Archival Library To Be Closed On Jan. 15

Library Closure Announced

A Night at Mineral Springs Hotel

A Night at Mineral Springs Hotel

Fundraiser to Benefit MCHS

Fundraiser to Benefit MCHS

Loyet Collection Now Available Online

Loyet Collection Now Available Online

MCHS Trivia Night – 2023

MCHS at Trivia Night - Aug. 26

MCHS Presents Program on Armenian History

Historian to Speak on Armenian History

MCHS News Volume 10 Number 6

Early Days at SIUE

MCHS News Volume 10 Number 5

The History of the Village of Leclaire

MCHS Offers 2023 Summer History Camp

Summer History Camp

Celebrating the MRF

Celebrating the MRF

An Evening With Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson

MCHS News Volume 10 Number 4

Family Reunions Return to Madison County

MCHS News Volume 10 Number 3

Centennial Picnic Held at Oakdale

MCHS Announces Museum Renovation Progress

Weir House Renovation

History Harvest – Wood River

History Harvest - Wood River

MCHS News Volume 10 Number 2

The story of V-Mail, used extensively during WWII, as told by a Madison County GI

Exploring the Mitchell Archaeological Site

Exploring the Mitchell Archaeological Site

MCHS to Hold Second History Harvest

Holiday hours announced at archival library

History Harvest

Holiday hours announced at archival library

Archival Library Holiday Hours/Closures

Holiday hours announced at archival library

Peering into the Past — Paranormally

Peering into the Past -- Paranormally

Vintage Baseball Game

Vintage Baseball Game

Breakfast Fundraiser at Masonic Lodge

Biscuits and Gravy Breakfast fundraiser

MCHS Trivia Night

MCHS at Trivia Night - Aug. 27

Genetic Genealogy and Your Family Tree

Researching Your Family Tree Using DNA

MCHS News Volume 10 Number 1

Read about the mystery and unique history of the Burroughs house on Springfield Road in Fort Russell Township.

MCHS News Volume 9 Number 6

Learn about the remarkable life of Mr. Dilliard, and his decades-long connection to the MCHS

History Camp for Kids — A Week of Adventures

A four-day History Camp for Kids, geared for Madison County students aged 9-11

MCHS News Volume 9 Number 5

A look at the many breweries that operated in Madison County.

Historical Societies Offer Cemetery Restoration Workshops

Historical Societies Offer Cemetery Restoration Workshops

Museum Gallery Opens at Madison County Archival Library

Gallery Opens at Archival Library

MCHS Calendar Offers Something for Everyone

MCHS Calendar of Events

Madison County Historical Society Approves New Directors

Madison County Historical Society Approves New Directors

Historical Society Offers New Resource for Genealogists

Probabe Court Records Available Through MCHS

Holiday Hours Announced At Archival Library

MCHS Recognized as Illinois Centennial Organization

MCHS Recognized as Illinois Centennial Organization

MCHS Recognized as Illinois Centennial Organization

New ISHS Historic Market Dedication

New ISHS Historic Marker Dedication

MCHS News Volume 9 Number 4

A sample of historical photos from the collections of William A. "Bill" Shaffer and Millie Shaffer, featuring people and places in Madison County and Troy.

MCHS News Volume 9 Number 3

The Illinois State Historical Society has recognized the work of Charlotte E. Johnson by presenting her with the 2021 Lifetime Achievement Award for her work in documenting the stories of Black families in Illinois.

MCHS News Volume 9 Number 2

Early firefighting in 19th century Madison County was both dramatic and dangerous, with fire an ever-constant threat when towns consisted primarily of wooden structures.

MCHS News Volume 9 Number 1

Sears House kits that were sold by Sears, Roebuck & Company from 1908 to 1941. Kits consisted of house plans and everything else needed to construct a house, all ordered through catalogs.

Living History Days: A Chautauqua with Teddy Roosevelt and Friends

Living History Days: A Chautauqua with Teddy Roosevelt and Friends

Panel Discussion: Changing Voting Rights in America

Panel Discussion on the History of Changing Voting Rights

Oh Freedom! Songs of the Civil Rights Movement

Free concert celebrates songs of the Civil Rights Movement

MCHS Mourns Passing of Suzanne Dietrich, Mae Grapperhaus

MCHS mourns recent passing of Suzanne Dietrich, Mae Grapperhaus

Traveling Exhibition from Smithsonian Institution Coming to Madison County

Smithsonian Institution exhibit will open to the public at the Madison County Administration Building in July

Charlotte E. Johnson Achievement Award

Charlotte E. Johnson, Alton, has received the 2021 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Illinois State Historical Society

MCHS News Volume 8 Number 6

In 1963, the Madison County Historical Society purchased the Weir House, built for John Weir in 1836. Here you can read about the Weir family and their many contributions to Madison County.

