Midway Village Museum in Rockford, Winnebago County, United States | Museum

Midway Village Museum is a 136-acre campus conveniently located near I-90 in Rockford, Illinois, United States, yet comfortably nestled among the trees to give visitors the step-back-in-time experience.
Midway Village Museum is a Victorian Village (1890 to 1910) of 24 historical buildings filled with artifacts of the era as well as several beautiful 19th century gardens. Interpreters in authentic period dress are available seasonally for guided tours. The main Museum building holds a number of permanent exhibits reflecting Rockford, Illinois's history and culture.
Midway Village Museum was organized in 1968 by the Swedish, Harlem and Rockford Historical Societies for the purpose of collecting, preserving and interpreting the history of the Rockford, Illinois, area. It began with a donation of land by the Severin Family and has grown dramatically since.
In 1972, the original Museum site was located on eleven acres donated by the Severin Family; today the site is 137 acres. The original 10,000 sq. ft. Museum Center facility opened in 1974. The Industrial Gallery opened in 1976. In 1986 the Exhibition Hall was built to link the previous two buildings together. In 1988, more galleries were opened, including the Aviation Gallery and the Carlson Education Gallery. Across the parking lot, the Old Dolls? House Museum was opened that same year. Today, the 52,700 sq. ft Museum Center houses seven exhibition galleries, collections storage, classrooms, workrooms, administrative offices, library, audio-visual room, and the Museum Store. The 2000 renovation of the History Building made the facility handicap accessible and made the Museum Center more visitor friendly. The collections have grown to almost 80,000 objects, including three-dimensional pieces, structures, textiles, and archival material.
The development of Midway Village Museum began in 1974. The Village is representative of a typical rural town in Northern Illinois at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century. Midway Village Museum features 26 historical structures, including a general store, hardware store, print shop, blacksmith shop, schoolhouse, town hall, police station, plumbing shop, bank, hotel, hospital, fire station, church, barber shop, law office, two barns, and four farm houses.