The Old Iroquois County Courthouse was constructed in 1866, with two additions built in 1881 and 1927. In the early 1960's an Iroquois County resident, Mrs. Katherine Clifton, bequeathed to the county in her will a large sum of money and a site upon which to build a new courthouse. The old courthouse was advertised for sale and fell into disuse. In 1967, during the Centennial Celebration of Watseka, the Iroquois County Historical Society was organized and circulated petitions throughout the county not to sell the Old Courthouse. The petitions were approved by the County Board of Supervisors, and the Old Courthouse re-opened as a museum that same year.

Today, a visit to the Old Courthouse is a step back in time where you can visit the old County Jail, see recreations of an old-time back porch, a Victorian parlor, old time general store, post office, one-room schoolhouse, and much more.

It is a place where you can stroll past showcase after showcase featuring one-of-a-kind treasures of a bygone era, with something to interest nearly everyone: fossil and mineral collections, Indian artifacts, the latest fashions of the Victoria era, a collection of over a hundred antique dolls, medical instruments from the pioneer days, and much more.

Even though the Old Courthouse is a storehouse of things past, the present is well represented also. Reknowned for its wonderful acoustics, the Old Courtroom now resounds with applause at the many concerts, plays and recitals held there each year.

We invite you to visit our art exhibitions featuring talented local artists, or attend one of our Spotlights; featuring communities, organizations, occupations or hobbies. Our genealogical research library is famous throughout the country, and our new natural history area displays animals of our area in a lifelike setting. The Country Store stocks books and maps about Iroquois County, as well as toys, crafts, and souvenirs.
Your generous donations are greatly appreciated.  We would like to thank everyone for their support in the past and hope you can continue to support this beautiful old building.  If you have not been to the Museum for a while, please take time to stop in and view our new displays.

Other Ways to Give:

Donate up to 30% of your purchase price to Iroquois County Historical Society when you shop at 2300+ popular online retailers using Giving Assistant! It’s easy. Giving Assistant pays you cash back, and you choose how much of it you’d like to donate to us. Try it now and find great deals like exclusive Hobby Lobby coupons, as well as savings at great places like Aliexpress (6%) and Home Depot (3%)!

Online Fundraising
Use Giving Assistant to save money and support Iroquois County Historical Society

Sign up and shop with Giving Assistant to start donating 3-30% of purchases from your favorite online stores like Michaels (3%), Sears (7%), and Office Depot (6%).

We have a shopfunding campaign! Did you know that you can now support the Iroquois County Historical Society as you shop. Not only that, you will save money too! Here’s how it works, simply add our Goodshop Gumdrop browser plugin , and then two things will happen - you will love it! First, all the best coupons and deals will automatically activate on your screen when you visit an online store (that means Gap Coupons when you shop for your kids orPatagonia deals like dollars off or Apple discounts when you want a new computer. Second, a portion of what you spend will automatically be donated to us from participating stores. It’s the easiest way to support us!