Elkhart County Historical Museum

Elkhart County Historical Museum Free admission! Come experience the premier destination for Elkhart County history and culture.

The Elkhart County Historical Museum fosters appreciation and preservation of local history and culture through exhibits, educational programs, and an accessible library and archives.

🏙📰 It’s Flashback Friday with Michael, our longtime ECHM volunteer! Today, we found a Goshen Daily News-Times newspaper...
08/28/2026

🏙📰 It’s Flashback Friday with Michael, our longtime ECHM volunteer! Today, we found a Goshen Daily News-Times newspaper published in September 1917. In this issue, you can see attraction highlights and advertisements for the Elkhart County Fair, which used to be held at the end of September instead of in the summertime as currently observed.

Ever wondered about the history behind some of our most popular Elkhart County Parks? How did the water wonderland that ...
08/26/2026

Ever wondered about the history behind some of our most popular Elkhart County Parks? How did the water wonderland that is Cobus Creek County Park come to be?

Explore those stories and more at our Cobus Creek History Hike on Monday, August 31st at 6pm.

Come prepared for a 1.2-mile hike and get ready to learn all about the cultural and natural history of Cobus Creek. $3/person, limited to 20 participants. Sign up to reserve your spot: https://elkhartcountyparks.recdesk.com/Community/Program/Detail?programId=1885

📚Get your library cards ready or visit your favorite local bookstore to prepare for our upcoming book discussion of Dani...
08/25/2026

📚Get your library cards ready or visit your favorite local bookstore to prepare for our upcoming book discussion of Daniel Mason's 2023 novel North Woods.🌳

This sweeping story takes place in the remote north woods of New England, following the inhabitants (human and otherwise!) of one piece of land over generations. Join us to discuss this rich, hopeful story in Elkhart County Parks' own historic home - the DeFries Homestead.

The program takes place Tuesday, September 29th, at 6pm. Find out more and register here: https://elkhartcountyparks.org/events/north-woods-book-discussion-9-29-26/

It’s Flashback Friday with Michael, our longtime volunteer at the ECHM! For today’s episode, we will be turning our atte...
08/21/2026

It’s Flashback Friday with Michael, our longtime volunteer at the ECHM! For today’s episode, we will be turning our attention to a handful of articles and advertisements from The Elkhart Review and Goshen Daily News published in 1919. The first two images in the carousel (including the front page and the C.G. Conn advertisement) appeared in The Elkhart Review, while the remainder of the images came from Goshen Daily News.

It was a great night for History of Camping in Elkhart County. Thanks to everyone who joined us at Red Pines in Ox Bow, ...
08/21/2026

It was a great night for History of Camping in Elkhart County. Thanks to everyone who joined us at Red Pines in Ox Bow, to Harding’s of Bristol for donating s’mores supplies, and to Vince for leading campfire songs!

08/20/2026

Anyone missing a mobile phone? We found it on the wooden bench by the little free library outside the ECHM on Wednesday morning. Please send us a Facebook message or call us at (574) 848-4322 and provide a brief description of the misplaced phone, if you think you left it behind.

⛺These happy campers at Simonton Lake look like they know how to have a good time!🔥Join us for our program History of Ca...
08/20/2026

⛺These happy campers at Simonton Lake look like they know how to have a good time!

🔥Join us for our program History of Camping in Elkhart County tonight to learn more! Come for the camp stories, stay for the campfire songs and s'mores!

The fun begins tonight (8/20) at 7pm at Ox Bow County Park. Questions? Find out more here: https://elkhartcountyparks.org/events/history-of-camping-8-20-26/

✈📸 National Aviation Day is celebrated this Wednesday, August 19, honoring the birthday of aviator Orville Wright in 18...
08/19/2026

✈📸 National Aviation Day is celebrated this Wednesday, August 19, honoring the birthday of aviator Orville Wright in 1871. Did you know that only 5 percent of people in the world today have ever been on an airplane? Bearing that in mind, it’s interesting to note that Elkhart County, Indiana’s ties to aviation reach back to the early twentieth century, when this mode of transportation was in its infancy.

ECHM staff members came across images of a 1911 aviation event in the Elkhart area, Chicago baseball player Billy Sunday sitting at the controls of an amphibious biplane in 1915, A.E. Kunderd standing beside a Curtiss Robin aircraft promoting the Kunderd Gladioli business in 1930, as well as a C.G. Conn employee testing an altimeter during the WWII era.

⛺Pitch your (figurative) tent with us at Ox Bow County Park this Thursday evening for our History of Camping program!Lea...
08/18/2026

⛺Pitch your (figurative) tent with us at Ox Bow County Park this Thursday evening for our History of Camping program!

Learn the lore behind sites such as Eby's Pines, Prairie Camp, and more. Discover how the RV industry here has shaped camping around the world. Bring your camp chairs and enjoy campfire songs and s'mores!

The program is at Red Pines Campfire in Ox Bow County Park at 7pm on Thursday, August 20th. It's free to attend, but visitors to Ox Bow must pay a $3/vehicle entry fee. Learn more here: https://elkhartcountyparks.org/events/history-of-camping-8-20-26/

Address

304 W Vistula Street
Bristol, IN
46507

Opening Hours

Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm
Saturday 9am - 5pm

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