Local Links

After your visit to the Kenilworth Historical Society, consider paying a visit to one or all of these great local spots!

American Toby Jug Museum
The American Toby Jug Museum houses over 8,000 Toby and Character jugs in ninety-seven cabinets, and is the largest collection of its kind in the world.  The Museum is open to persons of all ages, from school groups to seniors, as well as individuals interested in seeing the collection.  Museum experts also offer free lectures on the subject.  For more information, call 1-877-TOBYMUS (877-862-9687).

The Baha’i House of Worship
The Baha’i House of Worship is open to the public every day of the year. It is located at 100 Linden Ave in Wilmette, IL, a few miles north of Chicago. Parking is available on-site. The Linden Station on the CTA Purple Line is a few blocks away.

The Block Museum of Art
The Block is a dynamic, imaginative, and innovative teaching and learning resource for Northwestern and its surrounding communities, featuring a global exhibition program that crosses time periods and cultures and serves as a springboard for thought-provoking discussions relevant to our lives today.

Chicago Botanic Garden
The Chicago Botanic Garden opened more than 45 years ago as a beautiful place to visit, and it has matured into one of the world’s great living museums and conservation science centers. Every year, more than one million people visit the Garden’s 27 gardens and four natural areas, uniquely situated on 385 acres on and around nine islands, with six miles of lake shoreline. The Garden also has a renowned Bonsai Collection. Classes for all ages are offered, see their calendar for details.

Dave’s Down to Earth Rock Shop
Dave and Sandy continue to travel and collect both for the museum and shop to this day. It’s a wonderfully unique place to visit for both young and old, amateur and expert. With such an amazing variety of fossils, rocks, crystals and more, it’s a great place to learn about, or just enjoy, the beauty of some of the most amazing treasures the Earth holds. Truly one of the hidden gems of the Chicago area!

Elgin History Museum
The Elgin History Museum is housed in an 1856 landmark building known as Old Main that was once part of the Elgin Academy campus. We are located at 360 Park Street just outside of historic downtown Elgin, IL.  We are open Wednesday through Saturday from 11am until 4pm.

Elgin Public Museum
Built in 1907, the Elgin Public Museum is the only natural history museum in the Fox Valley area. The Museum offers exhibits and educational programs with natural history and cultural themes for families, school groups, Scouts, clubs, organizations, homeschoolers and anyone who wants to have fun while learning!

Evanston History Center
The Evanston History Center, located in the historic Charles Gates Dawes House, strives to capture and teach Evanston’s rich history. If you live in the area or plan to visit and are interested in Evanston’s past, please visit us.

Frances Willard House Museum
The Center for Women’s History and Leadership is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that manages the Frances Willard House Museum, and the Frances Willard Memorial Library and Archives. Our mission is to inspire and encourage everyone to exercise civic leadership as Frances Willard’s lasting legacy.

Glencoe Historical Society
Founded in 1937, the Glencoe Historical Society is devoted to the collection, protection and preservation of items related to the Village of Glencoe, its residents and its institutions. In addition to presenting award winning exhibits at the Eklund Museum campus located at 375 Park Avenue, we also sponsor programs and events for residents and visitors both individually and in cooperation with various community partners including the Village of Glencoe, the Glencoe Public Library, the Glencoe Park District, the Glencoe public schools, Family Service of Glencoe and others.

Glenview Park District
The Glenview Park District is one of the largest, most unique park districts in Illinois! Whether you are interested in learning about the future, discovering the past, taking up a new sport, enjoying your leisure time in the great outdoors…or just plain having fun…the Glenview Park District is the place for you.

Grayslake Heritage Center & Museum
The Grayslake Heritage Center & Museum is a partnership between the Village of Grayslake and the Grayslake Historical Society. To foster good communication and provide strong guidance, the partners created the Heritage Center Advisory Committee, with representatives from the Village of Grayslake Board of Trustees and the Grayslake Historical Society providing input and advice on future exhibitions, programs and initiatives.

Hamlin Time & Glass Museum 
One suburban man and his family are passionate about time and starting next week they want you to make time to see their personally curated collection.  There are so many pieces they decided to build a museum to house and display them.  It’s called the Halim Time and Glass Museum. It’s located in Evanston and houses over 1100 time pieces and over 70 stained glass pieces of art. The building is five stories tall and is filled with history, art and the study of time.

Highland Park Historical Society
The mission of the Highland Park Historical Society is to preserve our community’s past, to inspire an appreciation of our history and culture and share with the community and scholars the rich history of Highland Park, Illinois.

