My sister had her wedding here and it was the COOLEST venue!! I could have stayed there all night…read moreand still found new things! The attention to detail was incredible!

This place is incredible. Very pricey, but incredible. I've been to many events here and they were…read moreall put together very well. The "barn" is a museum in its own wright. There's tons of old cars and John Deere tractors on display with descriptions and histories about them and the owner. The decor is extremely extensive as well, and I've never seen anything like it. I could wander around in there for hours!

Great tour, highly recommended and will love to come back for the full 4-hours hour. I love the…read moreguide tour lady!!! Come and enjoy!!

My friend and I had an errand out in this area and decided to see what else there was to see while…read morewe were here. This museum (the home of the Hegeler and Carus families, who were involved in a local zinc company and also a publishing house, Open Court Press) is a national historic landmark and is unique because it was owned by the same family the whole time, & they never made any fundamental updates to the house so it's largely as it was when designed by WW Boyington (who also designed Chicago's Water Tower and the old Joliet prison) in the 1870s. Several rooms have been restored, but you can see in areas where it hasn't where time is taking its toll (for example, the main hall was painted with egg tempera paint, and that organic element [the egg] is now degrading after 150 years). Still, the parquet floors are amazing, and details like pocket doors, carved wooden decorations and historical elements like the speaker tube system in the walls for speaking through the house are unusual! The house also contains the only German-style turnhalle (gymnasium) in a historic home in the US. Other interesting details include an ornate butsudan (buddhist cabinet shrine) due to Hegeler's interest in Eastern religions. We just took the general tour ($15), but you can do half house (upper or lower half for $50 each) or whole house tours ($100). The longest one is apparently 3.5 hours with two breaks and children are discouraged since it is long. You must register for the tours as they max out at 6 people. Despite it saying "masks are required" and our temperatures taken at the door, our guide was initially trying to take his mask off to talk and the other couple on the tour followed suit. When my friend and I left ours on, they all put them back on at some point. The rooms do have 6 foot markers on the floors, but since some of the rooms aren't big, if you had a full tour group this would be an issue. There is an elevator so the Mansion is handicap accessible. Overall, this seems to be one of the bigger attractions in LaSalle, so take a tour if you're in town.

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!

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!

There is truly something for everyone here! Came on a Wednesday which is apparently discount day so…read moretickets were $20. This is an incredibly accessible experience. Mobility scooters available to borrow at the entrance, and also more in the back for those who might change their mind. Benches are located throughout. Maps are available at the front, and in several places throughout. Even though it's a huge building, it is really well organized and easy to navigate through. It's very close to the highway and worth the hour or so stop if you want to see something quirky and different!

The price to get in was definitely worth it. The historical expert named Tony is an expert and has…read morea story about everthing and most people could listen to him for hours. Thank you Tony for your prsentation on the Kennedy assasination in Dallas Texas in 1963.

Recommended for anyone that has a little bit of time, and needs to stretch their legs, and has an…read moreinterest in history, This is a nice respite. Located in Dixon Illinois (Grand Detour), the John Deere home offers free admission and even a guided tour if your time it right. Checked their website for operating hours because it appears they can change. The guided tour takes a little over an hour so we had to step out because we could not spare that much time but they were very kind and recognizing that not everyone could stay for the full tour. Located inside a white picket fence is a little museum that has the timeline of John Deere's life, and an archaeological site that marks the origins of his blacksmith shop and basically the birthplace of international John Deere industry as we know it today. Additionally, his home, which was not open to the public when we were there, but you can peek in the windows, is also located on the property. A cute little gift shop with John Deere shirts, hats, etc. is available as well as some really cool items for sale that are fabricated from the blacksmith on site providing demonstrations.

Visited during the 75th Grand Detour Arts Festival. The art fair is one of the oldest in Illinois…read moreand had a nice selection of local artists. The John Deere historic sites has buildings to go in and tour. There was a blacksmith demonstration and several audio tours. If in the area, it is worth stopping by,

Great museum. We'd…read morevisited here last, about 20 years ago. Memory fades and it was time to revisit on this trip. All exhibits are housed inside on 2.5 floors. There is also a gift shop and restrooms. I found no elevator. We paid (senior rate saves $1 each) and went into a seating room where there used to be a video projection (no longer working). The staff member there today, Les, led everyone into this room to be seated. Les spoke about the rich history of Galena and he was quite detailed. We found this worthwhile. After the speech, we looked around this room at mostly US Grant artifacts, then we headed to a very large back room that has many displays, dioramas etc. on Galena. Lead mining had a rich history here for a few decades, so there was a lot of mining history on display. When we were done downstairs, we walked upstairs where there is a smallish room on the 2nd floor and a much larger room on what I'd call floor 2.5. Floor 2.5 had mostly wartime history while floor 2 had a variety of history on display. Note that the stairs are fairly steep. The first set also has a 90 degree turn near the top. There is a low, wooden banister-style handrail on one side. To access floor 2.5, there are another 6 or 8 steps to get up to it and there's a metal handrail for them. All in all - it's a pretty well done history museum for a small community and it was worth the time. I'd recommend this useful to anyone who wonders, "why does this town exist, how was it formed and what does its evolution look like". We enjoy museums like this.

What a great little museum! We didn't know what to expect, but I can honestly say we were blown…read moreaway! The ladies that welcomed us were so friendly and knowledgeable about the museum! There was so much packed in! It wasn't only about Grant but about the whole settling of Galena and all the way back to the ice age! I have to say this is a gem of a place and definitely a must see! It's clean and reasonably priced! We will definitely come back when we come to visit again.

Great little museum. Very informative past info on the local area and beyond only five dollars to…read moreenter and you get access to two museums. The staff are kinda unfriendly at the first little one a young girl but the guy working the second one with the coal museum. Was very friendly and helpful. We came like five minutes before closing he told us please don't rush take your time it's ok we appreciated that very informative history here liked it.

We always try visiting local museums whenever we're on a stop-over; even small towns often have a…read morelot 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.