History & Mission
The Elmhurst Historical Museum is a local history museum founded in 1957 and operated by the City of Elmhurst. The Museum serves as the community's memory by collecting, preserving, and interpreting significant original materials to share the stories that are the history of Elmhurst.
Our History
Elmhurst Historical Museum is located in a historically significant structure known as the Glos Mansion, which is the former home of Elmhurst's first village president, Henry L. Glos, and his wife, Lucy. The Museum opened in January 1957 on the third floor of the Glos Mansion, which at the time also housed Elmhurst's City Hall. The museum moved to the Wilder Mansion at Wilder Park from 1965-1975, and then returned to its current location in the Glos Mansion in 1975. In addition to this facility, the museum also manages the restoration, interpretation and programming for the Churchville Schoolhouse, a historic one-room schoolhouse located just north of Grand Avenue on Church St. The Churchville Schoohouse is registered in the National Register of Historic Places, and is slated to reopen in 2010.
Our Mission
The Museum fills an essential role in the life of the community revealing the quality of life in years past and providing a basis on which pride in Elmhurst will grow and endure. The Museum fulfills its mission by:
- Acquiring and caring for locally significant artifacts, records, documents, photographs, audio-visual materials, and publications.
- Maintaining a historically and architecturally significant building, the Glos Mansion.
- Presenting historical concepts and museum collections to the public through exhibits, educational programs, tours and publications.
- Supporting research related to local history and Museum collections.
- Offering cultural and leisure opportunities related to community history and heritage.