Exploring a Not-So-Distant Past

The DeWitt County museum is truly a museum made for exploring, both in seeking out glimpses of the past in rural and small-town middle America, but also in hunting for the hidden treasures of artifacts, relics, documents, and even full exhibits and displays through this “museum without walls.”

The Museum’s center and starting point is located on the lower level of the Mansion House, which has been reimagined with built-in floor-to-ceiling display cases, featuring everything from a collection of World War I weaponry to Indian artifacts from the area.

One important standing exhibit is a display of vintage photographs of life in Clinton and DeWitt County from the early days and through the years.

There’s also a room depicting life in an early Illinois prairie log cabin and another with revolving exhibits focusing on local history.

But your visit to the past continues in the upper levels of the Mansion House, as well – with artifacts, original furnishings, and artwork from the Victorian Era – and even beyond its walls and onto the Homestead grounds, where displays of antique farm machinery and equipment, buggies, carriages, and even an antique sleigh await your discovery.