Visitors may tour the Mansion daily from 9-5.  To make a reservation for a tour of the Mansion please call 1-815-433-6100.

For other uses of the Mansion, such as meetings, weddings/receptions, showers, etc. please call for additional information and reservations.

The Reddick Mansion is as a unique landmark, and prideful reminder of the past.  Standing on the corner of Columbus and Lafayette streets in Ottawa Illinois, the magnificent structure remains as a tribute to the architecture, times, and people of a by gone century.

Built before the Civil War, the three-story 22 room mansion is known to be one of the most expensive and ornate Italianate residences ever constructed in the Midwest during the mid 1800’s.  Few other pre-Civil War homes in Illinois compare to the architectural quality or complexity to the Reddick Mansion.  The ornamental plaster cornices, ceiling medallions, marble fireplaces and woodwork throughout the Mansion can not be matched in beauty or craftsmanship.  They have been reported to be among the finest found anywhere in Illinois in the 1800’s.

The Mansion is also linked to one of Ottawa’s most memorable historic events, the Lincoln-Douglas debate.  Reportedly on August 21, 1858 many of the towns’ people watched from the Mansion’s front steps as Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas debated in Washington Square.  It is said William Reddick, a staunch Democrat, sat with Douglas on the speaker’s platform.

As Irish immigrant, William Reddick was able to work with the Irish immigrants working on the I & M Canal.  He was known not only as a respected businessman, County Sheriff, but also a philanthropist.  With education being of utmost importance to him, he was instrumental in the organization of free public schools in Ottawa.  In accordance with the wishes of Mr. Reddick, upon his death the home became property of the City of Ottawa to be used as a library.  The library served Ottawa for over 85 years until it moved to newer facilities.  In 1974, the Reddick Mansion Association was chartered as a non-profit corporation in charge of ensuring the restoration, maintenance and operation of the property.  This site, which is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places, remains open to the public.