Museum  Year End Schedule
November through  December
Wednesday, Thursday 10-2 
Friday 12 -2
Closed Thanksgiving & Christmas

​Museum tours available by appointment
 We will attempt to accommodate travelers, family groups home for the holidays.
Also, during  this period, the  "OPEN" sign will be out on the days
that we are in the building working on the displays.
 
​Please text 833.228.8603, or email to schedule a visit.
​121 S Macoupin St Gillespie, IL 62033
It is here:
Author Kevin Corley of Shelbyville, Illinois has released his fourth novel on Illinois history and the first not centered in Christian County.
“13 Steps for Charlie Birger is the most fact-based book I have written.” Corley says. “I took all the events and names from other historian’s research and wove them into the novel.
Recently at the Museum
A virtual tour of the museum was on display at the 2019 INTERNATIONAL MOTHER ROAD FESTIVAL , held in Springfield Sep 28.  Several  hundred visitors viewed a museum slideshow, Illinois coal map, and miners lamps. Many visitor questions were fielded and their family coal mining stories related.
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Our Lecture Series got off to a wonderful start with Andrea's Route 66 presentation. Here she explains the map pinning at various locations along the route, in this photo, European travelers visiting Doc's Soda Fountain, Girard
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Dr. Andreas Pantazatos, Department of Philosophy at the Centre for the Ethics of Cultural Heritage, Durham, UK, recently spent several hours touring our museum. The Durham area was a leader in  coal production and home  to thousands of former miners. The conversations of the similarities between Coal Country and Durham will be continuing long after Andreas' return home.    
COAL MINES ONE THE PRAIRIE,  written by former Gillespie resident Harold 'Herk' Rauzi, is a great snapshot of our Coal Country history. On sale now at the museum (only  $10).
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Bill Winkelblack stopped by to peruse the 1950's Coliseum posters, including the Will Black Orchestra