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Monday 1pm - 4:30pm Tuesday 1pm - 4:30pm Wednesday 1pm - 4:30pm Thursday 1pm - 4:30pm Sunday 1pm - 4:30pm

Wilmette Historical Museum

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Wilmette Historical Museum

The Wilmette Historical Museum is dedicated to exploring, preserving, and sharing Wilmette's history. http://www.wilmettehistory.org/involved.html

Our Museum is operated by the Wilmette Historical Society, a volunteer organization devoted to promoting local history, and by the Village of Wilmette. Located in the historic Gross Point Village Hall building, we offer exhibits, a research room, and special events and programs in our meeting space. For more information, visit our website at:
http://www.wilmettehistory.com

Interested in membership or volunteer opportunities?

04/17/2025

This 1851 map of Northeast Illinois counties marks the boundaries of the “Archange Ouilmette Reserve” within New Trier Township. Archange and Antoine Ouilmette left the Reserve in 1838 and passed away in 1840 and 1841, respectively. But it was not until 1871 that all eight of their children sold their interest in the land that would become Wilmette, with the requisite approval of the President of the United States.

See the full map pictured above, and learn much more about the Ouilmette family by attending the opening of “The Ouilmettes: A Retelling” during our Open House! Sunday, May 4, from 11am to 2pm.

04/08/2025

Today is the 30th anniversary of the Wilmette Historical Museum opening to the public in its current (and first permanent) home. When it was founded in 1951, the museum was located in the basement of the Wilmette Village Hall. It later moved to a Village Hall annex on Green Bay Road, then Highcrest School, before finally settling here in the former Gross Point Village Hall. We first opened these doors on April 8, 1995, thanks to the support of the Village and generosity of many people who have called Wilmette home. This picture shows the building after exterior remodeling in 1993-94 (and without the addition of the research room, offices and collections storage - that addition would be completed in 2004).

For a fuller history of the museum, see the “History & Mission” page of wilmettehistory.org. For the fullest history of Wilmette, come visit the old Gross Point Village Hall!

04/03/2025

A colorful bit of Wilmette history from the Chicago Tribune, April 26, 1938. The whole headline is “LANDS IN JAIL WHEN HE SENDS CAB FOR POLICE.” The rest speaks for itself!

03/27/2025

Be part of Wilmette’s story: become a member or renew your membership today!
Your support enables us to keep Wilmette’s history alive.
Join and stop by to pick up your free illustrated map of Wilmette historic sites (while they last!). Your membership also entitles you to free Members-Only Behind the Scenes Tours, special rates on the annual House and Garden Walk, and special rates on our new custom house history books and Wilmette Map puzzles.
It’s a great time to join!

03/20/2025

Early voting has begun for Wilmette’s April 1 Consolidated Election! If you live in Wilmette, get out your vote for Village President and three Village Trustees when you can between now and Election Day.

The Gage family’s efforts in support of women’s rights included Portia Gage’s remarkable demonstrations in support of women’s suffrage about a half century before the 19th Amendment. For several years beginning in 1868, Portia organized groups of women to go to the polling place in Vineland, New Jersey and cast votes in their own, separate ballot box. The women’s protest votes inspired similar actions across the country.

Pictured is the ballot box used by 172 New Jersey women in the 1868 demonstration, made from a blueberry crate. While this artifact is in the care of the Vineland Historical and Antiquarian Society, the Wilmette Historical Museum has a significant collection of Gage family artifacts and documents, including correspondence from Portia Gage.

03/13/2025

The Gage family shaped the human geography of Wilmette, especially in the area known as Gage’s Addition advertised here circa 1875. But their influence went well beyond Wilmette’s borders. Learn more this Sunday, March 16 from our former curator and Gage expert, Dr. Patrick Leary.

RSVP or purchase non-member tickets online at wilmettehistory.org.

03/06/2025

Join us Sunday, March 16 at 2pm for a talk by Dr. Patrick Leary on the fascinating and influential Gage family. John and Portia Gage, along with their sons Asahel, Henry, and Augustus Neander were early investors and developers in Wilmette during the 19th century. Beyond their substantial local legacy, members of the Gage family left their mark in broader social movements ranging from spiritualism to suffrage.

RSVP or purchase non-member tickets online at wilmettehistory.org.

Pictured: Portia Kellogg Gage and her grandchildren at the northeast corner of Elmwood and 12th St, August 1893

02/27/2025

In just over a week, we will be taking down “Lost Wilmette” to begin installing a new exhibit about which we are very excited. More details coming soon 👀

In the meantime, be sure to come check out “Lost Wilmette” one last (or first) time!

02/20/2025

Here’s a sneak peek of some of the prizes you could win at Kids and Family Bingo this Sunday!
Join us at the museum from 2-3pm on February 23.
Tickets still available. RSVP online or call or email us to sign up.
https://wilmettehistory.org/event/wilmette-history-bingo/

02/12/2025

To avoid this bug’s fate for all concerned, we are closing the museum for the day. Stay safe and warm!

