Founded: 1854
Type: Village
Parks and Areas of Interest
| Name | Description |
| Trains | For those who love to photograph trains, Kirkwood and the surrounding area provide unsurpassed opportunities to photograph Burlington Northern and Santa Fe trains, many with HUGE engines with spanking new paint and over a mile long, not to mention Amtrak’s California Zepher. |
| Softball | All summer long at Gunter Field, have a hot dog and watch some fine softball. |
| Chairwright | People come from all over the country to purchase Bill Gullberg’s handmade windsor chairs and 18 th Century furniture, generally available by commission only, or to take a week-long class in traditional chairmaking. |
| World Class Carving | Bruce Stuart is a World Class Waterfowl Carver. He has won the World Championship in Ocean City Md., the Nationals, and many other, too numerous to list, competitions. His awesome work is sought by collectors all across the country. He works by commission only, but may sell something he has carved for himself from time to time. Bruce lives and works in his studio near Kirkwood. His telephone number is (309) 768-2607. |
| Primitives | Thelma and Gene Crandall, proprietors of Thelma Louise’s Things, craft primitive interior and exterior design furniture, decorative pieces, and floral arrangements. Thelma Louise’s Things are available for purchse year-round at Touch of Country, Monmouth, Illinois, and annually at the QCA Christmas Show on Thanksgiving Week-End at the Expo Center in Rock Island, Illinois. The Crandall’s telephone number is (309) 768-2484. |
| Fine Arts | Nelly Dennison, Jan Speer (watercolors), and Cherry Simmons (who drew the logo for this website) create fine artwork. The Buchanan Center in Monmouth sometimes includes arts of local artists for sale. http://home.grics.net/bca/ |
| Writing and Publishing | Writer and publisher Jan Speer is the author and illustrator of 7 children's books called The Clothes Pin Kids. Jan and son Dan Speer publish the books. They are available for purchase at their website, http://www.bloomington.in.us/~dspeer/ClothespinKids/ T he books are also available for reading at the Kirkwood Library. Jan can be reached at telephone number (309) 768 2205. |
| Writing, Publishing, Public Speaking | Frank Thompson is a public speaker on a quest to “Change the World” with kindness. His theory, which he is trying to support with the sale of caps and T-shirts, is that everybody needs to talk more to each other and show caring and a willingness to listen. He believes this will reduce crime and improve people’s lives. He is available to speak anywhere within reason. He can be reached at (309) 768-2458. Frank has also published four books; Poetry in Motion I and II, and The American Farmer Book I and II., both books are currently out of print. |
| Young's Lake | Youngs lake is a small privately owned lake near Kirkwood. Offerings: Youngs Lake (membership required) provides outdoor recreation, swimming, boating, angling, and camping to its members. |