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QUINCY, ILL. -- The Historical Society of Quincy and Adams County has been holding the John Wood Mansion Candlelight Tours for the past 27 years.

"I think a lot of people don't understand that if it weren't for John Wood we would not be here," Joe Winkelman, from the Historical Society, said. "John Wood spent about 60 years of his life in Quincy, developing Quincy, seeing Quincy, seeing how it grew."

To spark your interest in the father of Quincy, the tours will give you an inside look at what John Wood's Christmas would have been like during 1860s.

"We wouldn't have had all the decorations," Winkelman said. "We wouldn't have had the Christmas trees. Christmas trees would have been at the church or down at the park but what they did is they had food, food was big at Christmas."

You may even see some familiar faces.

"You'll have folks dressed up like John Wood," Winkelman said. "And there will be reenactors. The people will be dressed as they were in the old days in the 1860s and they'll have a lot of background and a lot of information about the character that they're playing."

But even with all the Christmas excitement, the main point behind the tour is simple.

"History," Winkelman said. "History about who John Wood was and what the house meant to Quincy and what John meant to Quincy."

Because after all "...the past is the future," Winkelman said. "If people don't understand what the past is they'll never understand what the future is."

The Candlelight tours are free of charge.

They will be held on December 16th, 26th and 27th  from 6 p.m. until 8 p.m.