The Du Quoin State Fair has hosted some incredible acts in its nearly 100-year history, including country music superstars Kansas and Grammy-nominated blues rock band The Fabulous Thunderbirds!
Beautiful Du Quoin is located in southwestern Illinois, about 20 miles north of the city of Carbondale, home of Southern Illinois University
The Du Quoin State Fair has hosted some incredible acts in its nearly 100-year history, including country music superstars Kansas and Grammy-nominated blues rock band The Fabulous Thunderbirds!
Beautiful Du Quoin is located in southwestern Illinois, about 20 miles north of the city of Carbondale, home of Southern Illinois University. This generally quiet town has bursts of activity during its festival and state fair days, even though most of the time it's a quiet but thriving community. This typical main street community is mostly rural but with enough amenities to make you feel right at home no matter where you hail from!
Don't move in August! Other than that most of the year is up for grabs. August tends to be hot and sticky and good only for back-to-school shopping sales and hanging out by a swimming pool. As for winter, well, good luck with that. Winter is a mystery here as it is in much of this part of Illinois. Some years it roars in with snow and ice until March, other years it barely makes an appearance. Plan for the worst and hope for the best. If you hear snow is in the forecast, be sure to run to the store for bread and milk; everyone else does and you don't want to be left out. Apparently, French toast is the perfect snow-day meal.Moving here is simple enough. It's a small town and the people are very friendly. Apartment complexes will require an application, but most private rental apartments in Du Quoin don't bother with that or with a credit check. No matter what type of rental housing you opt for you will need the standard security deposit along with first and last months' rent. You may need a pet deposit but that is rare in private houses; apartment complexes may have breed restrictions. You will need deposits for electric, gas and water. There are several options for Internet service with Wisper and Frontier being among the favorites in the area. There is also a choice for cable television -- Comcast or Mediacom.
The normal course of events in Southern Illinois is that as towns expand they annex in places that used to be towns but are now nothing but residential areas. They retain the name of the town as a neighborhood designation. Du Quoin is slightly different in that it did annex Sunfield into the town, but also because Du Quoin itself shifted its town center from Old Du Quoin, which was focused on the railroad back in the late 1800s, to what is now the City Center in the mid-1920s. Sunfield: This area is made up of an interesting mix of older 4 to 5 bedroom homes, newer 3 to 4 bedroom homes and a few 2 to 3 bedroom places. Keep in mind that the older homes may have more rooms but they tend to be small. When looking for a home for rent you also need to consider the yard. In this area you will find larger yards that need tending. You are fairly close to some chain restaurants here such as Panda Gardens and Sonic. Old Du quoin: This part of Du Quoin has some very large 5 to 6 bedroom homes along with much smaller 3 to 4 bedroom homes. Generally speaking in this area, the larger the home the older it is. There are some beautiful old historic homes in this area with their original woodwork and stained glass windows. If you are looking for all bills paid apartments in Du Quoin, you will probably need to look someplace else. You will find Alongi's restaurant close to this area and the Italian food there is great. City Center: There are a few apartment complexes here and most feature a standard 2 bedroom apartment for rent. They are largely updated and offer the basic amenities. While there is a local public pool close by here, it doesn't hurt to have one of your own. Single family homes in this area tend to be on the smaller side with 2-3 bedrooms being the average. Tequila's restaurant, a Mexican restaurant that has become a chain of sorts in Southern Illinois, can be found close by.
If you are interested in dining out, the top picks in Du Quoin are Alongi's Italian Restaurant and Larry's Pit Barbeque. You will also find plenty to choose from in the chain restaurants as they are all well represented locally. The shrimp pasta at Alongi's and the pulled pork at Larry's both get rave reviews on Yelp and Google. Sports around here are pretty basic. Everyone supports the St. Louis Cardinals, The Southern Illinois Salukis and the Southern Illinois Miners. These are the most local teams, other than high school sports. High school sports are taken very seriously here. If you aren't interested, it's usually best to fake it. Homecoming is celebrated town-wide.When it comes to recreation, this is a hunting and fishing community. The first day of deer season sees many businesses closed and classes at the local school cancelled or at least shortened. If there is a body of water you will find someone fishing in it. One popular spot is nearby Rend Lake. This is also a great place for hiking and boating. The single biggest draw is the Du Quoin State Fair. This late August event is one of the few things that will pull people from out of their air conditioned homes. Not only is there a huge carnival but the music acts are generally names everyone knows from the radio. Top bands from both country and rock music headline the show.
