This is an Italianate Victorian house from 1857, which the Aurora Historical Society got from the…read morefamily's descendants in the 1936. Open 1-4pm for tours on Sundays, with extended hours for some other events (July 4; October for "Death Comes to the Tanner House," additional hours for the winter holidays). Admission is free (donations encouraged). My tour started with being asked to sit down (!) and chat with the head of the historical society in the second parlor while we waited for a docent to free up; don't miss the glass case there with artifacts from the privy dig, which is just what it sounds like. Many original furnishings; I recommend getting a docent tour if you can; my docent (Bill) pointed out many features I wouldn't have noticed otherwise, such as the cable motif on the glasses in the dining room, commemorating the first intercontinental telegraph cable which meant people could speak with their families in the Old Country. The two music boxes (with giant metal discs) are also worthy of note; the one upstairs works and they'll play it if you ask. The straw matting in the upstairs children's bedroom was apparently common in Victorian houses but I'd never seen it before. Your tour finishes in the rather florid parlor, whose rather astonishing colors are based on paint drips discovered when they redid the molding and carpet; a sample of the original carpet is displayed on the wall.

We went last week. Wait until after Aug 15 to go. Currently there is little or no explanation of…read morelife in the 1800's (except the mansion - the mansion was the regular docent-led tour - well done). For some insane reason, they have decided to "feature" the 1980's. Poorly. A quiz about TV commercials in the 80's. We were there with children, 30-somethings, and a tourist from another country. No one knew any of these answwers and they wouldn't stop. NOTHING about the newspaper printing in the 1800's. Blacksmith was at least about being a blacksmith, but no history. School - "Well, schools were pretty much the same as they are now. Not like this one." Our kids understood that Twister was a game and movies were on a tape in the 80's. But they were not interested. Nice craft opportunity with the scrunchee. But not about early settlement. If not for the mansion, 2 stars (things were open to go inside, at least). I will check carefully again before I would take kids for any history that they would care about. Must be a big draw for the 50 -60 year olds! Huge disappointment for us and our grade-school kids.

Came here for the Halloween trick or treating. There was lots to do and it was fun for all ages…read morefrom 12 months to 65 years old. We played with the dinosaurs eggs, bubbles, entered the costumes contest, and took a tour of the mansion. The decorations were pretty great!

This was an interesting museum. I was looking for cultural things to do while visiting Lombard for…read morethe weekend. The large mill had several historical facts. There was a live demonstration of the stone wheel grinding corn into corn meal. There are three stories, with the top two being a museum and the basement floor part of the Underground Railroad station shop. Taking back into little known American History were relics of the slave trade. The museum entrance fee was $6 for adults. The outside grounds were kept nicely and there was a short trail along the river.

Wow! I have to get out of downtown more often!…read more I was car shopping with a friend and she brought me to the museum and the walking trail once she was finished purchasing a car. I was so surprised to see such history and beauty next to a big busy highway. There is a spacious parking lot tucked away as to not impede on the surrounding beauty. The beautifully elegant building looked so interesting. The age was apparent but it was in exquisite condition. We did not go in as it was not open. We walked around it and enjoyed it from the outside. I am looking forward to returning soon. We checked out the big water wheel and bridge and took some pretty photos that did not do justice to the natural beauty of the area. We then walked along the pretty trail inside all of the foliage along the water. It wasn't too crowded so we had space to take our time and enjoy. It was so nice to see the mix of families and singles enjoying nature and some fresh air. Once we were done with our lovely walk, we went next door to the nearby pub for a casual meal. What a great area that deserves another visit.

What a fabulous place! I expected to see rocks - polished and unpolished. Yet this small museum…read morecrams in antique and ancient rock carvings - beautiful and impressive. We went on a Wednesday, a free day at the museum. (Make sure you leave a donation.) What you see are beautifully carved stones - precious and not precious, jade, rock crystal, and much more. There is even petrified wood (beautiful without carving). The size of the collection is impressive but (a word I'm overusing) everything is beautiful. There is plenty of free parking right outside the museum. The gift shop was also lovely. Definitely a must go to. We're already arranging another trip to Lazzadro with friends.

