• Anniversary, birthday and special occasion celebrations
• Romantic getaways, wedding nights, honeymoons, second honeymoons
• Weekend or midweek escapes
• Girlfriend, mother-daughter and sister getaways
• Groups of couples
• Family reunions, adults returning for high school and college reunions
• College weekends: Parents and graduates (Some of the local colleges are Knox College, Augustana College, Black Hawk College, Western IL University)
• Personal individual retreats or relaxing mini vacation
• Bishop Hill festivals and weekend events
• Swedish guests, both from abroad and Swedish-Americans tracing their genealogy

“The scones were the best we have had since we stayed at a B&B in England! They were perfect.”
Michael and Jean, Galesburg, IL

Breakfast baskets are served to the hall table at 8:30 in the morning. They contain a delicious continental breakfast of freshly baked gourmet scones, delectable muffins and Swedish rusks. Fresh fruit is also served with the breakfast basket.

Guests may serve themselves coffee, tea and juice which is available in every guest room.

Guests are welcome to eat their breakfast in the privacy of their room (each room has a dining table and chairs), eat on the back porch and enjoy the country scenery and sounds or in cooler weather, eat in the library in front of the wood burning stove.

On Saturdays and Sundays, guests of The Colony Hospital Bed and Breakfast, who would prefer a full breakfast option, may eat at our local diner in town, The Filling Station. Eggs and meat or Swedish pancakes are the specialty. The full breakfast option is an additional $10 charge per room night ($15 for 3 people) and covers the cost of the breakfast, tax and gratuity. When making your reservation, please indicate if you prefer the continental breakfast of scones and muffins or the full breakfast option at the diner.

A Brief Look Back

Bishop Hill is the site of a Swedish communal society established in 1846. The first Swedish immigrants had to endure harsh conditions: lack of food, inadequate shelter and crowded and unsanitary living conditions. One-fourth of the colonists died during the first winter (96 of 400). It became apparent that proper medical care was needed to tend to the sick (although the colony leader, Eric Janson “insisted that people became sick because they lacked faith ”). So a hospital building that served as a first aid station and dispensary was one of the first frame buildings erected by the colonists in 1848. It also served as their spinning and weaving center. Dr. Blomberg was in charge of the original hospital facility.

In 1855, a dedicated hospital building was erected at the current site on Olson Street, just one block west of the Colony Park. It overlooked the colony orchards and tannery located to the west of the property. The Colony Hospital is a 2½ story wood structure built in the Greek Revival architectural style.

The interior of the hospital was designed to facilitate the medical practices of the period: isolation, fresh air and herbal medicine. There were 8 single-access rooms that were used for isolation of patients and 2 large west-facing porticos to provide fresh air. There was also a barrel-roofed medical cellar located under the southwest wing of the building that was used to store the herbs and other perishables. A picture of the medicine vault now hangs in the front hall. The nurses’ quarters were located on the third floor. The hospital was run under the supervision of Dr. Olof Nordstrom.

The existence of a hospital this large on the Illinois prairie was a testament to the medical hardships that the early colonists struggled through and also to the prosperity that the colony had achieved. It served colonists and noncolonists alike and was also used to house Union soldiers during the Civil War. The Hospital remained in service after the breakup of the colony and until the death of Dr. Nordstrom in 1868. It was divided among the former colony members at that time.

Dr. Vannice was the third doctor that practiced medicine in Bishop Hill during the latter part of the 19th century and during the early years of the 20th century. He traveled by horse and buggy in all kinds of weather at all hours of the day or night to his patients that needed him in Bishop Hill and the surrounding area. He also served as a dentist. Dr. Vannice was of Dutch descent and was greatly cared for by his patients, especially the children.