Morrison, IL

Morrison is the Whiteside County seat, a town on the Historic Lincoln Highway in northwestern Illinois. The 2020 census counted 4,085 residents. The highway once included two concrete "seedling miles" in Morrison, test stretches meant to show what a better road could do. The town's other unmistakable landmark is the Whiteside County Fairgrounds' Round Barn, a century-old fourteen-sided building that looks round until you get close. The fairgrounds and highway are both easy to reach from the center. Morrison's center grew with the railroad in the 1850s, and the fairgrounds still bring the county's agricultural side into town each summer.

ATTRIvoShandor / CC BY 2.5

The Heritage Museum, older homes, and the highway markings give the place several ways to read its past without leaving the main streets. Morrison is also tied to the Sauk Valley through its employers, schools, and nearby college connections. It is a county-seat town with a road story, a fairground landmark, and just enough old industrial grit to keep the map interesting.