Ottawa IL Illinois
Frequently Asked Questions
At the confluence of the Illinois and Fox rivers, a few streets from Washington Square and the historic centre. You step ashore into a small town that is entirely walkable.
Yes, entirely. Washington Square, the downtown murals, the cafés and antique shops are all minutes from the riverbank. Only Starved Rock State Park, about fifteen kilometres away, requires an excursion.
Washington Square and its Lincoln-Douglas debate monument, a walk among the downtown murals, then, if your itinerary offers it, the excursion to the sandstone canyons of Starved Rock State Park.
On 21 August 1858 it hosted the first of the seven Lincoln-Douglas debates, a defining moment in the Senate campaign that would carry Abraham Lincoln towards the presidency. A fountain flanked by statues of both speakers marks the spot, surrounded by nineteenth-century houses.
The busiest state park in Illinois, about fifteen kilometres downstream, drawing roughly two million visitors a year. Its trails wind through sandstone canyons where waterfalls form after rain and in spring.
From a Native American tradition: members of the Illinois nation, besieged atop the great rock above the river, are said to have starved there in the eighteenth century. The name carried down the centuries with the story.
Local milestones: the canals, the railway, the pioneers and scenes of everyday life in earlier times. You discover them walking from the square down to the riverbank, on the red brick facades of the centre.
The canal completed in the mid-nineteenth century that linked Lake Michigan to the valley's waters and opened trade between Chicago and the Mississippi. Ottawa grew with it, and its route can be followed today on foot or by bicycle along the old towpaths.
The US dollar. Cards work in downtown shops and cafés, but keep some cash for the antique dealers and small counters.
Spring through autumn, the Illinois River cruising season. Spring shows the Starved Rock waterfalls at their best; autumn brings colour and more comfortable walking temperatures.
