Havana, IL

Havana is Mason County's seat on the Illinois River, a city first surveyed in 1827 as Ross' Ferry. Its name came from Cuba Island, the island-shaped piece of river ground at the mouth of the Spoon River, and the ferry became a major inland fishing port by 1900. Rockwell Mound, a large Hopewell earthwork, adds a much older layer to the same riverfront. U.S. 136 crosses the river on the Scott Wike Lucas Bridge, while the courthouse and historic downtown hold the county-seat side of the map. Havana is a river city where ferry, mound, bridge, courthouse, and fish markets line up across time.