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The 10 Best Military Museums in Illinois, United States
Discover the best top things to do in Illinois, United States including Cantigny Park, First Division Museum at Cantigny, Heritage in Flight Museum, Veterans Military Museum, Vermilion County War Museum, Octave Chanute Aerospace Museum, Rock Island Arsenal Museum, Livingston County War Museum, Pritzker Military Museum & Library, Grand Army of the Republic Memorial Museum.
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1. Cantigny Park
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 575 reviews
Welcome to Cantigny!Discover a world of beauty, learning and fun just around the corner! Cantigny was Colonel Robert R. McCormick’s gift to the community and all 500 acres are yours to enjoy. Plan your visit today!
Reviewed By kdav123452017 - Wheaton, United States
Cantigny Park and the area is a great place to go for a ice walk in nature, visit an ornate mansion, and learn about military history. It’s got to be one of the top places to visit in the Chicago west suburbs.
2. First Division Museum at Cantigny
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 256 reviews
Museum with interactive exhibits on the trenches of WWI, the beaches of WWII and the rice paddies of Vietnam.
Reviewed By sugarbaby34
The tanks outside were incredible to get up close to. My husband and son are huge military buffs and were impressed to see the tanks on display outside on the grounds. I myself tagged along but was not bored at all looking at the tanks. Inside the museum are wonderful displays depicting all phases of wars that the 1st was involved in. The grounds had wonderful gardens to wander through. We all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.
3. Heritage in Flight Museum
4. Veterans Military Museum
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 1 reviews
5. Vermilion County War Museum
6. Octave Chanute Aerospace Museum
7. Rock Island Arsenal Museum
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 119 reviews
The Rock Island Arsenal Museum is the Army’s second oldest museum. It first opened to the public on July 4, 1905. The museum tells the story of Rock Island Arsenal and Arsenal Island from the establishment of Fort Armstrong in 1816 to today. Among the museum's highlights is its firearms collection. Consisting of more than 1200 military and civilian firearms, the collection is one of the most unique in the country. Visitors can see a wall-gun from the American Revolution, rifles from the Little Bighorn Battlefield and Custer’s last stand, and experiment firearms from Rock Island Arsenal’s Rodman Laboratories. The museum is open Tuesday to Saturday from Noon to 4:00pm
Reviewed By 567arisl
Unbelievable amounts of guns! Any gun and military enthusiast would enjoy their time here! The amount of information on all the weaponry there is very extensive
8. Livingston County War Museum
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 123 reviews
We are a hands-on, living history museum featuring displays, artifacts and uniforms of local soldiers from World War I, World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Desert Storm, Iraq and Afghanistan. Our staff is made up of military veterans who are present to share their experiences with you. We are located next to the Route 66 Museum. Visited by guests from over 75 countries since 2004. Free admission. Free parking. Open 7 days a week Mon-Sat 10 - 4, Sun 12 - 4. See you on Route 66!
Reviewed By Bergmom
This museum is an absolute gem and a must see for every American who can get there. There was a lovely, kind gentleman working there who is a retired Sailor and was a wealth of knowledge. They have literally thousands of artifacts and so much to see. I knew there would be uniforms in the museum but what I didn’t know is that all of the uniforms belonged to individuals around the area who had each served their country. Each uniform has the person’s ribbons and medals as well, and a QR code you can scan for more pictures and information of that person. It was a surprisingly emotional experience and I’m so grateful this was recommended to us. Pontiac and it’s residents should be extremely proud of their dedication to the country, to history and to patriotism!
9. Pritzker Military Museum & Library
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 71 reviews
The Pritzker Military Museum & Library is located at the corner of Michigan Avenue and Monroe Street on floors two through four of the historic Monroe Building in Chicago's Loop. Situated across the street from Millennium Park (home to Cloud Gate and the Crown Fountain) and the Art Institute of Chicago, The Museum & Library is a unique institution – part military history and information center, part museum – open to the public with an extensive collection of books, artifacts and rotating exhibits covering many eras and branches of the military. Visitors can also participate in live television show recordings in the Museum & Library's state of the art broadcast center. The Museum & Library is a center where citizens and active duty military and veterans come together to learn from each other, about military history and the role of the Armed Forces in today’s society.
Reviewed By 866TaylorB - Chicago, United States
It has been said, by some reviewers, that the Pritzker Military Museum & Library in Chicago is more library than museum. And that might be true. But there is such a treasure trove of rare and interesting books, including a sizable collection relating to Winston Churchill, that it is worth a trip to spend time in the Rare Book Reading Room to catch up on history that dates to the 1600s and 1700s and 1800s that you can't find anywhere else. Located at 104 South Michigan Avenue, on the second floor, it was founded in 2003 for the study of "the citizen soldier as an essential element for the preservation of democracy." The collection features over 115,000 items, including more than 67,000 books, as well as periodicals, videos, artwork, posters and rare military ephemera, over 9,000 photographs and glass negatives from the American Civil War and the Spanish-American War to the present, letters and journals from American soldiers, newspaper cartoons by Pulitzer Prize winning newspaper artist Bill Mauldin, war-related sheet music and many materials relating to Churchill. Another fascinating exhibit are two World War II diaries donated to the museum by Chicagoan Sam Gevirtz, who served on the aircraft carrier USS Bunker Hill during the invasion of Okinawa in 1945. If you are a historian, especially related to the Civil War and World War I and II, if you are interested in such subjects as Civil War regimental histories or military aviation or World War II unit histories, even Soviet history, the Pritzker beckons.
10. Grand Army of the Republic Memorial Museum
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 26 reviews
Our collection includes relics of the Civil War but highlights the membership and work done by the Grand Army of the Republic (G.A.R.) and their auxiliary, the Woman's Relief Corps (W.R.C.). Visitors to the museum receive a brief description of what the museum is and what you will see. You have the option to view the displays and read the interpretive panels on your own or receive a guided tour complete with additional descriptions and more in-depth commentary. Depending on the date of your visit, special exhibits may be on display. There is no entry fee but the Museum receives no City, State or Federal funding and relies entirely on the membership of the WRC and the donations of visitors.
