A vacant school gymnasium will serve as the new location to preserve a collection of Galesburg’s history.
The Galesburg Historical Society recently entered an agreement with School District 205 to lease a portion of Rose Hoben Welch School, 1017 W. Dayton St., as the site for its museum.
Previously located in the former Galesburg Antiques Mall and now Galesburg Community Arts Center since 2005, the Galesburg Historical Society has been searching for a new location since it lost its lease earlier this year.
“We asked for allies, we got allies and we were pointed in a direction we might not have found on your own,” said Debby Sugai, president of the Galesburg Historical Society. “We found a very good place, we’re excited, and it’s going to work.
“We’re in a nice big, airy, open space, all on one level. It was a gift.”
Once a former grade school and also the site of Galesburg High School North, Rose Hose Hoben Welch has recently been used for storage by District 205.
The Galesburg Historical Society last week completed the move of an estimated 10,000 items from the Galesburg Community Arts Center to its new home at Rose Hoben Welch School.
Ron Peck, treasurer of the Galesburg Historical Society, said the new museum should be open to the public by Spring 2024.
“It’s still a work in process,” Sugai said. “We have a 3-month plan, a 6-month plan and an 18-month plan. We’re starting small, so when we actually open the door, it may not be as we completely want it.”
The group has not yet determined what it’s hours of operation will be, Peck said.
Sugai and Peck credit member Cora Douglas and Josh Gibb of the Galesburg Community Foundation with assistance in finding the new location.
“We probably looked at 20 locations, and they were either too big, too small or wanted too much for rent,” Peck said. “The school district has just been wonderful to work with. It’s going to be a super partnership with them.
“Dr. Asplund has definitely been supportive to us. We can’t thank him enough.”
Terms of the lease agreement have the Galesburg Historical Society paying District 205 a rental fee of $300 on a month-to-month basis, according to Asplund. The Galesburg Historical Society is not responsible for any utilities at this time.
Peck said the Galesburg Historical Society hopes to work in conjunction with District 205 to provide tours to Galesburg students in history classes.
According to late Galesburg historian Tom Wilson, Rose Hoben Welch began teaching in Galesburg Schools in 1901. In addition to teaching, she was principal of Churchill Junior High School and Mary Allen West Grade School.
Opened in 1960, Rose Hoben Welch School was built to relieve overcrowding at other existing elementary schools (including Bateman, Cooke, and Weston Grade Schools) in Galesburg, likely the result of the post-World War II “Baby Boomers” filling the buildings beyond capacities.
“We’re excited to be in an historic building,” Sugai said. “You have to be somebody pretty good to get a school named after you.”
Established in 1975, the Galesburg Historical Society has a variety of local artifacts ranging from Galesburg’s extensive time as as manufacturing community, along with many school items, restaurant memorabilia, military items and more.
Some of the special items the Galesburg Historical Society will have on display are a Lombard piano from 1915, items from when Ronald Reagan attended Silas Willard School, a train from Kiddieland and one of the refrigerators manufactured at Maytag in Galesburg.
The gymnasium will provide approximately 1,500 square feet of space for the Galesburg Historical Society to display its memorabilia.
“It’s given us an opportunity to go through everything,” Sugai said. “We’ve gone through every box we have.”
For more information, the Galesburg Historical Society can be reached at (309) 344-2778, or galesburghistoricalsociety@yahoo.com.