Pictured: buried car being pulled from the snow in the 800 block of Westwood

02/11/2025

Discovering Catharine Documentary Special Screening at the Wilmette Theatre:

Join us at the Wilmette Theatre next Tuesday, February 18 for a special screening of Discovering Catharine, a new 1-hour film by Susan Hope Engel. This documentary on the life and legacy of North Shore lawyer and Equal Rights advocate Catharine Waugh McCulloch (1862-1945) will be followed by a short discussion.

The event is free but registration is required. Please register on Eventbrite via wilmettehistory.org (link in bio).

Beer & wine will be available for purchase.

Screening begins at 6pm; doors open at 5:30pm.

Find out more about Discovering Catharine at DiscoveringCatharine.com

02/04/2025

Margaret Hillis was born in Kokomo, Indiana, and posthumously inducted into the Howard County Historical Society’s Hall of Legends in 2011, only the second year that honor was given in Kokomo.

Though of Hoosier origins, Hillis made her final home in Wilmette. When she passed away on February 4, 1998, she had been retired only four years as director of the Chicago Symphony Chorus, an organization she founded in 1957. Also in 1957, she conducted the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, becoming the first women ever to do so.

Pictured: a news brief dated September 23, 1994, from the museum’s reference files.

01/30/2025

Scratching your head, wondering what to do with yourself as these winter days so slowly grow longer? You’re not alone. Groundhog Day is this Sunday, though, and whether Punxsutawney Phil sees his shadow or not, brighter and warmer days are ahead. Here are a few photos from our collections of young Wilmetters and Wilmette visitors spending sunnier days outside with pets. No groundhogs, unfortunately.

1. Harvey Braun sitting on outdoor stairs with Tim, a cat (1913)
2. John Kellogg Gage with his dog (May 17, 1903)
3. Children and sleepy kitten at Roemer Park, probably the refreshment stand (May 1966)
4. Portia Gage and pet mare at the Henry H. Gage home on Sheridan Road and Chestnut Ave. (ca. 1890)

01/22/2025

On the topic of our upcoming Annual Meeting & Lecture, here is a to ca. 1909. You can see dredging equipment in the background, indicating that this photo was taken during the construction of the drainage canal, harbor, and landfill that would become Wilmette’s beloved Gillson Park.

To learn more about how Gillson Park came to be, join us on January 26th at 2pm to hear from landscape historian Julia Bachrach about the history of this iconic park. The lecture will be preceded by a brief meeting of the Wilmette Historical Society.

This is a free event, and it looks to be a popular one. Please plan to arrive early to secure a seat!

01/15/2025

Kids and families are invited to the museum for a fun game of Wilmette BINGO! Learn more about Wilmette’s history while playing on our custom BINGO boards. Prizes will go out to each round’s winners, and everyone in attendance will be entered into a grand-prize raffle!

01/09/2025

Hello, all! This is Sarah Hawkinson, Community Engagement Coordinator at the museum. This week is sadly my final one here at the WHM, as I am moving on to another museum position in Chicago. I have SO enjoyed working here, and I want to use my parting to remind you all to take advantage of the incredible community resource that is your local history museum! Whether it’s enjoying the exhibits, using the research room, attending programs, or volunteering, keeping Wilmette’s history alive and engaging with its stories (and with one another) is a crucial part of community life. I hope that you and yours visit the museum soon, and plug into its community in whatever way most appeals to you. Best wishes in the coming year!

01/07/2025

We’ve got an exciting opportunity coming up next month for museum MEMBERS, who are invited to register for an exclusive behind-the-scenes tour of the museum collections!

Attendees will get to “peek behind the curtain” and hear from members of the staff about the process of growing and maintaining museum collections. Special items from the collections will also be pulled out for you to see and enjoy! Space is limited, so don’t miss out! You can register at wilmettehistory.org.

01/02/2025

Happy New Year from all of us here at the Wilmette Historical Museum! We are so excited to bring a new and engaging array of exhibits and programs to you in the upcoming year. Make sure that you sign up to receive our monthly e-news at https://wilmettehistory.org/news-signup/ so you don’t miss any exciting updates from us!

Membership in the Wilmette Historical Society also includes great perks – find out more at https://wilmettehistory.org/join/.

We hope you’ll come along with us in the new year as we continue to tell Wilmette’s incredible stories!

Address

609 Ridge Road
Wilmette, IL
60091

Opening Hours

Monday	1pm - 4:30pm
Tuesday	1pm - 4:30pm
Wednesday	1pm - 4:30pm
Thursday	1pm - 4:30pm
Sunday	1pm - 4:30pm

Website

http://www.wilmettehistory.org/

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