Welcome!

The Shabbona-Lee-Rollo Historical Museum began several years ago with a group of people interested in local history and preserving the area’s past. They began meeting regularly. The idea was to encompass the old school district #425, which included the towns of Shabbona, Shabbona Grove, Lee, Rollo, and the surrounding area. Since this area included DeKalb County and parts of Lee and LaSalle Counties, the collection of historical information spans a large area.

In September 1992 the museum opened its doors in the old bank building at 119 W. Comanche Street in Shabbona, Illinois. A 1200 sq. ft. addition was added to the back of the building in 2014 to provide a large work area for research and room for additional displays. While much of the research is done online, we continue to grow research collections which include obituaries, marriages, abstracts, family histories, biographies, and military, church, and school records.

The museum is currently open from 9:00-11:30 a.m. and 12:30-3:00 p.m. on Tuesdays and from 9:00-11:00 a.m. on Saturdays. We close during the winter months.

Admission is free.

Thank You!

Dear SLR Museum Members, Volunteers, Community, and Visitors,

As a member of the SLR Museum’s Board, I would like to personally thank everyone involved in making our 250th project and our 4th of July celebration a grand success.  Without all of your help, this would not have been possible.  We entered the parade displaying banners with the preamble of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence—Thank You, Randy Thorsen, Andrew Barshinger, Jonie Barshinger, Anna Cox. We also had a trailer with gas engines that had been in the Forrer family since 1927—Thank You, Buddy Forrer.  The T-shirt sale was a good draw for people stopping by and looking over all of our displays—thank you, Deb Davey, Julie Lovett and Sheri Millspaugh. With the Museum being open on the 4th, we had over 50 visitors to look over our 4th grade flag displays and our other community displays—thank you, Sue Rood, Kay Thorsen, Carol Bend, Alice Lintereur, Sharon Davison, Bonnie Mullins and the 4th graders who let us display their projects.  Thank you, Jim Cox and Kay Thorsen for displaying the American Flag and the 250th Flag on the outside of the building.  Also, an interested art history party came in for some information about the Museum’s beginning. Good advertisement for the 250th celebration of our country and our town.

Our Museum is a non-profit organization which operates through volunteers who houses and preserves the community’s history.  Without all of our members and the community involvement, this would not be possible.  Thank you to everyone; I truly appreciate you and am very grateful for your involvement in our Museum.

Sincerely,

Phyllis Barshinger

SLR Museum Board President

Membership Renewals

Membership renewals are due on January 1st each year.  Family dues are $20 a year, Contributing dues are $35, and Lifetime is $300.  Of course, all donations are always appreciated. Memberships (renewals and new) can be mailed to SLR Museum, PO Box 334, Shabbona, IL 60550.

Area Military

The men in our area were well represented in the Civil War, World Wars I & II, the Korean War, Vietnam and every action since. There are currently 18 mannequins displaying men and women in various branches of the service and conflicts and one war bride.  All uniforms and the wedding dress were locally donated.

The volunteers are working on our military files.  In addition to the uniforms and artifacts on display, the collection includes binders filled with information on our area people who have served in the military.  To include your or a loved one’s story, there is a form to fill out, or simply put together the information, which would include branch of service, date of induction, date of release, medals received, where served and any other information that would enhance the file along with pictures.  Please send or deliver to the museum.

One-room Schools

The one-room school exhibit is set up to illustrate what a child would see if they were attending a classroom in one of the nearly 40 one-room schoolhouses formerly found in the area.  The artifacts on display are from several of the original schools.