MCHS News Volume 8 Number 5

A mayor who died trying to save his town, a State’s Attorney’s home bombed, women who broke the glass ceiling, and more are all part of Madison County’s political history.

MCHS News Volume 8 Number 4

The Village of Alhambra was founded in 1849. Ten years later a second village was platted less than a mile away! This newsletter explores the history of Alhambra and how the two villages became one.

Madison County Historical Museum Exhibit

A new exhibit, “Ink to Paper: Exploring the Advancement of…

MCHS News Volume 8 Number 3

Roland Harris has been collecting and sharing the history of communities in the eastern part of Madison County for 70 years. His collective works have now been recognized by the State of Illinois.

MCHS News Volume 8 Number 2

During the height of the tuberculosis epidemic, Madison County built a hospital dedicated solely to the care of TB patients.

MCHS News Volume 8 Number 1

East of Edwardsville, in Pin Oak Township, more than 150 years ago, there was a settlement of Black farmers that author J. Eric Robinson calls “The Pin Oak Colony.”

Archival Library Open With COVID-19 Guidelines

The Archival Library, which has been closed earlier in the pandemic,…

MCHS News Volume 7 Number 6

From 1899-1930s there were streetcars, known as electric railways, crisscrossing Madison County. The last holdout was a line between St. Louis and Granite City that discontinue service in 1958.

2020 Speaker Series

MCHS News Volume 7 Number 5

John Wildi (1853-1910) was a Swiss immigrant to Highland who became an exceptional businessman, a founder of the company that later became Pet Milk, and a savvy real estate investor.

MCHS News Volume 7 Number 4

Journalist Bill Tucker takes a look at the Village of Carpenter as remembered by some of former residents that remember it when it was still a bustling community of businesses.

MCHS News Volume 7 Number 3

More than a century ago orphans in need of care came primarily from local families, but also from St. Louis, Chicago and from the famous Orphan Trains of the New York Juvenile Asylum.

MCHS News Volume 7 Number 2

From itinerant peddler to a chain of department stores, generations of the Glik family, through hard work and a strong entrepreneurial spirit, have brought their business to a place of national prominence.

MCHS News Volume 7 Number 1

This article profiles the history of three St. Jacob buildings that were built in the 1870s and are still in use today. All are connected, not just by age, but through the families that lived in them.

MCHS News Volume 6 Number 6

The last quarter of the year 1918 was a difficult one for the country as well as Madison County where residents experienced wartime shortages, the medical crisis of the flu epidemic and the last days of WW I.

MCHS News Volume 6 Number 5

The Catholic Church in Edwardsville was established in 1842, but German Catholics wanted a church of their own with services in their native language. They began planning for a new church in the 1860s.

MCHS News Volume 6 Number 4

In 1837, William Emmert built a two-room house in the Six Mile Precinct of Madison County. The house, enlarged over time, is now the Old Six Mile Museum on Maryville Road in Granite City.

MCHS News Volume 6 Number 3

In this issue, Lincoln scholar Dr. Stephen Hansen writes about Abraham Lincoln’s numerous journeys to Madison County where he met political friends, conducted business and a participated in a famous debate.

MCHS News Volume 6 Number 2

Since 1965, thousands of students at SIUE have attended classes in the Peck Building, named for John Mason Peck, but few knew of his contributions to education in Madison County nearly two centuries ago.

MCHS News Volume 6 Number 1

Museum Superintendent Jon Parkin tells about the early settlement of Illinois, where in many cases the military veterans were rewarded for their service and sacrifice with a land grant in Illinois.

New Museum Exhibit
in Madison County Courthouse

October 3 - Staff of the Madison County Historical Museum have…

MCHS News Volume 5 Number 6

A pictorial exhibit at the Glen Carbon Heritage Museum was the inspiration for this newsletter that tells the story of early Glen Carbon through artifacts and photographs on a timeline of history.

MCHS News Volume 5 Number 5

The Wood River Refinery that today produces nearly two per cent of the nation’s petroleum processing capacity was established here in 1917 on the leasing edge of an energy revolution.

MCHS News Volume 5 Number 4

The Montgomery Station was once a thriving farm community where families gathered at the country store, met for platform dances and relied on the railroad to take their crops to market.

MCHS News Volume 5 Number 3

On Easter Sunday of 1917, St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church held the first service in their new church, the third building for the small congregation, founded in 1841, that held the status of “mission” for many years.

MCHS News Volume 5 Number 2

Mary Westerhold, Madison County Archival Library Research Director, explores some of Madison County’s small, forgotten cemeteries

MCHS News Volume 5 Number 1

Glen Carbon, Collinsville, Maryville and Edwardsville are known for their coal mining legacy, but nearly every community above the bluffs in Madison County at one time had a coal industry.

