Discover 4 hidden attractions, cool sights, and unusual things to do in Princeton (United States). Don't miss out on these must-see attractions: Red Covered Bridge, Princeton Public Library, and Richard M. Skinner House. Also, be sure to include Greenwood Cottage in your itinerary.
Below, you can find the list of the most amazing places you should visit in Princeton (Illinois).
Table of Contents
Red Covered Bridge
Covered bridge in Bureau County, Illinois. The Red Covered Bridge is a wooden, covered bridge that runs over Big Bureau Creek north of Princeton in Dover Township, Bureau County, Illinois. It was originally built in 1863, at a cost of $3,148.57. The 149-foot span is one of ten remaining covered bridges in Illinois, and it is still open to traffic, though now covered with CCTV cameras. It was once part of the Peoria-Galena Trail.
The bridge was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places on April 23, 1975.[1]
Princeton Public Library
Public library in Princeton, Illinois. Princeton Public Library is located in Princeton, Illinois, the county seat of Bureau County.[2]
Address: 698 E Peru St, Princeton
Richard M. Skinner House
The Richard M. Skinner House is a historic house located at 627 East Peru Street in Princeton, Illinois. Built in 1878, the house was designed by Princeton architect Joseph Plummer Bryant. Bryant's design was largely a Second Empire work but also included Italianate elements. The house has a mansard roof, a characteristic Second Empire feature, with a projecting central pavilion at the front entrance; seven dormers project from the roof. The roof's cornice is bracketed, displaying the design's Italianate influence. A veranda along the front of the house features detailed moldings along the edge of the roof and a balustrade along the bottom.
The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places on February 10, 1983.[3]
Greenwood Cottage
Greenwood Cottage is a historic house located at 543 East Peru Street in Princeton, Illinois. The house was built in 1852 for Princeton lawyer Joseph Innskeep Taylor. Architect Abel Martin built the Gothic Revival home to the specifications of a design in Andrew Jackson Downing's Architecture of Country Houses. The clapboard house features a front porch with gingerbread bargeboard, a balustrade along the porch roof, and lancet windows on the second floor. Taylor planned the house's landscape, which features both native and exotic trees arranged in a natural setting. The grounds of the house also include an English garden with a Gothic arched entrance.
Among the holdings are portraits of Taylor and his wife Sarah, painted by Junius Sloan in the 1850s.
The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places on May 9, 1983.[4]