A Day in Delavan -- March 23, 2011

OLLI spent a beautiful day touring this historic town in southern Illinois with Mayor Liz Kinner and Glenn Holmes, past president of the Delavan Historical Society. Our day included visits to an original Colony House (one of seven homes built in 1837 to house colonists until their permanent homes could be constructed) and the Ayer Public Library, a Carnegie Foundation library built in 1907. In addition, we toured the Hoeft private residence in one of the city's quaint neighborhoods and explored the 19th century storefronts in the business district.

In between tours, we dined at The Harvest Cafe, a farm-to-table restaurant that services locally grown products. We also learned more about the renovated 1890s iron-front building that houses the cafe and traced its history from the 1888 headquarters of the Delavan telephone exchange to its current incarnation as a restaurant. In addition, we viewed the Third Street Bridge, the oldest metal truss bridge in Illinois, visited the Delavan Historical Society Museum, and learned how the city's Illinois Army National Guard armory has played a vital part in community events.