The Williamson County Historical Society will be returning to its schedule of four days a week beginning on Wednesday, March 6th. The museum and library located at 105 S. Van Buren St. in Marion will be available during the hours of 9:30 A.M. to 3:00 P.M. Wednesday through Saturday for tours of the museum or genealogical research.
The museum is located at 105 S. Van Buren Street in the old county jail on the west side of the Marion Civic Center and was in service as a jail from 1913 till 1972. The building doubled as a sheriff’s home and jail and now consists of four floors and 26 rooms full of historical objects. Since 1976, the building has served as the Williamson County Museum and was placed on the National Registry of Historic Places in 2007, one of only five in the county.
Each floor of the museum is full of historical artifacts that include pioneer life, Native American artifacts, a turn of the century bank, county jail life, a general store, antique clothing, tools, houseware, coal mining, and lots more.
The historical society’s reference library and genealogy files are open to the public with free Wi-Fi service so that visitors can connect to online genealogy sites or references. The library is easily one of the best equipped in Southern Illinois and makes some of its resources available online at its website www.wcihs.org where over 750,000 index references to people and places are available. The indexes cover topics such as early court records, cemetery audits, funeral home records, newspaper articles, local history, marriage records, naturalization and much more.
Volunteers are available to help researchers in the library or guide tours through the building. Visitors have the option of doing self-guided or guided tours. Guided tours of the museum usually take about 1 to 1.5 hours and there is no charge to visit or utilize the library but donations are appreciated. Group tours should plan in advance so accommodations can be made. For further information, visit www.wcihs.org or contact us at 618-997-5863 or email us at wchsmail@yahoo.com.