My camera club went here one blustery night in November. We got full-access to the place. I ran…read moreinto James up in the attic and he was a wealth of information. There is a ton of gear here. Some of is seems bone-stock and much has been restored. Plenty of cool stuff. You do not have to have an interest in firefight to find this place cool. Not juts for kids, either.

Spending a day in Elgin looking for something to do brought us to the Elgin Fire Barn No 5 Museum…read more I don't think I've ever been to a fire barn/house/department museum before, but as museums go this one was done well. It's not very big, but they've packed a bunch of information and displays in. Dale asked if we wanted to wander about ourselves or have a guided tour and we chose guided tour. Between Dale and James I don't think there's anything in the museum they can't tell you about. Everything you ever wanted to know about the history of fighting fires in Elgin. The displays are all very well done and everything is very well taken care of. If you're in the area and looking for an interesting place to spend an hour or two definitely stop by the Fire Barn Museum. If you're not in the area but interested in fire fighting the trip will be worth it.

Small but mighty is the best way to describe the St. Charles History Museum. My husband and I…read morevisited the museum which had a special exhibit on several buildings in Saint Charles that were celebrating significant milestone birthdays this year. They also feature permanent exhibits on the beginning of the village and important people and events in village history. There are just as many things to see outside of the museum as there are inside (like the gas pumps just outside the entrance). There is also a gift shop and a room that can be used for special events. I highly recommend the St. Charles History Museum.

Not a huge museum but this spot does a great job of packing as much as they possibly can both…read moreinside of, and outside of the museum. What it lacks in size, it makes up for in extremely high quality displays with very attractive panels that provide detailed stories and videos to supplement some of the items. This museum also uses the wall space very efficiently, packing plenty of artifacts and information without much space between each item. Though most of the information is in one room, it takes quite a while to read through everything which provides a great sense of important people and buildings throughout St. Charles' history.

Absolutely stunning house full of surprises and loaded with detail. Our guide Larry, was top-notch…read moreand explained the architectural theory behind many of the home's features. Lots of bang for your buck here and the grounds are beautiful!

I'm embarrassed to say I was unaware of this beautiful museum so perfectly preserved in the…read moreNorthwest suburbs of Chicago. This is a stunning house/museum located in Schaumburg, Illinois, just minutes from my house. This mid-century modern house was masterfully planned and built by architect Paul Schweikher in 1938 in a former farm field. The grounds are beautifully manicured and maintained. As we turned on the (somewhat obscure) driveway, we were immediately transported back in time. Truly magical. Our docent went out of his way to engage us with not only the details of the house, grounds and construction, but entertained us with stories of the former owners and their friends. You don't want to miss this experience. We will definitely be checking out some of the events planned for this lovely, preserved genius home!

My husband and I have visited many local historical museums, it was time to check the Elk Grove…read moreHistorical Museum off that list. The Elk Grove Historical Museum shares the grounds with the fire station. The museum campus is home to a building where artifacts and rotating exhibits are stored, a historic house, farmland, and a historic barn. When we were there the museum was displaying a special exhibit on Alexian Brothers Hospital. I encourage you to go when you can go on a tour and see all of these magnificent buildings. The history and stories behind the artifacts are worth a trip. I highly recommend visiting the Elk Grove Historical Museum!

It's easy to miss the turn off the 53; turn onto Leicester Road at the stoplight, across from the…read morehospital's statue of Jesus. This is a small local museum; there's an introductory building with the caretaker's office and a few placards about the history of Elk Grove, plus a temporary exhibition space; the farmhouse itself (the caretaker will unlock for you); and a horse barn. The farmhouse is two stories and features a kitchen; a parlor; a downstairs nursery with some medical exhibits; and upstairs, the master bedroom, a child's bedroom, and a room for boarders (currently hosting a vintage sewing machine). The friendly caretaker will let you peer into the stereo-opticon (a 19th century Viewmaster) and was ready to answer questions / open trunks / turn on the lights, etc. The master bedroom included a razor strop and a hatpin keeper with hatpins; there's a period dress in the trunk. The barn features some industrial items (wine press; whetstone/grinder; cream separator) as well as an open buggy and a sleigh. There's also a small kitchen garden and you can peer into the chicken coop if you like. Entertaining small museum without many labels; it will give you a glimpse of 19th century life. I asked plenty of questions and visited about 40 minutes.

This museum isn't very big and can probably be walked through in right around an hour, but it is a…read morehidden gem. The museum is housed in the old Batavia Train Depot (hence the name!) and does a great job introducing the importance of the early railroad on the area. Some of the displays include an original caboose that you can walk through, a very cool reproduced ticket counter, a working Western Union morse code station, Mary Todd Lincoln's bed and dresser (she was treated at a nearby sanitarium after Abe's assassination), and, in the basement, an exhibit on the general history of the area. Check back often, as they have periodic presentations, as well. My kids absolutely loved the one on antique toys and games the museum put on this past summer. It's an inexpensive way to get the family out and about!

This is a great place to visit and learn about local history. From initial settlement, through the…read moreMary Todd Lincoln years, and up to recent history like Furnas Electric, the Depot Museum has something for everyone. There is also an extensive library for people who are researching their families.

