Vermilion County War Museum - Danville, IL
Posted by: 
adgorn
N 40° 07.757 W 087° 37.786
16T E 446345 N 4442297
The former Carnegie Library building now contains the Vermilion County War Museum, occupying 14,000 square feet displaying memorabilia and artifacts from the Revolutionary War to Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Waymark Code: WM93FT
Location: Illinois, United States
Date Posted: 06/22/2010
Views: 2
Through the generosity of Andrew Carnegie, this library building was built in 1904.
From the Danville Library site at (
visit link)
"After renting library space in three downtown locations over twenty years, the Board of Trustees applied to Andrew Carnegie, a philanthropist, for funds to build a home for the library. Carnegie granted the city $40,000 and construction began in 1903.
On November 7, 1904, the public was welcomed into the new building. The library was so popular that, by 1911, the Library had outgrown the space in the new building. A second request for construction funds from Mr. Carnegie was denied, thus beginning the re-arranging of services and books that was to continue for 80 years."
From the War Museum's website below:
The City of Danville turned over this historic landmark to the Museum in 1998. Through the efforts of a great number of people, who donated thousands of hours of labor, the building was fully restored to a modern facility and opened to the public on Veteran’s Day in 1999. Since that day, thousands of visitors have come from every state and many foreign countries. There are over 400 members, many of whom donate their time to the museum. New display materials and artifacts arrive constantly. The museum has an elevator and is accessible to everyone. Exhibits range from Revolutionary War to current conflicts. Special POW/MIA and Medal of Honor sections. Collection includes over 4000 volumes of war-related books & periodicals, personal scrapbooks, diaries and photographs. 500 plus exhibits of uniforms, flags, equipment, weapons, maps, etc.
The site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.
The museum contains an absolutely amazing array of war memorabilia and is staffed by very helpful volunteers.