Study Names This Place As Illinois’ Most Charming Small Town

I don't want to give it away too quickly, but I can tell you that the town recently named as Illinois' most charming small town is on the map above, and it does have a red pin stuck in it. Does that help you formulate a guess as to our winner?

Okay, here are a few more hints.

• This Illinois town is also known as "Gem City."
• It was a key link in the Underground Railroad
• The town had a frequent visitor named Abraham Lincoln
• The 6th Lincoln-Douglas debate was held in one of the city's parks
• It was once the 2nd-largest city in Illinois, surpassing Peoria in 1870

Maybe an overhead view will help you identify the town:

And perhaps a bridge or two, too.

Home Improvement Services Website AllStarHome.com Took A Look At Small Towns All Across The Country To Make Their Picks For The Most Charming Small Towns In Every State

Here's what AllStarHome.com used as criteria for picking the country's most charming small towns:

To determine the top hometowns, places were subject to four key rankings: community, affordable living, safety, and education. Since community is paramount for smaller cities and towns this was made the most important component of the ranking. Community score was based on factors such as diversity by state, farmer’s markets in the vicinity, historical buildings, and the average winning percentage of the area’s high school football teams.

Those seem like reasonable things to look at, although I am amused by the community score section where they looked at "farmer's markets in the vicinity," and "winning percentage of area high school football teams." That's a lot of pressure to put on farmers and high school football players and coaches.

Okay, a couple more photos to help you guess the town:

If those didn't help, perhaps naming the county (which includes the county seat) will push you over the top.

You Probably Knew All Along (And Were Just Humoring Me) That It's Quincy, Illinois

AllStarHome.com named Elmira, New York as the most charming small town in America with an overall score of 75, and a community score of 43. As a matter of face, 5 of the top ten most charming small towns in America are in New York state, according to this study.

Quincy, our state's most charming small town gets a total score of 58, with a community score of 32.

Let's take a quick tour.