Home | McLean County Museum of History

Events & Programs

Looking for something new to do? Check out our upcoming events and programs. Tune into a livestream, or watch a recording of a past program on our YouTube channel.

Member Appreciation Month

Wednesday, November 1st – Thursday, November 30th

Members make our mission a reality. To express our gratitude, we are offering a month filled with member-exclusive events, dis...

Featured

First Friday: Christmas Under the Dome

Friday, December 1st

5:00pm – 8:00pm

Join the Museum on Friday AND Saturday for free, festive fun during Christmas Under the Dome!...

Christmas Under the Dome: Saturday Celebration

Saturday, December 2nd

11:00am – 2:00pm

Join the Museum on Friday AND Saturday for free, festive fun during Christmas Under the Dome!F...

Lunch & Learn: Relocating the Nativity in Song and Celebration with Adriana Ponce

Thursday, December 14th

12:10pm – 1:00pm

Bring your lunch and head over to the Museum (or to youtube....

Lunch & Learn

Online + In Person

Crafting History: Embroidering Festive Felt Ornaments

Tuesday, December 19th

6:00pm – 7:30pm

Join us for Crafting History: Embroidering Festive Felt Ornaments on Tuesday, December 19, at 6 p.m. ...

Knit In at Normal Public Library

Saturday, February 17th

10:00am – 1:00pm

Calling ALL Knitters and Crocheters, grab your needles and hooks, some yarn, a friend or two, and come and knit for a bit!...

With five exhibit galleries, a hands on Discovery Room, and four floors of Museum to explore, there's a lot of history to get caught up on. So let's cover the essentials to help you plan your Museum visit.

Admission

Adults $10 FREE
Seniors (65+) & Veterans $8 FREE
Museum members FREE
Students & Children FREE
Every Tuesday, for all visitors FREE
SNAP Recipients (with EBT card) FREE
Indigenous Tribal Members (with ID) FREE
Active Duty Military (with ID) FREE
Big Brothers/Big Sisters and their Little Brothers/Sisters FREE
Many community groups & corporate members FREE

How to Get Here

Our address is 200 N. Main Street, but our entrance is on Washington Street. There are bicycle racks on the Washington Street plaza behind the Lincoln Bench.

All city buses drop off on Front Street, one block south of the Museum. Parking around the Museum is free but you must move every 90 minutes. We recommend parking in the Lincoln Parking Deck on Front St. ($1/hr) for more extended visits. Parking downtown is free after 6pm and on weekends.

Hours

Monday: 9am to 5pm
Tuesday: 9am to 8pm
Wednesday: 9am to 5pm
Thursday: 9am to 5pm
Friday: 9am to 5pm
Saturday: 9am to 5pm
Sunday: Closed

Exhibits

Explore the rich history of McLean County in our five permanent exhibits, hands on Discovery Room, and numerous displays. Our online exhibits bring McLean County history to you, wherever you are.

Merwin Gallery

The Merwin Gallery features almost 300 objects from the Museum's 18,000+ object collection. In this display space, objects from the collection will be moved in and out of the gallery regularly so visitors can return again and again, always to see something new.

Challenges, Choices, and Change

This exciting 5,000-square-foot exhibit in four galleries explores the experience of living, working, farming, and creating community in McLean County.

Digital Exhibits

Read the rich histories featured in our Challenges, Choices, and Change as well as Abraham Lincoln in McLean County exhibits from anywhere!

Research

The Museum has thousands of online and on-site resources for researching local history topics and genealogy. These are some of our most popular resources.

Pantagraph Negatives Collection Overview

Overview of the project that has digitized over 100,000 so far, and video tutorials

Finding Aids

Detailed inventories of archival collections in the Museum, organized by subject, from the 1820s to the present.

City Directories

Thanks to a partnership with Bloomington Public Library and intern Noah Tang, local directories from 1855-1920 have been digitized, and are available on the Internet Archive.

Search our Library Catalog

See what books we have in our library. We are a non-circulating library so you must come to the library to see these books, and they cannot go home with you.

Learn

Our educational programs reach thousands of students, seniors, and community members each year.

Evergreen Cemetery Walk

The Evergreen Cemetery Walk brings the voices of McLean County's history to life. Costumed actors portray people representing all walks of life from the county's past on the grounds of Evergreen Memorial Cemetery.

Tickets go on sale September 5th.

School Programs

The Museum is an award-winning educational institution accredited by the American Alliance of Museums that offers FREE hands-on, educational programming for grades pre-K through college.

Senior Reminiscence

Bring Museum educators directly to your facility at no cost to you. Using authentic objects, photographs, and inquiry-based facilitation, we encourage older adults to recall, share, understand, and connect.

Speakers Bureau

Local experts are ready to give presentations on a variety of fascinating topics. Invite them to your club, meeting, or classroom!

Become a Member

Want free admission to the Museum every day of the year? Or invitations to special member-only events? Becoming a member is a meaningful contribution to the Museum's mission of preserving local history. Plus, enjoy reciprocal benefits at over 400 museums & historic sites in the U.S. through the Time Travelers Program.

Join us

Become a Volunteer

We provide rewarding opportunities for active volunteers and flexible positions for occasional volunteers too.

Explore opportunities

Cruisin' with Lincoln on Route 66 Visitor's Center

Cruisin' with Lincoln on Route 66 Visitor's Center contains a gift shop and local tourism information. We feature locally produced products, Abraham Lincoln souvenirs, and Route 66 souvenirs. When you visit the Museum, you will enter and exit through the Visitors Center!

Learn more