Bishop Hill
Heritage Village · Bishop Hill, Illinois
A Swedish utopian colony founded on the Illinois prairie in 1846 by Erik Jansson and around eleven hundred followers who had broken with the Swedish state church and crossed the Atlantic to build a communal society. They held everything in common until 1861, when the experiment collapsed in litigation. The village survives almost unaltered, with fewer than a hundred and fifty residents and a set of colony buildings that are now a state historic site.
Bishop Hill Street, Bishop Hill, Illinois, 61419, United States
Colony buildings generally May to October, with reduced winter hours; several shops close midweek and in winter. Closed on the Illinois state historic site holiday list.