A Day Trip To Chester Illinois: Home of Popeye the Sailor Man

Without a doubt, most of you haven’t heard about Chester, Illinois, home of Popeye the Sailor Man. But you probably heard about Popeye Village in Malta, a film set of the 1980 Musical Production ‘Popeye.’

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When I looked for places of interest around Mt. Vernon, Illinois, that was the first time I heard about Popeye in Illinois. We’ve been to Mt. Vernon several times, and I ran out of places to go. Google searches took us to Chester, Illinois, home of Popeye the Sailor Man.

Where is Chester Illinois?

Chester is a city in the southwestern part of Illinois. The town sits atop the bluffs overlooking the beautiful, mighty Mississippi River. And it is on the National Scenic Byway Great River Road.

How far is Chester, Illinois, from Chicago, Illinois?

There are 348 miles from Chicago to Chester towards the southwest. If you drive non-stop, you will arrive after a 5 hours and 24 minutes drive.

How far is Chester, Illinois, from St. Louis, Missouri?

From St. Louis to Chester is closer than from Chicago to Chester. It’s only 66.6 miles toward the southeast. If you drive non-stop from St. Louis, you will arrive after 1 hour and 19 minutes drive.

Why is Chester, Illinois, the Home of Popeye?

It is because Chester was the birthplace of E.C. Segar, creator of Popeye the Sailor Man. Years after his death, a group of sorority sisters in his hometown decided to honor him. It’s not with a statue of Segar but of Popeye. 

Chester Illinois: Popeye & Friends Character Trail

In 1977 a bronze statue of Popeye was erected at the Segar Memorial Park in Chester, Illinois. The park location is by the Mississippi River, and it is also the location of Chester Welcome Center. The bronze statue is 6 feet tall and 900 pounds.

Over three decades later, they established Popeye & Friends Character Trail to enrich tourists’ enjoyment of Popeye and friends. Every year a granite statue of a character from Popeye’s friends is added to the trail. The trail begins at the Chester Welcome Center.

Chester, Illinois, is also a stopping place for steamboat river cruises over the Mississippi River. The dock is not too far from the visitor center, so the location of the Popeye statue is the best place to start Popeye and friends’ statue hunting.

In the middle of Chester, there’s a Spinach Can Collectibles, a museum, and a gift store. It’s the only Popeye Shop and Museum in the world! You will go here when cruising Popeye & Friends Character Trail.

Hunting for Popeye & Friends Character Statues

As we entered Chester from a different direction, we began our Popeye & Friends statues hunting from Sea Hag & Bernard the Vulture near Walmart and McDonald’s.

Chester is not a big city, but you must have an eagle eye to spot the statues. We missed Roughhouse at Reid’s Harvest House. We were supposed to spot it before Sea Hag, but visiting it before we left town.

The next stop on the trail was Castor Oyl & Whiffle Hen by Chester Memorial Hospital. Followed by Wimpy near the Spinach Can Collectibles. The location is in Gazebo Park, where visitors can find cut-outs of Popeye and his friends and their murals.

Then we went to the Spinach Can Collectibles museum and gift store. You never know how many items they produced for Popeye and friends collectible until you get to this museum.

When we walked to the museum, a busload of river cruise passengers had just left. So we had the museum for ourselves.

From here, we visited Cole Oyl at Chester Public Library and Olive, Swee’Pea & Eugene the Jeep in front of Randolph County Courthouse.

Finally, we saw the Popeye bronze statue at Chester Visitor Center. It was a nice visitor center where you could learn about Chester, which includes Mary’s Covered Bridge, Fort Kaskaskia, and Pierre Menard Home. Of course, about E.C. Segar.

Then we drove to the river to see the steamboat. It was there for a few hours. The steamboat was large, and I thought it would be nice to experience the mighty Mississippi River Cruise in the future from that steamboat.

We continued our Popeye and friends’ statues hunting in Chester, Illinois, to the west. We found Alice the Goon & her Child at Chester Center on Lehmen Drive (Route 3 North) and Poopdeck Pappy at the Cohen Recreational Complex.

Then we drove back toward the center, where we met Bluto, aka Brutus, at the corner of Swanwick Street and W. Holmes Street near the Buena Vista Bank parking lot. You must park your car to get a picture of Bluto because it’s at the intersection.

Our next stop was the front lawn of Chester High School to see Prof. Watasnozzle. Its location is at 1901 Swanwick Street. It was followed by another stop at a school, this time at Chester Community Grade School on Opdyke Street. Here we saw statues of Popeye’s nephews. My husband and I didn’t remember the Nephews from the comic books or cartoons, though.

The last stop on the trail was Roughhouse on Reid’s Harvest House. It was a restaurant, and they were open, so we had supper there before leaving the town. You can find it at 2440 State Street.

Annual Popeye Picnic at Chester Illinois

Each year the city of Chester conducts a Popeye Picnic on the weekend after Labor Day. Usually, that’s where they introduce the new addition to the Popeye & Friends Character Trail.

Here are the new additions since our visit:

1. King Blozo in the front yard of a City Hall at 1330 Swanwick Street.

2. Nana Oyl at Manor at Craig Farms, 3030 State Street.

3. Popeye’s Pups at Chester Firehouse.

4. Sherlock & Segar at Baskerville Hall.

5. Toar at St. Nicholas Landmark on Ferry Street.

6. Harold HamGravy at FKCG Law Office, on the corner of State Street and Taylor Street.

7. Oscar, Popeye’s comedic friend, at Cole Memorial Park near Disc Golf Course’s hole #1.   

So many characters, right? How many of them do you recognize?

Check out Popeye’s timeline here for more info or to refresh your memory about Popeye. 

We also visited Superman in Metropolis (story coming soon). Then we went to Casey, Home of the World’s Largest. You can find both cities in Illinois.   

So, before you fly far to Europe, why don’t you visit Popeye in Chester, Illinois? You can fly to the nearest city and then drive to Chester or make a road trip through Chester, Illinois. It was a fun day trip!

Where to stay in Chester?

If you plan to stay at Chester, check out the Best Western Chester Hotel. But dogs are not allowed.

Or, stay at Ste. Genevieve in Missouri, the oldest permanent European settlement west of the Mississippi River. The city is rich in history, beautiful parks, wineries, fairs & festivals, and many more.

It is around 30 minutes drive in the northwest direction. You can stay at Hometown Inn and Suites or Cottage with Yard, Walk to Historic Attractions!