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Certified Illinois Expert

@mrillinois.bsky.social
2.3K followers 401 following 2.5K posts

Certified Illinois Expert. 🧡 libraries, buildings, nature, history. Giving Illinois travel/history lectures at a library near you! See schedule at johnkokoris.com or request that your library book me!

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Certified Illinois Expert @mrillinois.bsky.social · 2h
I will be in Naperville at their 95th St. library branch giving my phenomenal Great Graves of Illinois lecture at 1 p.m. tomorrow (Thursday). C'mon down and say hello! Pictured below is Springdale in Peoria, one of my featured cemetery picks.
rows of military grave markers and a tall monument with a soldier on top. Flags waving: US and POW
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Certified Illinois Expert @mrillinois.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Perhaps the only time i have felt some form of national pride in six years or so, sounds great and feels right
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Certified Illinois Expert @mrillinois.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
I’m really pleased to announce my county/town naming game now has an addiction reduction mode. Colors turn to grayscale, and you’re prompted to take a break if you are playing too much. This is how my website is different than every other trash website on the internet. Play safe!
Screenshot of game
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Certified Illinois Expert @mrillinois.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
New updates to my Illinois county/town naming game include 67 Illinois Lore Relics that you win for entering certain town names, as well as new outfits like this Frank Lloyd Wright sweater and ISU clown pants. (I have also debugged the White Sox Pope Hat to be in correct color.)
pope hat, FLW sweater, red and white clown pants, glasses.
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Certified Illinois Expert @mrillinois.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Great news. My popular Illinois county-naming game now has a character builder so you can suit up your Mr. Illinois avatar before playing. Check it out at johnkokoris.com/experimental-module.
Mr. Illinois avatar in Jordan jersey, stovepipe hat, and jeans
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Certified Illinois Expert @mrillinois.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Forgive me followers, for I have sinned. I have used vibes coding to make an amazing learning module to help our youth train to become the next Mr. Illinois. Practice memorizing counties, county seats, and municipalities at johnkokoris.com/experimental-module.
johnkokoris.com
Experimental Module
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Certified Illinois Expert @mrillinois.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
The more you know
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Certified Illinois Expert @mrillinois.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Putnam County Library is hosting my famous talk on Route 66 in Illinois ONLINE! It will begin at 6. Grab your brown bag dinner and/or popcorn and settle in for an hour of fun; link below.
three fiberglass giants or muffler men outside the American Giants museum in Atlanta IL.
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Certified Illinois Expert @mrillinois.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Does anyone know how to get one’s mitts on an old Wilco poster? Their site has a few and I have looked up the artist as well. Surely there is some secret network of Chicago based Wilco poster dealers?
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Certified Illinois Expert @mrillinois.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Mr. Illinois has entered Palos Heights ahead of tonight’s performance at their esteemed library. (Just enough time to confirm our local waterway is being properly oxygenated at the SEPA station pictured below.)
A rounded cascading waterfall feature at this MWRD site. Surrounded by greenery and a white fence
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Certified Illinois Expert @mrillinois.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
St Dennis in Lockport, finished in 1879. Congregation dates back to 1846 which is pretty darn old for a Catholic Church in northern IL.
Limestone church with clock tower
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Certified Illinois Expert @mrillinois.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Waterfall Glen in DuPage County, which is somehow named for a man named Bud Waterfall.
Looking up at pine trees on a cloudy eveningPath through a Mostly green forest but there are some leaves on itWater falling over a dam constructed by the CCC
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Certified Illinois Expert @mrillinois.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Folks, we’ve got a real good Moose sign on our hands in Lockport
Neon moose sign extended from a yellow brick building
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Certified Illinois Expert @mrillinois.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Very nice strangely shaped tower on this Lockport funeral home
White Victorian building with tower that is hard to describe
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Certified Illinois Expert @mrillinois.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Speaking on Revolutionary Illinois in Lockport tonight and in Palos Heights tomorrow. Come see me! I had to cancel/reschedule this Lockport one for a funeral, so I would love a few extra people to show up to make up for my unprofessionalism. Link below!
reenactors' tents outside the george rogers clark monument in Vincennes IN.
