lasalle county historical society & museum

We always try visiting local museums whenever we're on a stop-over; even small towns often have a lot of history behind them. The LaSalle County Historical Society Museum is one of the few mid-19th-century buildings left standing on the Illinois & Michigan Canal. It's a very distinctive building on the corners of Canal and Mill Streets in Utica that was built in 1848 from blocks of Utica's native sandstone. Over the years, it was a warehouse, a general store, Utica's first post office, a livery and feed stable, a garage, and a car wash. It was saved from the wrecking ball in 1963 to house the headquarters of the LaSalle County Historical Society.When we stopped in at the museum during a recent week-end trip to Utica, it also happened to be the day that nearby Starved Rock State Park was holding its version of "The Amazing Race." The old gentleman in the lobby was so happy to see a couple who actually wanted to look around the museum and weren't just popping in and out for the race that he gave us quite an enthusiastic tour. He even took down the rope barring entrance to the downstairs to let me use the bathroom! (Apparently they're usually for employees only.)The museum contains lots of interesting exhibits such as:* the coach in which a local entrepreneur drove Abe Lincoln to Ottawa for his first debate with Stephen Douglas* Native American artifacts* tools, clothing and other memorabilia from local pioneers and early residents* samples of coal and a map of some of the many coal mines in LaSalle County (all now closed)* pictures of the devastation Utica suffered during the 2004 tornado, as well as memorial pictures of a young married couple who were among the 8 people killed during this storm* a display of old Westclox radio-luminescent dial clocks that were produced by the Radium Dial Company at its plant in Peru. (Since no one knew about radium poisoning in the early 20th century, many of the young women who were hired to paint these dials later suffered from radiation sickness.)There's no fee to tour the museum, but they're happy to accept any donations. So stop by the next time you're in Utica - you might learn some interesting trivia and you'll make their day.

Surprisingly interesting for a small museum. There are two focal points: Native American and civil war artifacts. Most of these items have been donated by local individuals. The curator and staff do a great job assembling the objects into a story. By this I mean, one gets a sense of a whole person not just say a hat or sword. One walks away with a conceptual overview of how these objects were worn or utilized for their specific purpose. They make it easy to visualize, with one's imagination the life and times of the peoples of LaSalle a County a long, long time ago. All this on a very limited budget.

Great museum with lots of interesting artifacts for the LaSalle. The volunteer gave us lots of good information while we were there.

Clean, well organized, knowledgeable staff. Good variety of photos, carriage that Lincoln rode in, helmets, clothing from wars, furniture, 1800's clothing, antique dolls.

I went there 6 Years ago in 2008 and it was very interesting and there was a 91 Year Old lady and that gave me and a couple of my friend a tour of it. I really enjoyed it.

It was a cute museum and cheap compared to the city. Alot of history to look at. Was very imformative to learn more about about the city of Utica and surrounding cities.

THis place is very interesting however, don;'t get ypur hopes up too high or you will be disappointed.

This is a great little museum. Staff is knowledgeable, and very happy to chat. Displays are great. I hope we can get back here sometime.

When we visited we were the only people there, so we had an excellent private docent tour. Lots of interesting items for such a small museum. Well worth the time.

Probably more interesting for folks from the local area. Details about the early settlers of LaSalle county.