MCHS News Volume 4 Number 6

The Godfrey Mansion still stands near the town of Godfrey, a town named for Captain Benjamin Godfrey. The stately home is one of a number of houses pictured in the 1873 Atlas of Madison County.

MCHS News Volume 4 Number 5

The farming community of Grantfork had numerous names over the years. Although small a small town, it has one of the oldest businesses in the county: a restaurant that has been serving meals since 1895.

MCHS News Volume 4 Number 4

In 1816, a squatter named John Cook built a cabin near what is now the corner of Orient and Church Streets in Collinsville. His improvements were later purchased by three brothers named Collins.

MCHS News Volume 4 Number 3

After several unsuccessful attempts, in 1887 a group was finally organized to preserve Madison County’s History. They were the Madison County Old Settlers Union, but many called them “snow birds.”

MCHS News Volume 4 Number 2

For three years, volunteers at the Madison County Archival Library worked to process over 44,000 probate files. Along the way, they found some interesting pieces of Madison County history.

MCHS News Volume 4 Number 1

In 1833 the Illinois State Penitentiary opened in Alton. It closed in 1860 when a new prison opened in Joliet but re-opened the following year to serve as a prison for Confederate soldiers.

MCHS News Volume 3 Number 6

Here are the stories of four Madison County Residents known nationally in their time, but forgotten today: Minna Inglis Clark Fletcher, Charles Helmuth Seybt, Vasil Stephanoff, and Charles Boeschenstein.

MCHS News Volume 3 Number 5

The most recent Madison County Courthouse celebrated its centennial anniversary in 2015. Court was initially held in designated homes, followed by four buildings constructed specifically as courthouses.

MCHS News Volume 3 Number 4

Troy was first settled in 1803 as Columbia. When the land was sold and platted in 1819, it was given the name of Troy. In its early years Troy was a stage coach stop along the National Road.

MCHS News Volume 3 Number 3

Five authors, all descendants of immigrant families from Granite City’s Lincoln Place neighborhood tell the stories of their Armenian, Macedonian, Bulgarian, Hungarian and Mexican ancestors.

MCHS News Volume 3 Number 2

Madison County has many museums and historic homes where area residents and visitors can learn about our history and heritage. These articles provide information on those places that are open to the public.

MCHS News Volume 3 Number 1

The influenza pandemic of 1918 killed millions world-wide, and Madison County was not out of reach. In the fall of 1918, nearly 500 Madison County residents died of the flu.

MCHS News Volume 2 Number 6

During WW II, area residents were hungry for news of local servicemen. One of the ways they stayed informed was through letters and news stories that dominated local newspapers.

MCHS News Volume 2 Number 5

The history of Alton has been influenced by its location on the Mississippi River that made it accessible. The river brought commerce, the first state prison, and some of the earliest railroads in the county.

MCHS News Volume 2 Number 4

In the 19th Century Madison County weddings were usually simple affairs with immediate family only, or even elopements. Larger church weddings, inspired by the wedding of Queen Victoria, came later.

MCHS News Volume 2 Number 3

Historian Cheryl Eichar Jett shared a few of Madison County’s most sensational crime stories that she has found in the course of her research on Route 66.

MCHS News Volume 2 Number 2

For nearly a century, three generations of architects from the Kane family occupied a suite of rooms in Edwardsville’s Bohm Building. Their skill and artistry can be found throughout Madison County.

MCHS News Volume 2 Number 1

The Madison County Archival Library at 801 N. Main Street in Edwardsville is a treasure trove of resources for anyone researching Madison County or their family’s genealogy.

MCHS News Volume 1 Number 6

Some Madison County residents were known nationally in their time, but few know their names today. Here are stories of Emma Kubicek, Jacob Ammann and Walter Benjamin, all worth remembering.

MCHS News Volume 1 Number 5

Surveyor Jeff Pauk and Gary Denue, a long-time collector of surveying instruments here explained how surveyors work and illustrate many of the instruments they used to survey the prairie.

MCHS News Volume 1 Number 4

The average home had no air conditioning a century ago, so to cool off Madison County residents escaped to a number of area resorts that offered mineral baths, swimming, or just a day in the country.

MCHS News Volume 1 Number 3

Nationally recognized authority on Route 66, author Cheryl Eichar Jett, shared stories of America’s Mother Road in Madison County communities.
Black and white photo of the Weir House

The Windows Project

MCHS News Volume 1 Number 2

Alton resident Charlotte E. Johnson has spent decades researching the African-American story in Madison County. Here she shares her unique perspective on African American history and culture.