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Certified Illinois Expert @mrillinois.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
West suburban parishes to have spawned from St. Francis Xavier in La Grange.
a kind of funky map from an anniversary history book of st francis showing its dome and surrounding churches represented by steeples, between roosevelt rd, belmont station, joliet rd, and the des plaines river
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Certified Illinois Expert @mrillinois.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Zeke’s I think in Warren IL
Sign for Zeke’s country store with a blonde straw chewing lad I presume must be zeke
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Certified Illinois Expert @mrillinois.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
A 1907 Lutheran church (now Baptist) in Itasca. Not a bad spire on this one!
a simple but imposing white, wooden church with tall steeple/spire.
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Certified Illinois Expert @mrillinois.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Went to Sacramento for my grandmother’s funeral and had time to visit Fairytale Town, a very charming 1959 playground with mostly 1960s/1970s equipment featuring mother goose and fairy tale stuff. Delightfully non commercial & had a lovely literacy center too. The anti-Disney Land
Multistory shoe with heel that is also a slide. Old woman in shoe themedA recycling can that looks like a buckingham guardswomanGingerbread house style bathroomMerlin painting on wall of king Arthur’s castle
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Certified Illinois Expert @mrillinois.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Glencoe on a foggy autumn evening
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Certified Illinois Expert @mrillinois.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Very dramatic book drop placement at the beautiful Glencoe Public Library.
Side of brick building with tall glass block windowsZoomed in we see the book drop labeled Please return all materials here
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Certified Illinois Expert @mrillinois.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Managed to see Chris Foreman, who plays organ at the Green Mill most Fridays, with my brother yesterday picking him up from Misericordia Home. Always so good, and had a guitarist sitting in.
Organist, guitarist behind bar. A crowd watches. Neon green mill sign in the background
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Certified Illinois Expert @mrillinois.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
I have somehow lost my Cahokia mounds hat, Quincy university hat, white sox hat, Knox college hat, Abraham Lincoln museum hat. Anyone have any ideas for another cool baseball cap I can buy to rep my Illinois pride? Needs to be a nice cap, no Velcro/plastic in the back!
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Certified Illinois Expert @mrillinois.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
This 1854 general store in Rockton became the town library in 1889. Is this the oldest public library building in the state?
Fairly simple Greek revival style stone two story house with porch  at sunsetInside the building we see a very contemporary space with warm wood tones, led lights, comfortable furniture
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Certified Illinois Expert @mrillinois.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Being well-versed in Illinois arcana requires familiarity with utopian alphabets that emerged from its peoples. That is why is why I am excited to begin reading The Deseret Alphabet, hot off the press!
Photo of book near a bunch of other books, most about Illinois related topics
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Certified Illinois Expert @mrillinois.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
1908 water tower (Christianized several decades later) near Green Lake, WI
Tall cement tower with observation deck and large cross near topView of lake from behind cross
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Certified Illinois Expert @mrillinois.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
Very cool three story glass atrium over the Midlothian Public Library. A very kind and engaged little crowd tonight talkin George Rogers Clark with me.
A tall, skinny glass paneled circa 1990s style atrium over the entrance to a library
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Certified Illinois Expert @mrillinois.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
Good showing tonight at my Northern Illinois & Driftless Area talk in Geneva. Tomorrow my summer tour concludes in Midlothian with my Revolutionary Illinois talk.
Viking dragon ship elements in genevas beautiful library
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Certified Illinois Expert @mrillinois.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Victorian church with gingerbread house style trim in Waupun, WI
Red with vertical wooden siding. Tall steeple on side
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Certified Illinois Expert @mrillinois.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
The old Carnegie library in Waupun WI, now a local museum
Gray stone building with pointed arch entryway
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Certified Illinois Expert @mrillinois.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Final stop of vacation: Rockton IL’s Dairyhaus, a walk up homemade ice cream shop in an 1854 home. Hearty scoops served, and the salty caramel cashew was probably the best I have tried all summer.
