Centralia Area Historical Museum

09/03/2026

Update.

09/01/2026

You knew this was coming.

08/26/2026

Quick update.

08/15/2026

I was today years old when I discovered that the Today show made a stop in Centralia back in 1985. Pictured in one photo is Mayor Jack Sligar as he shakes hands with Bryant Gumbel and WIllard Scott. The Today show was doing an Amtrak tour and Centralia was a stop. The other picture is a wider shot of the train.

If you would like to see this and so much more about Centralia, the Centralia Area Historical Museum is open Wednesdays and Fridays from 1 pm-4 pm and Saturdays from 10 am- 4 pm. Located at 240 South Locust, Centralia, Illinois.
Click here to support our Museum, and check out our new website - https://cahmuseum.org/

08/14/2026

Railroad "hump jockeys" is a colloquial or slang term historically used to describe railroad workers who operated in hump yards—specifically the switchmen, pin-pullers, and yard engineers who sorted freight cars by pushing them over an artificial gravity hill (the "hump")
Here is a picture of the afternoon shift of the Centralia Hump Jockeys. I’ll be honest I had never heard of this term before seeing this picture.

If you would like to see this and so much more about Centralia, the Centralia Area Historical Museum is open Wednesdays and Fridays from 1 pm-4 pm and Saturdays from 10 am- 4 pm. Located at 240 South Locust, Centralia, Illinois.
Click here to support our Museum, and check out our new website - https://cahmuseum.org/

08/14/2026

08/13/2026

A rail dispatcher or rail traffic controller, manages train movements across a rail network. They use computer systems and signals to direct traffic, prevent crashes, keep trains on schedule, and protect workers on the tracks.
Back in the olden days, Operators in trackside towers manually pulled mechanical levers connected to heavy iron rods. These physical linkages moved track switches and colored semaphore signals.
Here is a picture of Harry Hofsetter who served as Traffic Director for Centralia for 18 years in the C.B7Q tower. Which was located a block south of Calumet in the boom days of the railroad.

If you would like to see this and so much more about Centralia, the Centralia Area Historical Museum is open Wednesdays and Fridays from 1 pm-4 pm and Saturdays from 10 am- 4 pm. Located at 240 South Locust, Centralia, Illinois.
Click here to support our Museum, and check out our new website - https://cahmuseum.org/
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08/12/2026

These newly donated items from the Centralia High School are old vhs tapes of the Annies games at the state tourney in 1977. Our hope is to find a way to transfer them to a media form that will allow us to place them on our youtube channel so anyone can enjoy them!!

If you would like to see this and so much more about Centralia, the Centralia Area Historical Museum is open Wednesdays and Fridays from 1 pm-4 pm and Saturdays from 10 am- 4 pm. Located at 240 South Locust, Centralia, Illinois.
Click here to support our Museum, and check out our new website - https://cahmuseum.org/

08/08/2026

Time for our Floor renovation update! We had a couple come through yesterday looking for an item that had been donated from their family. We found it and they were glad to see this item again. When they left they decided to become members of the Museum and then made a nice donation to the floor project.

The new updated total for the Floor Renovation Project now sits at $980!!!!! We still have a way to go, but we are on our way!
If you would like to donate and help us reach our goal. You can do so by sending in a check or stopping by the Museum. You can also go to our website and make a donation there.

The Centralia Area Historical Museum is open Wednesdays and Fridays from 1 pm-4 pm and Saturdays from 10 am- 4 pm. Located at 240 South Locust, Centralia, Illinois.
Click here to support our Museum, and check out our new website - https://cahmuseum.org/