Points of interest directly located on IL-125 include the Clayville Tavern, an 1824 hostelry located 2 miles (3.2 km) east of Pleasant Plains, and the Illinois River bluff at Bluff Springs, five miles (8 km) east of Beardstown and the river.
Points of interest marked on IL-125, but not directly on the road, include the Jim Edgar Panther Creek State Fish and Wildlife Area in eastern Cass County northwest of Ashland, and the old Cass County courthouse in Beardstown where lawyer Abraham Lincoln practiced.
SBI Route 125 originally ran from Springfield to Virginia.
In 1968 it was extended west to Beardstown, replacing U.S. 67 and parts of Illinois Route 3.
The next year it was truncated on its eastern portion from Springfield to Illinois 97.