Funks Grove is a historic

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

U.S. Route 66 U.S. Route 66 or U.S. Highway 66 (US 66 or Route 66) is one of the original highways in the United States Numbered Highway System. It was established on November 11, 1926, with road signs erected the following year. The high ...

in McLean County,

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, southwest of Bloomington. The grove for which the settlement is named, ''Funk's Grove'', is a

National Natural Landmark The National Natural Landmarks (NNL) Program recognizes and encourages the conservation of outstanding examples of the natural history of the United States. It is the only national natural areas program that identifies and recognizes the best e ...

Natural history

Illinois's Grand

Prairie Prairies are ecosystems considered part of the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome by ecologists, based on similar temperate climates, moderate rainfall, and a composition of grasses, herbs, and shrubs, rather than trees, as the ...

is spotted with ''groves'', small patches of land where local terrain conditions discouraged prairie fires and allowed trees to reach maturity. One of these spots is the lower drainage of ''Timber Creek'', a prairie rivulet that forms a tributary of ''Sugar Creek''. All of these creeks eventually form part of the

Sangamon River The Sangamon River is a principal tributary of the Illinois River, approximately long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed May 13, 2011 in central Illinois in the United Sta ...

drainage of the

Illinois River The Illinois River () is a principal tributary of the Mississippi River at approximately in length. Located in the U.S. state of Illinois, the river has a drainage basin of . The Illinois River begins with the confluence of the Des Plaines ...

. The banks of Timber Creek, in early historic times, were thickly forested with

white oak ''Quercus'' subgenus ''Quercus'' is one of the two subgenera into which the genus ''Quercus'' was divided in a 2017 classification (the other being subgenus ''Cerris''). It contains about 190 species divided among five sections. It may be calle ...

bur oak ''Quercus macrocarpa'', the bur oak or burr oak, is a species of oak tree native to eastern North America. It is in the white oak section, ''Quercus'' sect. ''Quercus'', and is also called mossycup oak, mossycup white oak, blue oak, or scrub ...

s, and

sugar maple ''Acer saccharum'', the sugar maple, is a species of flowering plant in the soapberry and lychee family Sapindaceae. It is native to the hardwood forests of eastern Canada and the eastern United States. Sugar maple is best known for being the ...

trees. The white oak became the state tree of Illinois, while the sugar maples were used by local Illini Native Americans to make springtime

maple syrup Maple syrup is a sweet syrup made from the sap of maple trees. In cold climates, these trees store starch in their trunks and roots before winter; the starch is then converted to sugar that rises in the sap in late winter and early spring. Ma ...

and

maple sugar Maple sugar is a traditional sweetener in Canada and the Northeastern United States, prepared from the sap of the maple tree ("maple syrup, maple sap"). Sources Three species of maple trees in the genus ''Acer (plant), Acer'' are predomina ...

. Maple sweetening was highly prized among early Euro-American settlers, and as early as 1824 Isaac Funk settled here. The

Funk family The Funk Family is composed of Midwestern United States pioneers who did business in the fields of agriculture, politics, finance and civic life. Abraham Lincoln was one of Funk Farms' first attorneys and later served in the Illinois House of Repr ...

began to sell ''sirup'' commercially in 1891, and the family continues to control and harvest much of the grove .

Funks Grove today

An parcel within the largely privately owned grove was dedicated by the state of Illinois in 1985 as the ''Funk's Grove Nature Preserve''. Due to

fire suppression Fire suppression may refer to: * Firefighting * Fire suppression systems * Wildfire suppression Wildfire suppression is a range of firefighting tactics used to suppress wildfires. Firefighting efforts depend on many factors such as the availabl ...

, the makeup of tree life in Funk's Grove is changing from historic times, with the original oaks not reproducing themselves naturally. Funks Grove continues to be a favorite landmark for users of historic

, which is signed in McLean County as it passes through the grove. In addition, a rest stop lies on the edge of the grove on

Interstate 55 Interstate 55 (I-55) is a major Interstate Highway in the central United States. As with most primary Interstates that end in a five, it is a major cross-country, north–south route, connecting the Gulf of Mexico to the Great Lakes. The ...

at Illinois Milepost 149. The rest stop contains some memorabilia of the grove.

Funks Grove Nature Spaces

Funks Grove Nature Spaces opened in October 2004 and is run by a

non-profit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

. Originally called Sugar Grove Nature Center, it was renamed in April 2024. It features a recreated tallgrass prairie and old-growth grove with trails to view native plants and wildlife; nature play spaces; bird and wildlife viewing spaces; and more.

References

External links

*
Sugar Grove Nature Center

Funks Grove, Illinois
{{authority control Forests of Illinois Grasslands of Illinois National Natural Landmarks in Illinois Nature centers in Illinois Nature reserves in Illinois Populated places established in 1824 Populated places in McLean County, Illinois Protected areas of McLean County, Illinois 1824 establishments in Illinois