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Elizabeth History Museum

231 N. Main Street .. .. .. Elizabeth, Illinois 61028

1. ELIZABETH HISTORY MUSEUM, 231 N. Main Street:

(Open weekends, May thru October, 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.) Free tourist information. Local history exhibits on Elizabeth's businesses, schools, veterans, lead mining.

2. LEAD MINERS' COTTAGES, both sides of Washington Street: This cluster of six homes pre-dates the Civil War. All of these houses were built by lead miners, Elizabeth's first settlers. Over the years, porches and other rooms were added on, but each structure retains its original box-like core on a stone foundation. Going down the hill, you see four cottages on your left, starting with house number 125 and ending with house number 105 at the corner with Myrtle Street. Two more cottages can be seen on your right, ending with house number 314 on Myrtle Street.

3. Apple River Fort State Historic Site, 311 E. Myrtle Street: (Open daily, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00-p.m.)-

Here the last Indian attack east of the Mississippi took place during the Black Hawk War of 1832. Legend has it that the town of Elizabeth takes its name from three women, all named Elizabeth, who stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the men in defending this stockade.

4. COMMERCIAL HOTEL, 116 E. Myrtle Streets

Built in 1894, this hotel served as the dinner stop for the Chicago Great Western Railway's overnight train between Chicago and Minneapolis during the 1920s. Today the building houses apartments and a gift shop.

5. CHICAGO GREAT WESTERN RAILWAY DEPOT MUSEUM, 111 E. Myrtle Street: (Open weekends, May thru October, 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.) Constructed in 1888, the depot is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is being restored by the Elizabeth Historical Society. This railroad made connections to Chicago, Minneapolis, and Kansas City.

The tracks were torn up in 1972, and the museum was opened in 1997. Exhibits focus on the railroads of northwestern Illinois, with particular emphasis to the Chicago Great Western. A full-size railroad caboose can be toured by visitors, see working telegraph equipment, also N / HO / G scale model railroad are featured. Of the seven railroads once operating in Jo Daviess County, only two remain today.

6. VILLAGE TREASURES, 134 N. Main Street:

(Open Mon. & Tues., 2:30-5; Wed. thru Sat., 10-5; Sun. afternoons)

7. SOMETHING SPECIAL, 147 N. Main Street:

(Open Mon. thru Fri., 10-5; Sat., 9-4; Sun., 10-3, May-Dec.)
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