Springfield, IL (CAPITOL CITY NOW) – You can now be something of a word traveler right in your own backyard, as a way to celebrate Illinois’ part in America’s 250th birthday this year.

The Illinois 250 Commission has unveiled what they’re calling a “Passport to Illinois” that you can take with you virtually anywhere in your touristy pursuits throughout the state.

A news conference unveiling the passport was held Wednesday at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum.

“This passport really has brought together 56 places, monuments, histories, museums, that are emblematic of, really, the complicated suite of history that we’re a part of right now,” said Gabrielle Lyon, chair, Illinois 250 Commission.

Complicated, Lyon says, because Illinois started four decades after the nation did.  And, while Illinois played a key role of the development of the U.S., Native Americans were still a part of it, and sometimes in a less than positive light.  Those are only a few of the reasons.

The passport is meant as a sort-of paper travelogue to take with you during travels to any of those 56 locales — like Macomb.

Macomb?  Yes, since Abraham Lincoln spent time there, and because something you probably love has a tie to there.

“Lizzie Magie…a pioneering feminist and artist and inventor born in Macomb, who created arguably the most popular board game in history:  Monopoly,” said Jock Hedblade, executive director of “Visit Unforgettable Forgorttonia” — or, the Macomb Area Convention and Visitors Bureau.  “Today, we celebrate her legacy through ‘Macombopoly’ — transforming our 17,000 square foot downtown into the largest, interactive Monopoly game experience in the world.”

Hedblade and others say the purpose of the passport is simple:  for people to be a tourist in their own back yards.

Copies of the passport will be available at libraries in Illinois starting in March, but now through download at the link above.