This museum has an absolutely beautiful and very impressive collection of jade. Even though they…read moredon't have as big or varied of a collection as a larger museum, each of their pieces are absolute works of art and left my family and I in awe. Despite it's small size, you could easily spend 2-3hrs here. Each piece has a nice introduction and it gives a great introduction to lapidry. In addition to the jade pieces, they also had stone dioramas, mosaics, and a gem collection. While we were there, they also had an exhibit on the minerals that go into cellphones, which was fun to learn about. Additionally, it's quite affordable for a museum with this impressive of a collection. It's $5 for students, $8 for 65yrs or older, and $10 for adults. I think that it is very worth a trip.

The historical society / museum is in the old Butler School, with a wooden sign out front you'll…read moresee only after you miss the turn. So when you get close and see "Butler School," turn. It's the brick school building and you enter from the side, from what looks like the handicapped entrance. The people there seemed a bit surprised to see me, but were happy to have the archivist (90 years old, been there 25 years!) give me a tour. The archives are on the ground floor where you come in; the main displays are up two flights of steps on the top floor. There's a room on the start of white settlement in the area, with a small section on the Indians who lived here before - lots of arrowheads. There is a small schoolroom section, with a small display on the old Rabbit Hill School that Butler replaced. Then a section on local worthy Michael Butler, who produced the American version of HAIR, a couple of boards of photos of local buildings and restaurants, and then the tour went into more local worthies. At this point I started getting my local families mixed up. The Butler family was very wealthy from a paper factory and Paul Butler, who founded Oak Brook (which only dates back to 1958) pal'd around with movie stars (there's a photo album; he dated Audrey Hepburn for a while; the album includes casual snaps with folks like Rock Hudson) and there's a file on when King Hussein of Jordan visited. Butler apparently donated all his papers to the museum; there are a couple of big oil portraits, and then a whole room of polo memorabilia (you can pick up a polo ball), with photos of people getting prizes from the Queen of England, and a photo of the current King of England from when he visited. The library includes books on folks with a local connection (including, to my surprise, renowned skirt / serpentine dancer Loie Fuller); there's also a book with photos of every known Oak Brook veteran, including the docent (Korean War). Back in the main part of the schoolroom there's a vitrine on the local police; a sleigh (it was December); a display on how Oak Brook was founded (in pieces in haste as the local Oak Brook Terrace Mall was going in); and a rather charming vitrine showing some of the Christmas cards that Paul Butler sent *every single resident of Oak Brook* every year. I learned a lot, though to be honest I knew nothing about Oak Brook's history (polo??) before I came. The docent was very generous and even walked me briefly through the archives (this never happens). If you want to know about Oak Brook, like snapshots of 1950s movie stars, or just want to know about the local polo connection, stop by.

Great juried art and crafts show. Very nice area to have a show and many people attend because it…read moreis held on 3rd street in Geneva where there are a lot of places to eat. Don't miss it. You'll be sorry if you do!

Enjoyed the annual Art Fair. Lots of new artists and a wide variety of art styles.The weather was…read moreperfect and Geneva is the perfect setting for such a great event.Cannot wait for next year!

In a historic building just off Dundee Avenue or Route 25 the museum is easy to get to. The first…read morefloor is dedicated to the origins of Elgin and its founders. More interesting to me is the second floor that emphasizes manufacturing in Elgin, some old Elgin High School memorabilia and more. There are Elgin steel kitchens, Elgin Outboards, Elgin Coffee, Elgin bandsaws and the Elgin Watch Company represented there. Some exhibits are permanent some look like they change. I didn't make it to the third floor to look at old photos. For the $3 admission I'm sure I'll be back.

I am a huge fan of train museums. This one is a small museum but you do get to visit the inside of…read morethe train cars. It is located only a few blocks from the main train station of Bensenville. This museum is only open for a short amount of time 2 days a week. Inside the train cars you'll find history of the railroad in the Bensenville area and even more about the surrounding areas. It's a great little museum!