This isn’t your typical local museum where a few relics are thrown on a shelf or hung on a wall, maybe, sometimes, with a small tag identifying the item but rarely anything to make them relatable.

This museum makes a point of not only identifying items and events that defined McLean county’s history, but it presents them with captivating documentaries that describe what was being done (and might have been thought) at the time, and also asks questions of the visitors that requires them to place themselves in those historical scenarios. You’re likely to spend as much time reading the accounts as you are examining the items, but if you’re willing to take the time to do so, this museum can absolutely bring those times to life!

Museums aren’t usually at the top of my list of favorite ways to spend my day, but I found this one both interesting and captivating. I was here for about an hour and didn’t come close to seeing it all. I look forward to returning and exploring even more of these wonderful, high quality exhibits.