Who ever thought a famous cartoon character of more than 70 years came from a small rural town of America.

The city’s pride: Welcome to Chester, Illinois, home of Popeye. Courtesy of Deisha Tamar Manuhutu
This particular town also kept some of America’s best kept secrets.

People can replay the same old tune of Popeye the Sailor Man cartoon over in their heads, even years after having last watched it. They loved watching Popeye fight over Bluto just to save the tall and slender Olive Oyl, and of course, he always won thanks to the strength-building vegetable, spinach. For those avid fans of the hero, you can venture to where the town Popeye was created.

Welcome to Chester, Illinois, Home of Popeye. This small town at Randolph County, with a population of around 5,000 people, was once an important place that shaped America’s early history.

Located next to the well-known Mississippi River, Chester was once a strategic place to stop by for those who traveled on steamboat along the Mississippi River. To name a few of those who loved to stop by Chester were Mark Twain and Charles Dickens.

Nowadays, this town is offering various tourist sites and attractions. One of the main attractions is of course none other than Popeye the Sailor Man.

The Spinach Can Collectibles Popeye Museum is a petite-sized museum dedicated to Popeye and his gang, located at the corner of 1001 State Street.

Besides being a museum, it also sells Popeye merchandise — from shirts, hats, magnets, postcards, accessories and dolls to vintage Popeye comics — this store has it all. Spinach Can Collectibles is definitely the place for the ultimate Popeye aficionado.

The fun for Popeye fans doesn’t stop at the museum, there is a Popeye and Friends Character Trail, which is an adventurous character trail.

You can try to locate several Popeye cartoon characters’ statues scattered all over the town of Chester, for example, the Wimpy statue placed at the Chester Gazebo Square.

This might be knowledge that not a lot of people know, but Popeye and fellow characters were conceivably real people who lived in Chester.

They inspired E.C. Segar, the cartoonist, to draw cartoons out of them. Now if you don’t believe me, you can take a rather morbid tour of Chester by visiting Chester cemetery to find Dora Paskel’s burial ground, the woman behind the inspiration for Olive Oyl. You can also visit Segar Park, a memorial park to honor E.C. Segar located next to Chester Bridge with a bronze statue of Popeye. This is a great place to take photos with Mississippi River as your background.  

Now, if you are not much of a Popeye fan, there are some other interesting historic sites that you can visit around the town.

Fort Kaskaskia was constructed to keep the British out during the French and Indian War — the fort offers a beautiful sight overlooking the great Mississippi River while having a picnic at the gazebo.

For architecture lovers, some great options are The Cohen Home and Pierre Menard Home. Both homes were influenced with some French architectural design and were built in the 1800s, facing the endless magnificent view of Mississippi River.

The Cohen Home, built by William Cohen, attracted many travelers during its time who were sailing on the Mississippi River for its exquisite blue storm windows.

Nowadays, this home is open for tours and anyone can make special arrangements to hold events inside this beautiful home, such as wedding receptions or baby showers.

Pierre Menard Home was the home of Pierre Menard, the first Lt. Governor of Illinois. You can enjoy vintage 1800s home furniture or you see what 1800s kitchens looked like just behind the house.

Downstairs at the basement of the house, you can see some real property belonging to the Menard family back in the day. This home is definitely a good place to learn about what American history and families were like back in the day.

If you are not into history so much, visiting the Chester Public Library or Randolph County Court House might be an alternative.

Who knows, you might just find some interesting literature to read at the cozy library or gain knowledge about the American justice system at the Court House.

Chester at Illinois State, US, is definitely a place worth visiting. Especially if you are trying to escape the hustle and bustle of city life, this small town will definitely give you some peace of mind and is a memorable small American town experience.

— Photos by Deisha Tamar Manuhutu

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