The Keota Historical Museum

Published by editor on Wed, 12/02/2020 - 12:45pm

This beautiful Methodist Church stained glass window can be admired at the museum.

This slab of white Vermont marble was originally erected to mark the grave of Lagos, the world's champion stallion of his time, at the Singmaster farm near Keota, now safely on display at the museum.

Keota's retired scoreboard will bring back memories for many Eagles fans. The scoreboard measures five feet eight inches tall, six feet by six inches long and seven inches deep and is hung at the museum.

Keota Historical Museum

The Keota Historical Museum has moved to their new location on Broadway in the City Hall (formerly Libertyville Savings Bank) on Oct. 8. The museum had been located in the basement of the Wilson Memorial Library for the past 40 plus years.

After years of little activity, a museum board was formed in approximately 2006 by current library board members at that time. Rachel Klein, librarian, became the first president. This board undertook the daunting task of organizing the museum and bringing it up to it’s full potential. High on the priority list were antique quilts that were donated, the collection of Keota Glass and the Keota Eagle archives. This board pursued fund raising activities since there was no budget to maintain the museum.

In 2016, the museum became officially recognized by the City of Keota. The current board consists of Jill Baetsle, Wanda Baumert, Dan Flynn, John Greiner, Jeri Klein, Larry Sanders, and Karen Sypherd. At the present time, the current board is continuing to seek funds, grants and other donations for this project.

The museum board is happy to report, that we have recently acquired the last remaining Methodist Church stained glass window and are actively seeking grants and donations to restore this piece of art.

The museum will be open Saturday, Dec. 5 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Please stop by to see our recent acquisitions and old favorites. Masks will be required to enter the museum.