Educational Tours of
the Macon County
Historical
Museum and Prairie Village
Educational Tours
The Macon County Historical Museum offers tour opportunities for students of "all ages" to learn more about the history of Decatur and Macon County.
As the only official "Looking For Lincoln" Coalition Site in Macon County, the Museum offers visitors the opportunity to learn more about the area's rich Lincoln Heritage while watching a short video about that heritage in the Abraham Lincoln Theater.
Abraham Lincoln and his family made Macon County their first home in Illinois after arriving from Indiana 1830, with Lincoln giving his first political speech in Decatur, as well as practicing law in Macon County's first two courthouses. The story of Lincoln's life in Decatur and Macon County is chronicled in several informative exhibits, with visitors being able to tour the Lincoln Log Courthouse located in the Museum's Prairie Village Complex where Lincoln participated in numerous legal cases that was used in Macon County in the late 1830's.
The Museum has a range of permanent exhibits showcasing the historical heritage of the Macon County area from the 1830s to 1890s, with ever-changing exhibits highlighting different aspects of life in Decatur and Macon County throughout the years.
The Prairie Village Complex includes a 1860s one-room schoolhouse and a 1850's log house, along with other period buildings and a 1922 railroad caboose.
Normal tour visiting hours are 1:00 pm until 4:00 pm Tuesdays through Saturdays, but special arrangements can be made for tour groups who want to tour the Museum and Prairie Village Complex.
Tour Admission Rates $2.00 for adults $1.00 for children 12 years of age or younger. To plan a Museum tours for school students or other groups, please contact the Executive Director at 217/422-4991.
Back to Top
Prairie Life Days
An annual community tradition that allows students of today's generation an educational experience in learning about their community's cultural heritage of the 1800s.
Area third and fourth grade students will learn about traditions that dealt with past educational practices and daily living customs.
Students will be able to experience how students of an earlier time were taught their lessons in a one-room schoolhouse that dates back to the 1860s, and learn about the daily chores and art crafts of everyday life in a 1850s log house. They will have the opportunity to stand in the footsteps of a young Abraham Lincoln when he practiced law in Macon County's First Log Courthouse built in the 1830s, and also tour a museum that will illustrate, through the use of creative exhibits, the historical heritage of the Decatur and Macon County area.
Prairie Life Days are held during the month of May.
If you would like to have your students take part in this educational learning experience, contact Patrick McDaniel, Executive Director of the Macon County Historical Museum, at
217 / 422-4919 to schedule your class trip.
Back to Top
