Home Sweet Home............

I thought I would share some pictures....past and present of my "home sweet home" that I am working so hard to get back to............a little farm town in Illinois.............where all my ancestors settled when they came to this country from Ireland during the potato famine.  I was told they settled here because it reminded them of Ireland.

Lots of rolling hills dotted with farms and plenty of trees too.
This was a picture taken by the Illinois Board of Tourism where they called it "the best little town by a dam site"!   You can see the older bridge in this picture.

In this old picture you can see the bridge, the dam and "lover's lane".  The bridge then was an old iron trellis bridge which are still around in some places.

Here's picture taken back in 1923........when all my Aunts and Uncles and my Mother were growing up although they didn't live in town.  They had a farm about halfway between Hanover and Galena, IL off of Blackjack Road.  My Mother said they used to take the horse drawn wagon into Galena with their crops as there was a market there and also the railroad.

Most of the old pictures I was able to get from Terry Miller, a wonderful historian who works at Grant's Home in Galena.  The one below might be from my cousin Barb, who takes beautiful pictures of the area and who grew up there also.  Her photos of Hanover were published in Country magazine! Now can you see why I miss winter?  It's beautiful there any time of year! Oh, and Fall.....gorgeous!

This is the Methodist Church where I went to Sunday School as a child and also where every funeral was for every one of my relatives.  It is exactly the same as when I was little.

This is a covered bridge which I never even knew existed.  Probably because it wasn't there by the time I was born.
  I need to find out where this was.  There's writing on the sign above the entrance but I can't read it.

 This isn't my Aunt's house but she had Hollyhocks like this and that flower always reminds me of her.  I plan on planting many when I get there.

This is where I got the best Rainbow Ice Cream in the world and the man and wife that ran it were so nice.  This picture was taken long ago before my time and the cabins were gone when I was growing up or at least I don't remember them.  I had a one track mind for the ice cream!  I had no idea until I was older that he was actually the great or great-great grandson of the real Daniel Boone! I just thought he was named after him but not because he was related. Another ancestor of his and I think it was Daniel's daughter lived in Hanover and led a group of women to tear down the local drinking establishment back in the 1800's! They razed the entire building!   If I had realized any of this I would have been all over him asking questions!  I had no idea there was meaning behind it being named after Daniel Boone!  People in those days were so humble and never talked about themselves. Alas, now he's long gone but he gave many youngsters fond memories and we loved him and his wife regardless.

Here's a current picture with the new bridge they built last year....I like the old bridge better....but time marches on.  The old bridge was built in 1939 and was the one I grew up with and remember.
On the left is what used to be my cousin's farm where I played as a child and on the right, the white house is the one I was looking at to buy.  It would be within walking distance to town, library and country hikes.  From the vantage point of the photographer and behind the camera is a road that goes up the hill and Evergreen Cemetery is located there where most of my relatives are buried.  Some older ones are buried in the Old Log Church Cemetery out in the country.  The old log church burned down years ago but I have a picture somewhere from Terry.  Terry has been a blessing with all his pictures of the history of the area and he is loved and appreciated by many.
This is the Apple River and is a tributary of the mighty Mississippi.

Here's the most recent picture taken by a drone..........I feel like that country song......"oh how I want to go home".  I have never heard anyone who lived there complain and the ones that leave always want to come back.  It truly is "the best little town by a dam site"!

Happy Trails!