Hey Everyone!  Molly and I traveled to Benton, IL on Interstate 57.  The coordinates for the location of the picture are 37.996907,-88.93434.  From Wham, this is 35 miles exactly.  Molly's total miles for this mission add up to 70.  Her total miles for this semester are 4,660.42! 
   Benton, IL is the county seat of Franklin County.  It it home to the Franklin County Court House on the Public Square which was built in 1874 for $27,500.  It is also home to a jail museum where the last public hanging occurred in Illinois.  The IL gangster, Charles Birger was executed there on December 12, 1926 for murdering the mayor of West City, a nearby town.  The town of Benton was named after a Missouri Senator named Thomas Hart Benton and formed in 1841.  The village consisted of 20 acres that was donated by John Ewing and Walter S. Akin.  Two small farming towns nearby, called Ewing and Akin, were named after these two men.  Benton grew because of its high-sulfur coal, rich soil, and multiple local railroads. 
   Interstate 57 was built from Chicago to Cairo and dedicated in September, 1961.  It has been known to have beautiful scenery surrounding, and brings business to many small towns along the road from travelers going to and from Chicago.
-Samantha Hagerman