John Wood Mansion

The John Wood mansion in Quincy

At the corner of 12th and State is the preserved home of John Wood, the first settler and founding father of Quincy, a governor of Illinois, and a friend of Abraham Lincoln.  John Wood first visited the area in 1821 and saw the unique natural advantages of the high bluffs that border the Mississippi River bank (which would provide protection from flooding and river bottom diseases) and a natural harbor (providing easy docking for river boats), two ingredients that could lead to a major port city.  Wood wrote to a friend that he wanted, "to settle here for life." Wood first built a log cabin along the river in 1822 near where Delaware Street is today.  When he married in 1826, he built a two story log cabin on the opposite side of where his mansion is today at 12th street.  He made his fortune in real estate and built this Greek Revival style mansion, designed by John Cleaveland, in 1835 on that site.  When it was built, Wood would not have been able to see any other homes in the neighborhood from his mansion except log cabins (like the one pictured below).  In 1864 the mansion was raised up and moved across 12th Street to its present location to make way for Wood's new stone octagon mansion (now demolished).  Wood would become Lieutenant Governor and for a brief time governor of Illinois. He was a political ally of a fellow Illinois Whig politician, Abraham Lincoln. 

The columns and overhang of the John Wood Mansion

On the southeast corner of the mansion property is a preserved log cabin from 1835.

To continue exploring Quincy click on one of the links below.

Quincy (Home)
Villa Katherine
State Street
York Street
Washington Park and Neighborhood
Washington Park: Lincoln Douglas Debate
Washington Park: Gardner Museum
Maine Street
Hampshire Street
6th Street
Quincy University
Bicentennial Park
Riverfront Neighborhood
Indian Mounds Park
Woodland Cemetery
Riverview Park
Victorian Homes