Depot Museum

Through the cooperation of the Batavia Park District and the society, the Depot Museum is maintained where artifacts collected since 1960 are preserved, stored, and displayed. In keeping with its mission, one of the on-going projects of the society is the plaquing of buildings, dating back 100 years or more. The first plaque was awarded in 1961 at 229 East Wilson Street. The society has collected many paper archives, books, and photographs that record the history of the city and its families. A major acquisition is a collection of 160 boxes of old court records from Kane County. Especially helpful to those doing family research, they have supplied answers to many elusive historical questions. All of these documents and photographs are available for public study in the Gustafson Research Center that opened in October 2000. A recent project sponsored by the society is the placement of eighteen historic plaques along the Riverwalk. These contain pictures showing what the viewer would have seen from that spot many years ago. Others explain the restored windmills along the walk.