UPCOMING EVENTS

2024 Season

Beginning March 10, 2024, the Museum will be open from 2-4 pm. 12/29 is the last day to visit the Museum Exhibit Rooms as they will be closed until March 9, 2025. The museum’s Research Library will remain open all winter for those who wish to do research on Wednesdays from 2-4pm or email [email protected] to make an appointment.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Dickens of a Christmas Sale-Dickens in Dundee

We will hold our annual Dickens of A Christmas Sale on Saturday, 12/7/2024, from 9am-3pm at the Bethlehem Lutheran Church located at 410 W Main St in West Dundee.

New, gently used and vintage Christmas items at reasonable prices.

Don’t miss your opportunity to obtain a unique Christmas treasure for gift giving or to keep for yourself.

While there, enjoy Bethlehem’s soup and sandwich luncheon fundraiser.

PREVIOUS EVENTS

3rd Annual Historically Haunted Car Show


Saturday, October 26, 2024
9 am to 3 pm

It's getting to be that time of year again!
Join us for the Third Annual Historically Haunted Car Show at the Dundee Township Historical Society's museum.
$20 per car
Dash plaques for the first 50 cars
AWARDS AT 2:00 PM
For more information contact Humberto Garcia 847-800-5124
TROPHIES (For cars 25 years & older):
• Best Car by the Decade
• Best of Show
• Spookiest Car
• Best Halloween Costume

All proceeds will benefit the Dundee Township Historical Society.

PREVIOUS EVENTS

HOW IT WAS DONE THEN / HOW IT IS DONE NOW

Sunday, August 4, 2024 2-4pm

The event is for all ages and will feature tools, farm implements and household items like the ones used in the late 1800s and early 1900s and how they compare to tools we use today. See the tasks that were accomplished before electricity came to Dundee Township in 1892.

 

Come test your skill at boring a hole using a 1890s drill press , saw a log with an old fashioned saw, wring out freshly washed clothes using a hand crank wringer or churn butter and much more.

 

 

This interactive event and presentation will be held at the Historical Society Museum grounds at 426 Highland Ave in West Dundee.  There is no admission fee but donations are appreciated.

Conrad Herrick practicing his skill at working a tredle spinning wheel.
Household items including a wringer for clothes after washing in a laundry tub.
Tools commonly used from the 1800s on.

RISE AND FALL OF SPRING HILL MALL - 6/23 at 2 pm - See Meeting Location

In this presentation, we will discuss the beginning of Spring Hill Mall focusing on pitting two villages, Carpentersville and West Dundee, against each other and the mall developer for control of the mall’s development. Finally built in 1980 after 5 years of conflict, the mall ushered in a “golden age” which featured expansion and renovation that lasted for more than 30 years. We will then explore the factors leading up the decline of the mall up until the early 2020s and finally the unexpected events of 2023 which may reverse the course of its decline.

This event will be presented at:
VFW Post #2298

117 S. 1st St.

West Dundee, IL 60118

Dickens of a Christmas Sale-Dickens in Dundee

The Dundee Township Historical Society will hold its annual Christmas sale during the Dickens in Dundee Celebration.
The sale will be held on Saturday, December 2nd,at the Bethlehem Lutheran Church
located at 410 W. Main St. in West Dundee from 9 am to 3 pm.
New, gently used, and many vintage Christmas items sold at reasonable prices.While there, enjoy Bethlehem’s soup and sandwich luncheon fundraiser.
For more information on events, visit  http://www.dickensindundee.org/

Historic Sites Revisited
Sunday, November 5, 2023

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On Sunday, November 5 at 2pm, the Dundee Township Historical Society Museum, 426 Highland Ave, will present the program “Historic Sites Revisited.”
Buildings that will be discussed include the Delos Dunton House in Carpentersville, the Beau House in East Dundee, the Hunt Building in West Dundee, the Moses Thompson House in Sleepy Hollow, and the Farrell Stone Cottage near the corner of Randall Road and Carrington Drive in Dundee Township.
All are invited to attend this recognition program to learn about some of the earlier residents of Dundee Township, popular structure styles of the past, and ways to keep or restore their homes to the original architectural design.
There is no admission charge, but donations are welcome.
For more information, call the museum at (847) 428-6996 or visit dundeetownshiphistorical.org or www.facebook.com/DundeeTownshipHistoricalSociety.
The images and descriptions are included within the book Dundee Township: 1835-1985, authored by Irma Dupre, Beatrice Brittain Braden and Carolyn J. Bullinger, copyright 1985.

Historically Haunted Car Show
Saturday, October 28, 2023

$20 per car

Dash plaques for the first 50 cars

 

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 28TH

9:00 AM – 3:00 PM

 

AWARDS AT 2:00 PM

 

For more information contact Humberto Garcia 847-800-5124

 

TROPHIES (For cars 25 years & older):

• Best car by the decade

• Best of show

• Spookiest car

• Best Halloween costume

 

All proceeds will benefit the Dundee Township Historical Society.

How It Was Done Then/How It Is Done Now

In 1892 Citizen’s Power and Light brought electricity to Dundee Township. Did you ever wonder how the early township settlers built their houses and barns, farmed their fields and completed household chores without electricity?


