SOUTHERNMOST, Ill. – Southernmost Illinois is made up of the 10 southernmost counties of Union, Alexander, Pulaski, Massac, Johnson, Pope, Hardin, Saline, Galatin and Jackson. While in nearby Perry County, one stop in the area high on the list of stops for collectors is the Rural Heritage Museum in Pinckneyville, Ill. The mission of the Illinois Rural Heritage Museum is to “educate the public about the rural heritage of Illinois in a manner that tells the life lessons of success.”

The museum is across the street from the American Thresherman Association grounds, which hosts both a fall and August show, with the August show being the largest. This August show is their 66th.

Near Pinckneyville, the southernmost town of Alto Pass, is the Havisham Bourbon Bar where they serve appetizers and cocktails and host events. For their drinks, they use local produce like peaches from Rendleman’s Orchards, strawberries from Flamm’s Orchard, and Shawnee Hills Lavendar as well.

Southernmost Illinois has a significant agricultural story behind it. “This whole town was built by a traveling miller in 1888. There were railroad tracks that ran through the center of town,” Crystal Schilling, the general manager of Havisham Bourbon Bar, shared.

Long before it was a bourbon bar, the building was used as a flour mill. Started by Frank and George “Buck” James, and Dick Furgeson the mill – located right on Main Street – operated for some years before being sold to Ot Rendelman, of the Rendelman Orchard family. In 1878, the mill was sold to H.C. and Charles Curtis and they produced flour under the name, “Pride of Alto.” 

They operated the mill until the 1920s, when it was sold once again, and operated as the Alto Pass Milling Company. The owners expanded by selling feed, hardware and lumber, and eventually apples and tomatoes under a new owner. Converted back to a lumber yard and appliance store, it eventually became an antique store before the current owners Nick and Jerri Schaefer saved the building and turned it into a bourbon bar. Downstairs visitors can still see remnants of the milling past.

Besides the bourbon bar, they have also fixed up an amazing Victorian house and carriage house that serves as a place for brides during wedding events. “We named it Havisham House from Miss Havisham from Great Expectations,” Schilling said.

The house can also be rented by groups. The next adventure is the former icehouse which they want to turn into a distillery. Other southernmost agricultural stops include the local orchards that Havisham Bourbon Bar uses for their cocktails.  Mileur Orchard is a small family-owned orchard owned by Lisa and Howard Mileur. Originally planted in 1961 by Lisa’s father-in-law, the ground has been farmed since the mid-1800s by her mother-in-law’s family, the Graffs. Lisa and Howard took over the orchard in 1996.

At Mileur they grow peaches, apples and nectarines. Lisa makes amazing peach cobblers. She also makes homemade ice cream to go with the cobbler. They also offer sorbet and homemade marshmallows. “We try to keep it real and make it from scratch.”

Creating more of an agritourism stop, Lisa focuses on selling their produce in a retail setting. “We flip flopped, we used to sell fruit under the barn roof. We built a building and made it easier. I said let’s put in a kitchen because I like to bake.”

It took a year to add the kitchen, but the scratch-baked items are a huge success. Besides the cobblers and ice cream, they also added candies and popular homemade marshmallows. Again, focusing on local, they offer gift items like woven rugs.

Southern Illinois’s Shawnee Hills have a unique agricultural past. Irish, Scotts and Germans settled the area coming from Kentucky, Tennessee and North Carolina. Along with their ancestry, those from Kentucky also brought their southern culture. The settlers found that this area with loess, windblown soil was perfect for growing fruits and vegetables. Orchards sprang up and once the railroad came through and with Park Earle’s invention of the refrigerated box, farmers started sending their crops to urban markets in St. Louis and Chicago.

In Cobden, Ill., the Union County Museum offers insight into the history of the fruit and orchard days that were at their peak in the early 1900s. Open weekends, the Union County Museum is in a former box and barrel factory. The museum also has some amazing examples of Kirkpatrick pottery that was made in nearby Anna, Ill. While there are not as many orchards as in the past, these days tourists can enjoy the Shawnee Wine Trail and the fruit wines made from the produce. Farm orchards, farmers markets and farms all make for fun agritourism stops.

Carl Hoffman, of Southernmost Illinois tourism, added that visitors seeking farm fun will also enjoy touring the alpaca and bison farm. She added that the local farm bureau also offers an ag tour once a year, and that in September there is a neighborhood farm crawl. This year this will take place Sept. 13-14. The Farm Crawl is an annual event, with all events proceeding going to benefit Food Works, a local non-profit organization facilitating the development of a regional food economy in southern Illinois. It is an event where local farmers open their farms to share a bit of their lives with the community. It is a great way to connect with the local growers that sustainably supply the region and work hard to make it an amazing place to live. For details on the crawl, log onto the Farm Crawl Neighborhood Coop website.