5 Museums in Quincy That You Shouldn't Miss

Reviewed By 866TaylorB - Chicago, United States

The Quincy Museum is a local history museum that displays prehistoric relics in a restored Richardsonian Romanesque mansion that is a museum in itself. Located at 1601 Maine Street, the Quincy Museum is part of the historic Newcomb-Stillwell Mansion, a Greek Revival house that was built on this 2 1/2-acre site in 1880, then razed to make room for the house we see today. Built of buff colored Berea Sandstone, mined near Amherst, Ohio, it covers 14,000 square feet of living space on three floors, 2,200 square feet of usable space in the attic and 4,500 square feet in the basement. The very large oak front door is 54 1/2 inches wide. The house underwent more than $1 million worth of renovation and repairs since the Quincy Museum was founded 53 years ago. The first floor is devoted to the period of the 1890s. The second floor features an annual rotating exhibit, a restored bedroom and a gift shop. The third floor has special exhibit areas related to dinosaurs, Mississippi River wildlife and Native Americans. Learn about archeology in Illinois. See artifacts and images that showcase some of the businesses that made Quincy a great place to be...the Blessing Hospital, St. Mary's Hospital, breweries, bakeries, the old-fashioned Corner Store, MoorMan Manufacturing Company, physicians and pharmacies. There's an exhibit featuring Motorola radios, car radios and record players made in Quincy between 1948 and 1975. The Dinotopic exhibit features a giant T-Rex head replica fossils, a dinosaur footprint and real fossils. The Mississippi Wildlife Room displays deer, elk, bald eagles, river bottoms and ponds. And the Native American Room details the history of Native Americans who lived in this area hundreds of years ago. It truly is an educational experience.