ELGIN â Learning facts about oneâs hometown can be difficult depending on the resources provided and any documents that may still exÂist.
In Elgin, however, resiÂdents can learn about their cityâs rich history, all the way back to 1835, thanks in part to the Elgin Area Historical Society and Museum.
A little history about the society: the first historical society existed with Elginâs first settlers, their kids and grandkids, who would mostÂly meet up from time to time and share stories from the 19th century through the earÂly 30âs, when the group went defunct. In the 60âs, a new group was born, but locaÂtions for the meetings would change due to the groupâs lack of an official meeting place.
Enter Elginâs Old Main building. The then-rundown structure was in a state of disrepair, placed on the chopÂping block for potential deÂmolition. Preservation efforts were attempted, and shortly after the U.S. Bicentennial, the historical society and the city were able to save the building. Their task then was to rehab the building to âcreÂate a place where you could learn about Elginâs history,â according to Elizabeth MarÂston, director of the current Elgin Area Historical Society and Museum.
âThe rehab itself was an enormous effort,â she says. âSince the society was all volunteer-run at the time and had a budget of about $5,000 to $10,000 a year, an addiÂtional $500,000 had to be raised to get the building up to todayâs standards. So we did it piece by piece. The first floor was opened in 1987, the second floor in 1990, and the third floor in 1993. It was a long, long, long process and a lot of arm-twisting to get people to do stuff for the cheap or for free.â
Located at 360 Park Street in Elgin, the museum stands three stories high and is packed with information about various events, compaÂnies, and societies that have taken place in or have inhabÂited the city in the past 178 years.
The chronological exhibÂit is newer to the museum, having opened last year, but Marston said when the buildÂing first opened in 1987, each room was a different theme. âWe had an art room, a watch company room … different exhibits that stood alone. But we had to keep changing the exhibitsâwe still do, beÂcause if we donât change it, no one will come back.â
When Marston started in 1999, there were five maÂjor themes: Early Elgin, the Elgin Watch Company, the Elgin Road Races, Elgin arÂchitecture, and Hiawatha. She said the chronological exhibit allows the museum to expand, adding pieces of history that would otherwise not fit in the earlier named exhibits.
âIt allows us to tell a lot of little stories about Elginâs history and stick them into the timeline, like the Civil War, the hospitals we have in town. They just didnât fit into those themes,â she said.
While permanent exhibÂits take up a majority of the space on the museum walls, Marston adds that there have been a couple of rotating exhibits that pass through. For instance, one of their latest exhibits covered the 100th anniversary of the Girl Scouts. That exhibit was reÂcently taken down to make way for their new exhibit, celebrating the 125th anniÂversary of Presence Saint JoÂseph Hospital.
Sheâs also looking for new things to incorporate into the museum and encourages anyÂone with an interesting item (that can be related to Elgin) to stop by or recommend it. âIâm always open to suggesÂtions. A lot of times weâll get someone who has an idea or someone who has something that they want to preserve thatâs been in their family for generations. Itâs really inÂteresting to see whatâs going on.â
Any museum attendees may also notice that the chronological exhibit doesnât feature anything past the 1970âs, a choice Marston had to make when assembling the exhibit.
âItâs hard to collect for things that have happened in the past 30 years. Because what is hisÂtory, really? I view it as at least 50 years or older. Itâs hard to look at something now and determine if it will be memorable in 20 years. Just because itâs memÂorable now doesnât mean it will stand the test of time,â she said.
The museum is still run entirely on the serÂvice of volunteers, and Marston adds they are always looking for new people to join the ranks. She requests that people give at least one afternoon a month to the museum, but they can always get involved more on committees or projects the society may take on or creÂate. One of those projects is the rehabilitation of an old windmill. Volunteer informaÂtion can be found at the muÂseumâs website, elginhistory.org
Elgin Area Historical Society
The museum operates from noon to 4 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays and costs $3 for adults, $1 for students, and is free for historical society members.
For more information about the Elgin Area Historical
Museum and Historical
Society, visit elginhistory.org/