The best surprise of my visit to Pontiac. This museum has such an amazing and eclectic collection…read moreof items to delight everyone. From the outside it seems like any regular historical building -- but the quantity and quality of the displays within create a fun spot to enjoy an afternoon with plenty of learning opportunities. I'm not sure you'll find any larger collection of Route 66 themed items than on the lower floor here. Being immersed in these objects really gave me a feel of the history of Route 66. Attached to this are several other museums covering everything from murals to the Titanic to the Civil War to the 1940's and more. Truly a must visit set of museums that's worth a special trip.

Housed in a historic firehouse, this is a nice stop on the way to Springfield along Route 66…read more The museum is just one room packed with Route 66 memorabilia, but it is part of a maze of museums. Fun to be able to wander through the interconnected displays. Would not make a special stop here unless you want to explore Pontiac. While you are there, definitely check out the Pontiac-Oakland Automobile Museum and the murals. Get your kicks on Route 66!

Adorable little shopping location for the kiddos! The staff help me pick out a gift for the kid I…read moream babysitting. Shoutout to employees for going above and beyond!

My daughter LOVES it here. It's most definitely worth the drive and fun in the summer time to stay…read morecool!

Great museum that offers three spaces in one location. Enjoy space, art and history. My tip is…read morewatch a movie be sure to check out what is playing.

The Peoria Riverfront Museum is a really neat place that you should check out while you're in…read morePeoria. Right outside the museum, on the southside of the building is the Peoria Holocaust Memorial. This is a touching tribute from the community to those who died in the Holocaust. We lucked into going on a "community day" where there was a large festival outside celebrating Cinqo de Mayo. The advantage was that admission was free on that day. The downside was that the music from outside could be heard inside the museum. It was also very crowded with many children running around unattended. The museum featured an exhibit on American 250 curated by Ken Burns. The planetarium also has a really cool and interactive show explaining where the stars are in our solar system. The museum also features a variety of rotating exhibits. I highly recommend a visit to the Peoria Riverfront Museum.

Review Visit: June 1st, 2013…read more You'll have a wheely good time here. There really is a museum for everything and anything. This one happens to be dedicated to all things on wheels. Or things that have wheels. Or wheel-shaped things. Okay, I don't think it's the last one but I do think this place is dedicated to items sitting on top of wheels. I'm not really sure how I found out about this place. It may have been from someone at work that brought it up during one of our many talks about traveling. Doing what I do best, I contacted someone to go with me and that person just happened to be my dad. We hopped in my car and made the semi-short drive to check the place out. When we approached the museum, the first thing we noticed was the train situated next to the building. You knew from looking at it that you were in for a treat. We made our way in and got to checking out the museum. The first thing we saw were antique cars. I recognized a few but a lot of them were unique to their time period. I'm not super attached to antique cars but I always think they are cool to look at in museums and such. They had maybe 15 or so at the time of my visit. We moved on to the other part of the museum and it had an eclectic collection of odds and ends. There was a firetruck that we got to take photos with. There was a Rube Goldberg-esque display as seen below. They had a mini train model set up in a glass case. Lastly, I remember there being a giant pendulum-style clock near the firetruck. It's rather hard to write this post as the place seemed to be dedicated to things on wheels but also other random odds and ends. It's best to check out their website below or visit the museum to see what I mean. It's a neat place to spend and afternoon if you have the time.

Fantastic automotive, trains and construction equipment made in Peoria and elsewhere. It is well…read moreworth the visit! The is so much more..., seriously...go visit!