Great look at life in the 1860's. Award winning restoration of a small typical "overnight"…read morestopping place. Only one in Illinois that is still on it's original foundation. Parking is behind the Tavern or at the History Center, at 800 N Main St, Glen Ellyn.

This is one of the first buildings that was built in Glen Ellyn, and the museum is currently…read morerestored to the mid-1850s. None of the furniture is original, which is typical for small museums like this. There are some nice examples of painted furniture, plenty of trompe l'oeil painted woodgrain, and one original piece, a small needlework sampler presented as a gift to the family. The tavern had an addition built over the original well, which is still spring-fed and has a reproduction well-house built over it. The building is two stories; the tour includes both stories and the back yard (which I missed), including a smokehouse, the kitchen garden, and the privies. Exhibits in the yard are particularly well-labeled; the kitchen garden is kept up by a local garden club. You'll go through with a docent; the gentleman who took me through was very well-informed and a pleasure to listen to, as well as being responsive to questions. The second floor addition to the building includes photos of the area and the inhabitants of the era, including photos of a building which, after serving as a community ballroom, became a brothel, with several photos of the madam and one of the women who worked for her. There are also a few items from excavations on the site, mostly broken dishware. Suggested donation (adults) is $5; $2.50 for students. If you want to hit the gift shop, it's two buildings down at the Glen Ellyn Historical Society; come on a Wednesday or make an appointment, as on Sundays the Historical Society is closed.

Although the space is small, they've managed to stuff as much history as they possibly can into…read morethis building. Make sure you look up and down at each exhibit as you're sure to miss some items if you're not looking carefully. With that said, the amount of general historic items are limited here compared to larger nearby museums such as the one in Arlington Heights and Deerfield, so many of the items on display are specific to famous buildings around Wheeling and the schools. As Wheeling was founded in 1894, the items you'll find here are newer than other places in Illinois. You can get through all the displays fairly quickly here, so you can make this a quick stop anytime you're in the area.

I obviously went in the wrong entrance cause I found myself wandering around the basement for 45…read moreminutes looking for the exhibits lol. I had some adjustments to my medication made kind of recently and sometimes I get confused for no reason at all. Once I made it upstairs I learned all about the history of Wheeling and I took advantage of the free coffee. The secuirty guard cut me off after my fourth cup and suggested that I had drank enough lol. Anyways it was a great journey back through time and Wheeling has some very interesting roots.

This is seriously the cutest little museum!!! My daughter and I popped in one Sunday while hanging…read moreout in the downtown area and it was the highlight of our afternoon!!! The staff was amazing and super informative. It was neat to see the history of Roselle. We even got to check out the house behind the museum which was super fun as well! Check their website for hours but I know they are open on Sundays! They do scout programs so if you are in a scouts program, this is a great place to get a badge!! It's is down the street from the main downtown strip, but it is worth the detour!

A few weeks ago, I was walking through the neighborhood and noticed the Roselle Historical Museum,…read moreacross the street from the village hall and police station. I almost missed it since it looks like every other house on the street, with the exception of the sign out front. I noted the hours (only open on Sunday afternoons from 2p-4p) and made a point to come here the next free Sunday afternoon my husband and I had -- which was a week ago. We anticipated being there for about twenty minutes, not an hour and a half! The museum is actually two houses -- the Sumner House and the Richter House. The smaller one in the back looked closed so we walked up a path to the back door of the larger house and were greeted by a man that seemed very happy to see us. He offered to unlock the small house and give us a tour. I love walking through older houses, so I was excited about this. The small house, which belonged to the Richter family, is pleasantly small with a parlor, sunny kitchen, pantry, and a second floor with two bedrooms, a bathroom, and a children's play area. It reminded me of my grandmother's house (the smell of... mothballs? age? what is it?). Family photos and relics were everywhere. The children's play area was littered with many vintage toys and dolls, almost giving off a creepy aura. I could just imagine a doll's head turning around slowly or the scooter rolling across the floor on its own. ANYWAY. The man gave us a very informative tour with different stories and random bits of information. An interesting tidbit about the Richter house: it was built in 1878 and relocated to the museum campus in 1996. Mrs. Richter remained in her home, even after its relocation, until her death in November 1999, when she was 105 years of age. With Mrs. Richter's blessing, the house was restored to represent a Roselle working man's home during the 1920s. Approximately 85 percent of the artifacts in the house belonged to Mrs. Richter. Cool, huh? (And a little bit creepy?) After the man locked up the doors, we headed back to the Sumner House and proceeded to explore on our own. The house, which belonged to several families over the years, was eventually turned into a historical museum. It has various exhibits of different businesses and organizations from every decade since Roselle was established. Downstairs, there is a general store, a barber shop, a room devoted to a 1950's diner that was popular in Roselle but doesn't exist anymore (sad!), a HUGE map of Roselle decorated with old photos of different sites, and a timeline room, which has artifacts, news, and information from Roselle as time progressed. Upstairs, each little room was devoted to different things: farms, military, boy scouts & girl scouts, police & fire departments, and schools & churches. All the rooms had many pictures and artifacts with so much information! If you live in town, you need to make this place a Sunday afternoon destination. You'll leave with a different view of this town and a nostalgia for things that don't exist anymore. Oh, and watch out for the mannequins! They pop up everywhere. Who knew that Roselle had so much history!? Now I do.