Joliet Area Historical Museum facts for kids
| Established | 1977 |
|---|---|
| Location | 204 N Ottawa Street Joliet, Illinois |
| Type | Local history |
The Joliet Area Historical Museum is a cool place in Joliet, Illinois, where you can learn all about the history of Joliet and the nearby Will County area. It's a great spot to discover how this part of Illinois grew and changed over time.
Discovering Joliet's Past
The museum is in an old building that used to be the Ottawa Street Methodist Church. A local architect named G. Julian Barnes designed it, and it was built way back in 1909. This old church building was given a new life as a museum in 2002.
It's right on one of the old paths of historic U.S. Route 66! The museum has a modern part on the ground floor called the Route 66 Welcome Center. Here, you can explore a special exhibit called the Route 66 Experience. This part of the museum also connects to the historic Joliet Chamber of Commerce Clubhouse next door. That building is now known as the Renaissance Center of the City Center campus of Joliet Junior College.
The museum also has a special section about John C. Houbolt. He was a NASA engineer from Joliet and a graduate of Joliet Junior College. John Houbolt was super important in the U.S. Apollo program. He came up with the idea of the lunar orbit rendezvous. This plan used a lunar module to take astronauts from their spaceship to the Moon's surface and back.
You can find the museum at 204 N. Ottawa Street in central Joliet. There is a small fee to get in.
Exploring the Old Joliet Prison
The museum helps people explore the famous former Joliet Correctional Center. This prison was built in 1858 and is a well-known landmark. Since 2018, the museum has offered guided tours of this historic site. It's now called the Old Joliet Prison Historical Site. Many Route 66 travelers and other visitors enjoy learning about its past.
The Gemini Giant's Journey
The museum has been involved in the story of the Gemini Giant. This giant spaceman statue is a famous landmark in Wilmington, IL. It used to stand outside the Launching Pad Restaurant.
In early 2023, the museum tried to buy the Gemini Giant and the restaurant property. There were some ups and downs with the purchase. The museum eventually received a large grant from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity. This grant helped them with their plans.
In 2024, the museum successfully won an auction for the Gemini Giant itself for $275,000. The museum has now loaned the Gemini Giant to the City of Wilmington. It will stay there until February 2045, so many people can continue to enjoy seeing this iconic roadside attraction.
