While visiting Benton, head downtown, where at least three antique shops offer a variety of antiques and collectibles.īenton is just an hour or so northeast of the Irish Inn outside of the town of Ozark, Ill. Logan, actor John Malkovich, NBA basketball star Doug Collins, and Beatle George Harrison, who visited his sister in Benton in the summer of 1963.” According to the website, “This beautifully restored 1905 structure houses memorabilia of the gang era from the days of Prohibition, as well as mementos from famous Benton natives, including General John A. The museum is the former jail and today serves as the home of the Franklin County Tourism Bureau. At the Historic Jail Museum and Franklin County Tourism Bureau they have a room that includes that radio interview. She was able to get station WFRX to play the tune and it was deemed to be the first playing of Beatles music in the U.S.Īt the Rim Rock Recreation Area, visitors explore an Indian rock wall and can walk down stairs to the entrance of Ox-Lot Cave.Ībout a week later during his visit, Louise got George a gig on WFRX and George was interviewed by the station. George had sent a copy of the song She Loves You to his mother, who passed it on to his sister. While in town, Harrison played with a local band, the Four Vests, at the Eldorado VFW hall. What about that Beatles connection? George Harrison’s sister, Louise, was living in Benton when George spent two weeks here in 1963. “Everything here is local,” the guide added about the beautiful automobile collection. These cars were built in Detroit by Hupmobile from 1908 to 1941. The museum includes other beautiful cars, like the 1916 Dort, of which there are only 50 or so still in existence, and a 1914 Hupmobile. They would bring them here and put the wheels on them and take them out to be sold,” the tour guide says. The Franklin County Garage was the first car dealership in southern Illinois. He has an almost Robin Hood-like romanticized past and his story reads like a Life Time Movie. Birger is just part of the gangster history of this area. Convicted of hiring a hit man to kill the mayor, Birger was hanged on April 12, 1928. For those fascinated by the Prohibition-era gangster Charlie Birger, they can see his car, a 1912 Ford Model T, on display. The dealership has been restored to its original condition and features autos and memorabilia of the era. The building was built in 1910 and was a former Ford dealership in Benton. Make plans now before summer heat sizzles and energy fizzles!Ĭar buffs will love the Franklin County Garage. Stay at the Irish Inn and savor the beauty of Bell Smith Springs in the Shawnee National Forest. Come to this southern Illinois hamlet, tour the sites then head further south. This is where Charlie Birger, the Prohibition-era criminal, was the last person to be hanged in Illinois, as well as the town where the first Beatles record was heard stateside. You can find information about almost any kind of history in the small town of Benton. Garden of the Gods in the Shawnee National Forest in southern Illinois.
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