Elgin Area Historical Society
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"Old Main", home of the Elgin Historical Society
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| Established | 1987 |
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| Location | 360 Park Street Elgin, Illinois |
| Coordinates | 42°02′27″N 88°16′39″W / 42.040770°N 88.277517°W |
| Type | Local history |
| Website | www |
The Elgin Area Historical Society is a non-profit organization that preserves and presents the history of the Elgin, Illinois area. Located at 360 Park Street in Elgin, Illinois on the Elgin Academy campus. The historic "Old Main" building houses offices, research facilities, the Elgin History Museum, and a gift shop.
The Society was created in 1961 through the efforts of local authors and historians such as LaRoy Morning, Madeline Sadler Waggoner, Karl Lehr and E. C. Alft. The Society lacked a permanent home for many years and stored its donated artifacts in the homes of Society members and in the basement of Elgin’s Gail Borden Public Library District.
The Society has occupied its current home, Old Main, since 1987. Old Main opened on December 1, 1856, as a private school, the Elgin Academy, and is noted for its Greek Revival design. Old Main was Elgin’s first building entered on the National Register of Historic Places. In 1911 lightning caused a fire that destroyed Old Main’s roof which was replaced without the building’s distinctive gabled roof and cupola. The Elgin Academy continued to use the building until 1969 when financial pressures and new safety codes led to its abandonment. The Academy offered Old Main to the City of Elgin which in 1976 decided that its preservation would be an appropriate bicentennial community project. Prominent Elgin merchant John Spiess proposed a “Buck-a-Brick” fund raising campaign selling 150,000 bricks being laid in Fountain Square Plaza Mall. The successful campaign enabled Elgin to take ownership of the building and, despite another fire in 1978, restore the building’s exterior in 1979-80. In 1981 the City of Elgin leased Old Main to the Society. With additional funds raised by the Society and from state and federal sources and with many hours of volunteer labor by members of the Society, Elgin’s Golden K Kiwanis Club and Gifford Park Association, Old Main’s interior was refurbished for museum use. The Society moved into Old Main’s first floor in 1987 and has used all three floors since 1991.
The Society maintains the Reber Research Library. The Library is named in honor of Clarence Reber, a former president and devoted advocate, collector and cataloger for the Society. The Library’s collections span Elgin’s history but feature the old Elgin photographs from the collection of Elmer Gyllek, thousands of photographic negatives donated by the Elgin Courier News, local probate and divorce records, and rich resources for research on Elgin homes. The Library also holds production records for most Elgin National Watch Company watches made before the 1950s and offers research services providing information on specific watches.
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