Interstate 72 (I-72) is an Interstate Highway in the midwestern United States. Its western terminus is in Hannibal, Missouri, at an intersection with U.S. Route 61 (US 61); its eastern terminus is at Country Fair Drive in Champaign, Illinois. The route runs through the major cities of Decatur, Illinois, and Springfield, Illinois. In 2006, the Illinois General Assembly dedicated all of I-72 as Purple Heart Memorial Highway. The stretch between Springfield and Decatur is also called Penny Severns Memorial Expressway, and the section between mile 35 and the Mississippi River is known as the Free Frank McWorter Historic Highway.
A section of I-72, north of Seymour, Illinois, looking west
The bridge of Interstate 72 and U.S. Route 36 over the Illinois River, near Valley City, Illinois.
Hannibal is a city along the Mississippi River in Marion and Ralls counties in the U.S. state of Missouri. According to the 2020 U.S. Census, the population was 17,312, making it the largest city in Marion County. The bulk of the city is in Marion County, with a tiny sliver in the south extending into Ralls County.
Mark Twain's boyhood home in Hannibal
Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn at the Foot of Cardiff Hill (1926), by Frederick Hibbard
The Mississippi River at Hannibal
The view from Lover's Leap of Hannibal and the Mississippi River