History Center Lake Forest-Lake Bluff
The History Center of Lake Forest-Lake Bluff has been home to the stories of our community for more than 45 years. And now we have a state-of-the-art history museum that is the pride of Lake Forest and Lake Bluff. Our new home—your home for history—is a gathering place where the community can come together to celebrate who we are and how we are connected.

Hoosier Grove Museum
For local history buffs, the Hoosier Grove Schoolhouse Museum is open from 11:00 am to 4:00 pm on Wednesdays, 9:00 am to 11:30 am on Saturdays. Costumed volunteers such as Curtis and her daughter, Cindy, who both live in Streamwood, are on hand to answer visitors’ questions.

I Love North Shore History
I Love North Shore History is a Facebook group for people who love history about the northern suburbs of Chicago. Group members and local history organizations are encouraged to share information about local history as well as current historical events, exhibits, and other information. Please visit this group often and share it with your friends! And please note that I Love North Shore History is for people who love learning about and discussing the deep history of our communities. Be respectful if you comment and understand that no nastiness is allowed here!

Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center
The mission of the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center is expressed in our founding principle: Remember the Past, Transform the Future. The Museum is dedicated to preserving the legacy of the Holocaust by honoring the memories of those who were lost and by teaching universal lessons that combat hatred, prejudice and indifference. The Museum fulfills its mission through the exhibition, preservation and interpretation of its collections and through education programs and initiatives that foster the promotion of human rights and the elimination of genocide.

Kohls Children’s Museum
Kohl Children’s Museum of Greater Chicago was founded in 1985 as an extension of the Kohl Teaching Center in Wilmette, one of four such centers in Illinois and Israel conceived by Dolores Kohl in 1972 and supported by the Dolores Kohl Education Foundation. Offering creative methods of enhancing traditional approaches to teaching, Kohl Teaching Centers provided training and educational resources to teachers and helped them incorporate hands-on experiences into their classrooms. Kohl Children’s Museum was founded to continue reaching educators and extend its service to meet the growing needs of families and the community at large through interactive exhibits and hands-on programs.

Lake Bluff History Museum
The Lake Bluff History Museum is a volunteer 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Our mission is to keep Lake Bluff History alive by researching and preserving historical information, creating interest in and sharing knowledge of local history, inspiring broad participation in events supporting this mission and embodying the spirit and pride characteristic of Lake Bluff.

Mitchell Museum of the American Indian
The Mitchell Museum of the American Indian is one of only a handful of museums across the country that focuses exclusively on the art, history, and culture of Native American and First Nation peoples from throughout the United States and Canada.  It promotes public understanding of cultural diversity through first voice perspectives.

Northbrook Historical Society
The Northbrook Historical Society was organized in December 1973 and Incorporated in March 1974 by residents interested in preserving the history of our Village.  As stated in the bylaws, the purpose of the society is:  To discover, collect, preserve and disseminate knowledge that establishes or illustrates the history of the Village of Northbrook, its exploration, settlement, development and progress.

Skokie Heritage Museum
…takes pride in its ability to serve the more than 63,000 residents of Skokie, Illinois and its customers throughout Chicagoland. Whether protecting natural resources, preserving historical sites or providing thousands of unique recreational opportunities within its more than 240 acres of parkland, the district has offered a multitude of quality programs since 1928.

St. Charles History Museum
The St. Charles History Museum is a 501©3, non-profit organization operating the St. Charles History Museum and historic archive. The Museum holds more than 10,000 photographs in its archive and 15,000 artifacts in its collection.

Wheeling Historical Society & Museum
The Wheeling (Illinois) Historical Society and Museum celebrates the link between the past and the present. The museum is a cooperative effort of the Village of Wheeling, Wheeling Park District, Indian Trails Public Library and Wheeling Historical Museum.

Wilmette Historical Museum
The Wilmette Historical Museum was established by the Village of Wilmette in 1951. Today, it is jointly operated by the Village of Wilmette and by the Wilmette Historical Society, a non-profit, volunteer-run organization devoted to promoting local history. The Museum’s collections, begun in 1950, are now quite extensive.

Winnetka History Museum
WHS owns and operates two historic buildings in Winnetka. Our Museum and headquarters at 411 Linden Street houses exhibit and gallery space and is open for research, including the reference library, photograph collections, museum collections, archives, and house files.  The Schmidt-Burnham Log House seasonally offers visitors a glimpse of life in the 1850s through the interpretation of costumed docents.