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Certified Illinois Expert @mrillinois.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Vintage roadside motel near Princeton WI with secret basement bar
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Certified Illinois Expert @mrillinois.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Brandon, WI’s public library. How great is this
Brick storefront library with little square bell tower on top
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Certified Illinois Expert @mrillinois.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Waupun WI has this crazy 1940 sculpture (called The Citadel) depicting the vampire of Fascism sneaking up on weeping Liberty. It is encased in a glass cube outside the old library
Two figures in an eerie green patina — bald becloaked vampire with wide eyes, a seated young lady liberty with face in palm
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Certified Illinois Expert @mrillinois.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Seen a lot of libraries but this was a new one for me: Waupun (WI) Public Library is situated mere feet away from the imposing walls of the state penitentiary.
Postmodern style library with atrium entryway next to large cement wall
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Certified Illinois Expert @mrillinois.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
My grandma passed away last night. She loved puzzles, sweets, & and books, and (with my grandpa) took me on my first Illinois road trips. She loved her crazy family unconditionally, especially my brother, pictured here, whose disabilities did not inhibit their close, beautiful relationship
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Certified Illinois Expert @mrillinois.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
Ripon WI’s American Legion building
Whitewashed classical style building with doors in center on tall entry staircase
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Certified Illinois Expert @mrillinois.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
Ripon (WI) House of Prayer
Church with brick lower level and giant A frame roof with peeling  white paint
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Certified Illinois Expert @mrillinois.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
🌞🌝
Curly haired daughter running through woodsSame daughter running thru prairie at dusk
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Certified Illinois Expert @mrillinois.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
Very cool Victorian with incredible porte cochere
Green with pink and cream trim Mint green porte cochere supported by fancy columnsLittle dormer nestled into curving roof
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Certified Illinois Expert @mrillinois.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
Got a disturbing look at our northern neighbors’ culture in the men’s room of a certain Wisconsin lodge. They are not ok up here
A sexy deer headed woman-deer on a toilet drinking a beer
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Certified Illinois Expert @mrillinois.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
Pettit memorial chapel at the cemetery in Belvidere, the only such structure designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. An early example of prairie style
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Certified Illinois Expert @mrillinois.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
Indigenous monoliths can still be found in Berwyn if you know where to look
Easter island style head carved into an old tree trunk segment
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Certified Illinois Expert @mrillinois.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
You can only be in one circle, you can never leave. Which?
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Certified Illinois Expert @mrillinois.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
Sister Mary Jo Sobieck throwing out the first pitch and Bishop Southpaw in gold vestments to honor the sacred occasion of Pope Hat Night
Sister pitching Green creature with flag
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Certified Illinois Expert @mrillinois.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
Two nice shrines at St. Thomas of Canterbury in Uptown
A little three tiered pagoda over a statue of Mary St Thomas with a small side altar with what I presume is his crest
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Certified Illinois Expert @mrillinois.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
Return visit to St. Thomas of Canterbury in Uptown, which has a fairly unique sanctuary and facade. Very heavy on the columns, 14 in front and at least 30 inside depending on what you count
Brick building with many stone or terra cotta ?columns and details. Red doors in the English tradition Interior is a large square hall with rows of columns
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Certified Illinois Expert @mrillinois.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
Chris Jones, a water scientist running for Iowa Ag Secretary, has one of the most compelling campaign messages of anyone running in a red state. He connects ag policy to school lunches, cancer rates, outdoor recreation, data centers, and more—issues that transcend rural America and affect everyone
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Certified Illinois Expert @mrillinois.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
Your last chance to see my famed Route 66 talk in DuPage County this summer will happen tomorrow in Itasca! Get the scoop on the first 300 miles of the Mother Road from the only Certified Illinois Travel Expert in the state. See ya at 7.
an old stretch of Route 66 near lexington called memory lane. Burma shave ads and old fashioned style billboards on the side of road, grain elevator in distrance
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Certified Illinois Expert @mrillinois.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
Trompe l'oeil doors on mausolea at Springdale Cemetery in Peoria
Stone mausoleum labeled Hall with a painted on doorStone mausoleum labeled j lee newton jr with false door painted on and columns painted to look like marble
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