Northwest Territory Historic Center, Illinois, United States

4Dave3441 5:00 PM Feb 3, 2014

More Than Meets The Eye
Seems like every community has a "museum" or historic center. Most would be better left...closed. This center is good...very good. Even though it is located in a former school that Ronald Reagan attended, the building is completely handicap accessible. Millions were spent converting the building from an old school into an interesting history museum. There are rooms dedicated to the various people having ties to the Dixon area including the Walgreen (Drug) Family, Abraham Lincoln, and Ronald Reagan (among others). I won't bother outlining everything they have, their website can do a better job than I: http://northwestterritoryhistoriccenter.org/ Like any museum worth its salt, it has a good size gift shop. Bottom line, this is not your usual small town museum. Being literally within walking distance from Ronald Reagan's home, it is worth a visit. There is no set admission, donations are accepted in a drop box near the front door. Staff was friendly and helpful. I enjoyed it.

4nashrocks 5:00 PM May 25, 2016

Interesting Set Up
The museum is located in an old high school building. At one point in time, Ronald Reagan attended school at this location. The museum has information about some of the history of Dixon, a restored Ronald Reagan classroom, history of the Blackhawk War, and an area for the history of early American farming. With the latter two, they have extensive life size dioramas, many of which will also speak to you about the history or the story. The museum also has a small Lincoln room and a Walgreen history room. When I visited in March, they were also in process of developing a research library on site. The museum is free, although donations are encouraged. If you happen to find yourself in Dixon, this is definitely worth checking out (especially if you came to Dixon to see Reagan's Boyhood Home).