Long Grove Historical Society's
Historical Walking Tour
Click here to start your walking tour at the Info Center.
Click here for an index of all buildings on the tour.
The walking tour is circluar in nature - start at any historical building and be guided around town until you end up where you started. While directions are given at each stop, having a map of the downtown stores in hand makes it much easier to find your way. You can pick up a map at the info center, which is also a good place to start the tour.
We will frequently reference "the crossroads" in the tour. What we mean by that is the center of the historic town - the intersection of Robert Parker Coffin and Old McHenry Road. Lots of people interupt at this point and want to know who Robert Parker was, and why a road was named for his Coffin! Coffin is his last name, actually, and he was Long Grove's mayor from 1958 through 1980. The street was named in his honor when he retired.
Historical names are used for the stops - for example, what is today known as The Village Tavern, will be refered to as the Zimmer Tavern, as that was it's original historic name.
Not every building in the downtown is on the tour. As a general rule, we're focusing on buildings that existed prior to 1900. Remember that Long Grove has a building code requiring that all new construction adhere to the "Long Grove Style", so even new buildings may appear old.
Click here to start your walking tour at the Info Center.
Click here for an index of all buildings on the tour.