In the mid-1800s, Great Lakes shipping was key to the economic boom of the newly settled Midwest. Port cities big and small, such as Chicago...

Map of Lake County, Illinois 1861. Published by L. Gast Bro. & Co. The Lake County, Illinois map of 1861 was the county's se...

Caught up in patriotic fervor to preserve the Union, George P. Shatswell enlisted with the 15th Illinois Infantry in May 1861. When Shatsw...

For museums, an object's story is essential to preserving and telling a community's history. And sometimes an object has more than o...

In the early winter of 1834, citizens of the village Hannibal, New York were stirring about the prospect of moving west. James Bacon, who ...