Historic National Road - Illinois
Collinsville Historical Museum, IL

Founded in 1976, the Collinsville Historical Museum contains many links to region's past. The first settlers in the area, John Cook and his young family, arrived in 1810. Artifacts in the Collinsville museum include John Cook's muzzle loader and his wife's spinning wheel. In 1817, four sons of William Collins, a Revolutionary War veteran emigrated to the area and bought John Cooks cabin and claim, and named the place "Unionville." The name was eventually changed to "Collinsville" when it was learned another "Unionville" already existed in Illinois. Collinsville first coal mine opened in 1859, the year Collinsville was formally incorporated into a village.

The museum offers a fine display of miner's tools and memorabilia. The Civil War produced many heros, including Lt. Nineveh S. McKeen who won the Congressional Medal of Honor and is buried in nearby Glenwood Cemetery. Lt. McKeen was wounded in the battle of Stones River, captured at the battle of Chickamauga and was one of 15 Union officers who planned and executed the famous "Little Tunnel" of Libby Prison in Richmond, Virginia.