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Visitors Guide to
the
Brussels
Calhoun County, Illinois
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Calhoun
County, like Jo Daviess County in northwest Illinois, is unique in the state in
that glaciers didn’t touch it and therefore has a more rugged terrain that is
dissected by valleys than the generally flat terrain associated with the rest of
Illinois. Calhoun County is also located at the tip of the peninsula formed by
the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers and is almost completely surrounded by
water. Brussels is located near the southern tip of the peninsula on a fertile
ridge top with some shallow valley slopes that makes it a suitable site for
farming and orchards. German immigrants first settled this small country village
in 1822 that were attracted by the fertile land that had an adequate water
supply and nearby forests that provided wood for construction and fuel. The lack
of any railroads or bridges into Calhoun County has meant that Brussels has
always been sparsely populated with a population never reaching greater than
several hundred, allowing it to retain the feeling of a small but active
agricultural community of the late 19th and early 20th century.
 The first
settler to the area was John Metz who arrived in 1822 and the first business was
a blacksmith shop opened by Joshua Twichell in the same year. The blacksmith
shop served the transient lumberjacks who cut wood in this heavily timbered
region for shipment to nearby St. Charles and St. Louis. In 1847 Conrad Wittmond
opened the Wittmond Trading Post (now
the Wittmond Restaurant and Hotel - the oldest continuously
operating business in the village, (photo right) to trade for fur and wild hogs.
The first church was a Catholic Church constructed in
1847 and five years later Father John Moliter, a Belgium priest, became the first
resident priest. Moliter died three months after his arrival and the people of
the parish decided to name the village "Brussels" after Moliter’s
hometown in Belgium. The oldest surviving church in Brussels is the Italianate
styled St. Mary’s on Main Street built in 1863. The town boundaries were
established in 1876 and Brussels was incorporated in 1888.
 The Brussels Historic District was
placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1998 and consists of 80
contributing structures ranging from commercial buildings and residences to
barns, chicken coops and privies. Most of the buildings do not represent any
particular architectural style although the Queen Anne, Italianate, and Greek
Revival styles are represented. Visitors can stroll
down Main and Community Streets and see restored businesses and homes dating
back to the 1800's as well as the historic Jail. The
Jail (photo left,) a red shed like structure in the center of the village, was
originally called "the calaboose", was built about the same
time town's boundaries were established and the corrugated iron was added in
1889. It was mostly used to house men overnight for drinking too much beer and is said
to have once held 12 men who had to sleep standing up. The last prisoner was
held there in 1952 and today the
Calhoun County Sheriff’s Department handles any disturbances.
The people of Brussels are proud of their German heritage
and their sense of community pride, which can be seen by the upkeep of their
buildings. The surrounding area features rolling hills, farmland, and orchards.
The Two Rivers National Wildlife Refuge and Pere
Marquette State Park are close by and offer a variety of recreational
opportunities to the Brussels area visitor. Unless you are driving in from the north on the Great River Road
or use the Joe Page Bridge in Hardin the only way to reach Brussels is to use
one the local ferries.
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