Ogle County Historical Alliance Meeting
The Byron Museum will host a meeting for Ogle County’s historical societies, museums, and local historians on Monday, September 14th at 6:30 pm. Our county boasts amazing historical treasures – let’s come together to discuss ways to join forces, so we can all be stronger, better informed, and be greater assets to the areas we serve.
Those interested in attending may call the Byron Museum at 815.234.5031 for more information. The first meeting will be held at the Byron Museum, 110 N Union Street, Byron. Attendees are encouraged to come prepared to discuss goals; ideas for increasing traffic, interest, and awareness; the unique problems and resources of your organization.
New Railroad Exhibit in Progress
The Byron Museum is updating one of its most popular exhibits. The railroad brought new life to the towns of this region, and especially to Byron. We are looking for pictures, objects, personal stories, memories, and anecdotes to include in this new exhibit.
- What is your favorite railroad memory?
- What do you remember about the two Byron Depots?
- Did you ever ride the “Dinky” passenger train from Byron? Where did you go?
- Did anyone famous ever come through Byron via the railroad?
- Do you have any memories of the Milk Train?
- What do you remember about the Bowman Dairy, The Canning Factory, and Ashelford’s Cement Factory?
- What was Byron like after the railroads left? What was public sentiment like during that time?
If you have stories to share that relate to any of these questions, please call us at 815.234.5031. This is YOUR museum with your stories and history.
Picket Fence Art to be Removed
Many visitors have enjoyed the beautiful artwork, creativity, and thoughtfulness that went into the “Chicken Wire Picket Fence Wall” that has been on display in the Byron Museum since last fall. Several hundred paint stirring sticks were decorated by over 100 people from throughout the county, creating a unique art piece as a companion to last fall’s Smithsonian traveling exhibit about fences. After hosting this unique art for almost a year, the museum will be dismantling the wall to create space for future exhibits. Anyone who has contributed to the project is welcome to come and remove their artwork by October 31st Those who have not yet seen the project are encouraged to see it before then – this truly was a spectacular community art project and will be missed on the museum’s walls.