Another five star review. There are three museums to tour here: the house; the rock and gem museum;…read moreand apparently the farm tools. Figure an hour per museum; I only had time for two. The docent lives on-site and is passionate about the Funk family; there was almost too much information about the family (perhaps as I was touring the house with two Funk family members in town for a reunion). I've toured a lot of Victorian houses, but one of the things that's interesting about this one is the amount of innovation you'll see highlighted here. This starts in the garden, where there is a small power plant (the farm had electricity in the early 1900s, before parts of Chicago), and is continued as you learn to know the family, whether they be inventors of hybrid seeds, or rock afficianados. Unlike many houses, here you can get close to things; there are no velvet ropes or plastic barriers, except one to keep you out of the servants' stairs. So you can look close up at the hat pins or beaded bags on the dressers. Ask questions - you can't stump this docent. (We had a discussion about concrete and its use in the fence and the caretaker's building which was really quite interesting. If you have engineer friends, they will love this tour.) The rock museum features some truly impressive fossils, some of which you might be allowed to touch! There's a dragonfly fossilized in ash; coprolite (look it up), and dinosaur bone (apparently fairly common?). There's a whole wall of different types of calcite; giant gorgeous blue and purple fluorite specimens; lit-from-the-back beautiful agates and rubies in zoisite; and in the NEXT room (!) two or three cabinets of beautiful Chinese carved soapstone, and a collection of sleighs. The finale is a cabinet full of fluorescing rocks, including melted glass from a nuclear reactor. Made me wish this museum had a gift shop, though the docent will be happy to give you recommendations for good local rock shops. This is a really great museum hidden in the cornfields. Worth a trip - I drove two hours to get here, thinking I was coming for the rocks, but the house was almost/ just as good.

Totally recommended - A wonderfully preserved house and grounds and our guide was able to bring the…read morewhole place to life with his insight and knowledge of the Funk family and their incredible history - and then in the Gem Museum we saw further dimensions to him as he walked us through this small fragment ( 20% ) of the massive and impressive collection gathered from all corners of the World.

I love this little museum. Yesterday we went to the music in the garden only it was inside instead…read moreof in the garden because of the rain. I enjoyed the music very much. They also served free lemonade and popcorn. The new Lincoln exhibit is really good too. Of course it's not on the same scale as the one in Springfield but for a little museum it is interesting. It has a lot of local history about Lincoln in Champaign coiunty,. My dauighter loves the discovery room and the gift shop has some good items in it. Check the time before you go because it opens at 1:00.

We had such a wonderful time visiting the David Davis Mansion. Our tour guide, Jeff, gave us a long…read moreand detailed tour that was both informative and engaging. He was extremely knowledgeable, helpful, and made the history of the mansion come alive. One highlight was learning about David Davis's close connection to Abraham Lincoln, which added an even deeper historical significance to our visit. That piece of history was fascinating and memorable. We highly recommend the David Davis Mansion to anyone visiting Bloomington. It's a beautiful historic home with a rich story, and with guides like Jeff, you're guaranteed an excellent experience.

We toured the David Davis Mansion on a chilly December afternoon. There was one else there for a…read moretour so we had our own private tour. The mansion was beautiful and decorated for Christmas. The house has many artifacts that are true to the Davis family. We learned a treasure of information from our tour guide Jeff. He was able to answer both of our questions and we had many of them. Jeff was able to tailor the tour to our interests providing a personalized experience. This tour of an exquisite mansion was top-notch due to Jeff and his wealth of knowledge and pleasant personality.

Honestly, this museum is so well done! I was so excited and impressed! There are multiple floors of…read moreexhibits that cover the gamut of McLean County history from agriculture to civil rights to local celebrities and innovators! I really enjoyed the rotating exhibits, too, you can tell a lot of work and care was put in, and everything was well-maintained and recent. Volunteers are there to help, too, would highly recommend a visit!

This is a history museum on par with counties that have 5x the population of McLean County, IL…read more There was an entry level slightly below ground with information and a few exhibits with people to explain where best to go and where exhibits were. Then there are three floors that had multiple rooms with different themes such as farming, Abraham Lincoln, jobs in Central Illinois, and even a little kids area to play as if they were on a farm. in total, I counted eleven different rooms - and we spent 3.5 hours there. Some of the exhibits can get a bit wordy; if you read it all - you'd be there all day - but that's great for a deep dive for stuff you're interested in.

Great spot to visit if you're a fan of the Pontiac and Oakland automobile lines. It's incredible…read morehow such an iconic set of cars is available for visitors to enjoy at only the cost of a small donation. The automobiles are arranged nicely here with good lighting and spread out so visitors don't feel too crowded. A must visit if you're in Pontiac and a fan of cars.

My husband and I visited the Pontiac Oakland Automobile Museum on a trip on Route 66. If you love…read morecars, and Pontiacs in particular, this should be a stop on your agenda. There are dozens on vintage cars, motorcycles, and other vehicles that span many decades. I had fun learning, I just wish that the descriptions were more detailed.