A beautiful small town. Entering the town through a forest is quite amazing. The gift shop is a must see - it looks small from the front, but has an amazing collection of antique and new gift selections. Across from this is a woodworking barn, and makes and sells items from wood. We saw small pieces of furniture, chairs, a high-chair, and more in front. The church is beautiful, with the cemetery next to it. Warm, friendly people, and a lovely area.

Funks Grove isn't the site of a battlefield or a plantation house or a rich, fertile plot of land covered with orange trees or grapefruit trees or peach trees. It made its reputation on maple syrup or sirup. Located on Historic Route 66, in McLean County, 10 miles southwest of Bloomington, Illinois, Funks Grove is a National Nature Landmark with an interesting history. The brothers Isaac and Absalom Funk came to the region from Kentucky in 1824 and settled in the grove, choosing the location for the abundant water supply, fertile soil and timber. They were soon joined by Robert and Dorothy Funk Stubblefield, who came from Ohio. Historically, the banks of Timber Creek, a tributary which eventually formed part of the Sangamon River drainage of the Illinois River, were thickly forested with white oaks, bur oaks and sugar maple trees. The sugar maples were used by local Native Americans to make springtime maple syrup and maple sugar. Maple sweeting was highly prized among early European and American settlers. The Funk family began to sell sirup commercially in 1891. Since then, family members have continued to control and harvest much of the grove and expand the business to include ice cream, popcorn, pure maple candy, fruits and other products. In addition, Funks Grove Nature Spaces opened in 2004. It features a recreated tall grass prairie and old-growth grove with trails to view native plants and wildlife, nature play spaces and bird and wildlife viewing spaces. For users of historic U.S. Route 66, a rest stop on the edge of the grove on I-55 at Illinois Milepost 149 contains some memorabilia of the grove.

There are about 3,800 ghost towns in the United States, mostly in California, Colorado, Nevada, Texas, Montana, Arizona, Wyoming and Utah, many old mining camps that ran out of gold or silver. Illinois lists only one ghost town, Funks Grove, a historic unincorporated community on U.S. Route 66 in McLean County, of I-55, 12 miles southwest of Bloomington. It was settled in 1824 by Isaac Funk, who began to make springtime maple syrup and maple sugar and began to sell his sirup commercially in 1891. An 18.6-acre parcel of land within the largely privately owned grove was dedicated by the state of Illinois in 1985 as the Funk's Grove Nature Preserve. Today, Funks Grove continues to be a favorite landmark for users of historic Route 66, which is signed in McLean County as it passes through the grove. In addition, a rest stop is located on the edge of the grove on I-55 at Illinois milepost 149. It contains some memorabilia of the grove. A few historic sites still remain in Funks Grove. The old Walker store once operated as a grocery store and gas station, later as an antique store. It is closed today but still is filled with rusty relics. The railroad depot stands in the middle of the clearing. Also the old cemetery and Funks Grove Church, which dates to 1845. Adam Funk, Isaac's father, chose the location of the cemetery in 1830 and was the first to be buried there. Farther down the road is the homestead of Robert Stubblefield. All that remains is a rustic barn sitting in the middle of a field. None other than Abraham Lincoln served as the Funk family's attorney and he and Isaac Funk were largely responsible for bringing the Chicago & Alton Railroad through the region, sidetracking it from its planned route through Peoria. Funk also was one of the founders of Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington. Today, the seventh generation of Funks continues to make sirup in the area and continues to farm about 2,000 acres of the original homestead and manages about 1,000 head of cattle. But the town of Funks Grove ceased to exist long ago.