Bureau County Historical Society and History Center

10/08/2026

10/07/2026

Have you gotten your tickets? Call 815-875-2184 or visit us online at bureauhistory.org to get yours today!

Tickets are also available at Heartland Bank at their South Main Street location and at True Leaves Bookshop - Princeton, IL.

10/07/2026

The fall Chronicle has arrived! Please stop by Becks, Zigs in Tiskilwa, and True Leaves Bookshop - Princeton, IL to pick yours up today.
Or give us a call at 815-875-2184

10/03/2026

Looking for something to do this sunny October Saturday? Stop by for a visit! Our two beautiful historic buildings are open today, each featuring a unique exhibit on Bureau County history.

The Clark-Norris Home honors the story of the Clark-Norris family, who built and occupied this beautiful Colonial Revival residence from 1900 to 1946.

The Newell-Bryant Museum is currently exhibiting Phase II of Henry W. Immke's beautiful photographs of early Bureau County taken over the course of his career from 1866 to 1923. There are 600 photographs on display of churches, schools, streetscapes, the fair, businesses, parades, manufacturing, and agriculture.

Guided tours of the exhibits can be made by calling (815) 875-2184.

The Research Library, located at the rear of the Newell-Bryant Museum, is open for visitors and research requests pertaining to Bureau County people, places, or events. Researchers can come in from noon to 5 p.m., Wednesday-Saturday, to access these files. Requests can also be sent to [email protected]. Please refer to our website https://bureauhistory.org/research-information/ for our research policies.

Are you a member of the Bureau County History Center? Members receive free admission to our exhibits; they receive our award-winning quarterly magazine, The Chronicle, in their mailboxes; and are invited to private member-only events. Become a member today and support us in our endeavor to tell Bureau County's stories: https://bureauhistory.org/membership/

As always, we encourage you to Explore your History!

10/02/2026

Today we had North Central Homeschool Co. in for a group tour

09/30/2026

Do you have your tickets for Dearly Departed: Voices of the Bureau County History Center yet? We're less than a month away! This event will be held on October 24 at 1 p.m. at the Bureau County Metro Center in Princeton.

This is a presentation of audiovisual evidence gathered in our buildings showing paranormal activity. This is not a jump scare event.

Tickets are $19.00 per person and can be purchased at True Leaves Bookshop - Princeton, IL, at Heartland Bank at their South Main Street location, in person at the Bureau County History Center, or by calling us at (815) 875-2184, or via Eventbrite at this link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/dearly-departed-voices-of-the-bureau-county-history-center-tickets-1990916869952?aff=ebdssbdestsearch

Tickets purchased via Eventbrite will have additional fees.

This is a fundraiser, and all monies raised go to support programming and our three historic buildings.

Explore your History!

09/26/2026

TODAY! We hope you will join us this afternoon at 2:00 p.m. at True Leaves Bookshop - Princeton, IL for this interesting discussion and writing workshop!

We hope you will join us this Saturday at True Leaves Bookshop - Princeton, IL at 2pm for a discussion and workshop with award-winning author Rachel DeWoskin.

In this discussion, DeWoskin asks: "How do human beings convey the stories that matter most to us?"

In this interactive presentation and workshop, she will talk about reading, writing, traveling, listening, and imagining, all as ways to freshen and widen our perspectives. Connecting to one another through stories, poems, and conversation will help us determine what we mean by truth in a moment when the notion and word are contested.

Together, we will explore poetic/philosophical truth along with "objective truth," and make mini wonder books, lists of questions, and ways to approach exploring those questions through writing. We will examine how art and writing can be fueled not by what we know, but instead by what we ask. We will keep our worldviews—and expressions of our experiences—kaleidoscopic.

Participants will write something—anything from a single line or list to a poem or scene—that feels beautiful and therefore true, or true and therefore beautiful. Participants will have a chance to read what they've written and to connect across experiences, expressions, and stories.

We hope you will join us for "Truth & Beauty: Telling our Stories in Writing that Moves and Matters."

09/25/2026

Come check this all out !
Starting today .

09/24/2026

09/23/2026

We hope you will join us this Saturday at True Leaves Bookshop - Princeton, IL at 2pm for a discussion and workshop with award-winning author Rachel DeWoskin.

In this discussion, DeWoskin asks: "How do human beings convey the stories that matter most to us?"

In this interactive presentation and workshop, she will talk about reading, writing, traveling, listening, and imagining, all as ways to freshen and widen our perspectives. Connecting to one another through stories, poems, and conversation will help us determine what we mean by truth in a moment when the notion and word are contested.

Together, we will explore poetic/philosophical truth along with "objective truth," and make mini wonder books, lists of questions, and ways to approach exploring those questions through writing. We will examine how art and writing can be fueled not by what we know, but instead by what we ask. We will keep our worldviews—and expressions of our experiences—kaleidoscopic.

Participants will write something—anything from a single line or list to a poem or scene—that feels beautiful and therefore true, or true and therefore beautiful. Participants will have a chance to read what they've written and to connect across experiences, expressions, and stories.

We hope you will join us for "Truth & Beauty: Telling our Stories in Writing that Moves and Matters."