The annual Homestead Festival honors Reverend Owen Lovejoy and his contributions to our nation's history. Lovejoy was prominent in the abolition movement and the Underground Railroad, a founder of the Illinois and national Republican Party, and a congressional leader.

Today his home is open to the public as a museum. The United States Secretary of the Interior declared the property a National Historic Landmark in 1997, and it is also on the National Register of Historic Places.

The following is a biography of Owen Lovejoy, and a brief history of his home and the Homestead Festival.