The Mermaid House Inn was built in 1830 by the retired New England sea captain Lyman Adams. He named it for the mermaids he reported seeing while at sea., hosted Charles Dickens during his visit to the Looking Glass Prairie in 1842. In his book American Notes, he said of the inn: "In point of cleanliness and comfort it would have suffered by no comparison with any village alehouse, of a homely kind, in England."
The Mermaid House was added to the National Register of Historic Places on December 4, 1975.
This old "hotel" is owned by the Lebanon Historical Society and has now been partially restored and is available for tours.
Mermaid House
114 E St. Louis Street,
Phone: 618-537-8420