“How It Was Done Then / How It Is Done Now” will be presented by the Dundee Township Historical Society.


Sunday, August 6th from 2 to 4pm

The event is for all ages and will feature tools and farm implements like the ones used in the late 1800s and early 1900s and how they compare to tools we use today.


Come test your skill at boring a hole using a 1890s drill press or wring out freshly washed clothes using a hand crank wringer and much more.


The presentation/interactive event will be held at the Historical Society Museum grounds at 426 Highland Ave in West Dundee.  There is no admission fee but donations are appreciated.

For more information call 847-428-6996 or email dths@sbcglobal.net.

2023 Annual Meeting and Program
The Guge Dynasty: Four Generations of Local Woodcarvers

Sunday, May 7, 2023

2 pm

Held at the Dundee Township Historical Society Museum at 426 Highland Ave., West Dundee, IL 60118.

Join us for the annual meeting of the Dundee Township Historical Society!

The Guest Speaker will be Josh Guge, a World Champion Wood Sculptor based in Elgin, Illinois. 

All are welcome!

For more information on Josh and his studio, please visit: https://gugeinstitute.com/

2023 Opening Day

 

Sunday, March 12, 2023

2 pm

 

Held at the Dundee Township Historical Society Museum at 426 Highland Ave., West Dundee, IL 60118.

 

Join us for the opening day of the Museum and Historical Society!

The Guest Speaker will be Katie Meyer, the Dundee Township Naturalist. 

Light refreshments will be served.

All are welcome!

DICKENS OF A CHRISTMAS SALE

Saturday, December 3, 2022

 

Bethlehem Lutheran Church

410 W. Main St.

West Dundee, IL 60118

 

The Dundee Township Historical Society will hold its annual Christmas sale during the Dickens in Dundee Celebration.

The sale will be held on Saturday, December 3rd, at the Bethlehem Lutheran Church located at 410 W. Main St. in West Dundee from 9am to 3pm.

Vintage and collectible Christmas items as well as gently used favorites will be sold at reasonable prices.
Purchase that unique gift for someone or for yourself.  Don’t miss it!
While there, enjoy Bethlehem’s soup and sandwich luncheon fundraiser.

For more on the other Dickens in Dundee events, see http://www.dickensindundee.org/ (2022 Event Website is still pending. See Village Facebook Pages for event updates.)

HISTORIC SITES PLAQUE AWARD PRESENTATION

 

See the Historic Sites tab for a summary of our 2022 Presentation!

 

Sunday, November 6, 2022

2 pm

 

Held at the Dundee Township Historical Society Museum at 426 Highland Ave., West Dundee, IL 60118.

 

Annually the Dundee Township Historical Society awards plaques to homes, structures, and

sites at least 100 years old.

Attending our presentation is a way to learn about some of our earlier residents, structure styles

and architectural designs of the past.

CAR SHOW

The Historically Haunted Car Show was on Sunday, October 30, 2022. It was very well-attended and a lot of spooky fun!

 

Entry: $20 per vehicle

Dash Plaques for first 50 vehicles

 

For more information, contact Humberto Garcia (847) 800-5124

 

Trophies were awarded for (cars 25 years and older):

Best Car by the Decade

Best of Show

Spookiest Car

Best Halloween Costume

MUSEUM SALE

 

Thank you to all who donated and made purchases to make our 2022 Garage Sale a success!

The annual Museum Sale was held October 1-2, 2022 at 611 E. Main St, East Dundee, Illinois. There was lots of treasures available including Haeger Pottery and catalogs, antiques, collectibles, books, vintage linens and lace, Les Santons de Provence Dolls, furniture, glassware, household items, and much, much more! All profits from the sale  supports the historical museum.

Saturday, October 1: 9 am to 4 pm

Sunday, October 2: 9 am to 2 pm

Time Travel with the Dundee Township Historical Society

Summer Cemetery Walk: June 26, 2022

The Dundee Township Historical Society will feature a summer “Cemetery Walk” on Sunday, June 26 from 1-4 p.m. Tours begin at the Historical Society Museum, 426 Highland Ave in West Dundee. A $5.00 donation per person is requested. Guides will be on hand to take visitors through the historic West Cemetery where they will be introduced to important people from the past and hear their stories.

Learn about the early days of baseball from a Cub’s player who grew up in Dundee and went on to play in the big league. “Go Cubs!”. Listen to the tale of “The Radium Girls” from a survivor of a tragedy that was kept from the public for so long. Guests will learn about the early days before each village had its own church from a “Circuit Rider”, a preacher who traveled the countryside spreading the gospel.  A strong woman, who fought the system, will tell how she became the first woman in Kane County to hold a position that had always been a man’s place. A special stop along the way will feature a memorial exhibit in honor of those who passed from this life one hundred years ago.

Guests are also invited to view the exhibits inside the museum. Those exhibits include “The R.L.B. Opera House” and “Windows from Dundee’s Past” as well as the early history of the Villages that comprise Dundee Township. For more information contact the museum at 847-428-6996 or email [email protected].