 2:00 — 938.0KB)Railroads spanned these two cities on opposite sides of the Mississippi River, but it was a secret railroad that had…

http://americancountryside.com/wp-content/gems/2011/11/18Nov11-Chicago-Community-Gardens.mp3Podcast: Download (Duration: 2:00 — 938.0KB)They are small plots of land, but add them together and they account for a growing trend in the city…

http://americancountryside.com/wp-content/gems/2011/11/Carthage-Illinois-Jail.mp3Podcast: Download (Duration: 2:02 — 1.9MB)Jails aren’t supposed to be a thing of beauty, but the tan limestone walls of the 1839 jailhouse in Carthage,…

http://americancountryside.com/wp-content/gems/2011/09/Lincoln-Park-Lilly-Pool.mp3Podcast: Download (Duration: 2:00 — 938.0KB)This famous architect was hired to design one of Chicago’s famous park landscapes.  No sooner did he design it than…

http://americancountryside.com/wp-content/gems/2011/09/Quincy-World-Aerospace-Museum-2.mp3Podcast: Download (Duration: 2:00 — 938.0KB)It can be a hassle filling out paperwork when you buy or trade a new car or truck. But what’s…

http://americancountryside.com/wp-content/gems/2011/09/Quincy-World-Aerospace-Museum-1.mp3Podcast: Download (Duration: 2:00 — 938.0KB)Quincy, Illinois has a nice airport which links its citizens to thousands of flights around the globe. But what many…