Bald eagles can be seen in abundance in teensy Calhoun County – sometimes referred to as The Kingdom of Calhoun – located in southwestern Illinois, with its southernmost tip situated at the Mississippi River and the Illinois River. The county is 37 miles long and 7 miles wide at its widest point, and is basically a long peninsula between the rivers. Four ferries and the Joe Page Bridge take people back and forth, from state to state.

Calhoun County was named after John Caldwell Calhoun, who served as vice president under both John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson, and secretary of state under President John Tyler. The county was established in 1825, seven years after Illinois became a state. Prior to becoming a county, the area that’s now Calhoun County was part of the Military Tract. These were bounty lands given to War of 1812 veterans.

Calhoun County has only five incorporated towns, and Hardin, its largest, is the county seat. Though only 1,100 people live in Hardin, there is a surprising amount of things to do and see there. Nature lovers will appreciate the Two Rivers Wildlife Refuge, which offers 8,500 acres of protection to endangered and threatened species (such as bald eagles); the 24,000-acre Mississippi River State Fish & Wildlife Area; and the McCully Heritage Project, a 940-acre outdoor classroom for students and teachers, and 12 miles of hiking trails.

History lovers should visit the Center for American Archeology in Kampsville, which features excavations of early American Indian habitation sites. Formed in 1953, the CAA exists to uncover the story behind 10,000 years of human occupation and thousands of recorded archaeological sites in the area surrounding the confluence of the Mississippi and Illinois rivers, often referred to as the “Nile of North America.”