Gifford Park Association – Architectural Treasure Hunt
Put your preservation prowess to the test! Explore the Elgin Historic District and identify the architectural details pictured on our official entry form. Correct entries will be entered into a drawing for $50 in Downtown Elgin gift certificates. Treasure Hunt will begin on May 1st, pick up your form at the Elgin History Museum or visit gpaelgin.org (http://gpaelgin.org/) to get started. Entries are due by May 31!

GPA will also host Gifford Park Architectural Treasure Hunts with students at Channing School during Preservation Month on May 13th. 

Contact: Beth Cywin: [email protected]

Stop by the Gail Borden Public Library - 2nd Floor to see the Heritage Commission’s Preservation Month Exhibit!

It's the monthly Elgin full moon ride. This will be a moderate pace ride for a few miles throughout the core neighborhoods of Elgin. Join us for this social night ride! We will meet along Riverside Drive near the Fountain Square parking lot and roll for 7 to 9 miles. Be Lit and Visible. If you have not signed a 2026 ride waiver, please do so at: https://app.waiverforever.com/pending/2KWrdauPe01769647509
Contact/RSVP: [email protected]
Location: 69 S. Riverside Drive; Meet at north end of Festival Park
Time: 9:00 p.m. – 10:30 p.m. Please plan to meet at 8:30 p.m.

Join us in honoring the retirement of the 1950 mid-century modern Ellis Middle School. The building will be opened to celebrate the final year with a building walk-through.
Location: Ellis Middle School, 255 S. Liberty Street
Time: 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

The Heritage Commission is hosting a hands-on workshop focused on best practices for window restoration and paint stripping. The Commission will be there to also answer any questions regarding a variety of their programs including the Heritage Plaque Program, landmark designation, grant programs and upcoming preservation events.
Contact: Rebecca Hunter
Location: Ziegler’s Ace Hardware, 215 N. Spring Street
Time: 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Elgin Heritage Commission honors outstanding contributors to Elgin’s heritage. Honorees have demonstrated their dedication to older architecture, neighborhoods and history.  Sponsored by the Elgin Heritage Commission.
Contact/RSVP:  Registration required. City of Elgin Community Development Department at 847-931–6004
Location: The Lodge, 18 Villa Court, Elgin, IL
Time: 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. (Reception at 6:00 p.m.; Ceremony at 7:00 p.m.)

Tucked into the Elgin Sports Complex is the burial ground for the old Elgin State Hospital. Tour the cemetery with historian Bill Briska to discover this little known site and some stories it has to tell.
Contact: https://elginhistory.org/
Location: Meet at Highlands Golf Course East Parking Lot, Elgin Sports Complex, 875 Sports Way, Elgin, IL 60123
Time: 10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.

The historic building has been spruced up inside and out and now features new interpretive window displays sharing its connection to the nearby Elgin National Watch Company. Stop by to explore the depot and learn more about this important piece of Elgin’s industrial past.
Contact: https://elginhistory.org/
Location: Watch Factory Depot, 201 National Street
Time:  1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.

Learn about Smith Hoag, a prominent Elgin builder and architect active from the late 1800s and early 1900s. Hoag’s work includes many buildings and homes in Elgin, but his most notable work is the design of Dunham Castle in Wayne, IL. Presented by the Gifford Park Association.

Register: Please register at elginhistory.org
Location: Elgin History Museum, 360 Park Street
Time: 7:00 p.m.

Museum Curator Beth Nawara presents Entertaining Elgin. This program will use objects and images from the Elgin History Museum's collection to show a variety of events that entertained Elginites in the 1800s and 1900s. FREE for Members / $5 for Guests
Contact/RSVP: FREE for members / $5 Guests. Please register at elginhistory.org
Location: Elgin History Museum, 360 Park Street
Time: 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m

Two one-hour sessions each include a brief history of the Elgin National Watch Company, its connection to school district U-46 Planetarium, and a look at the night sky under the dome. A self-guided building tour is available before both shows, so come early! Admission is free for the 2025-26 school year but $2/person donations are appreciated. No reservations; first come, first served seating. Free parking at Raymond St. and National Street; drop off available in front.
Contact: Joe Kellenberger at 847 888-5019
Location: Elgin National Watch Company Observatory, 312 Watch Street
Time:  Doors open at 4:00 p.m. Shows will begin at 4:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. 

By now, most people are aware that companies such as Sears Roebuck, Gordon-Van Tine and Aladdin sold houses in mail order catalogs. Less known is the fact that five of the major mail order house companies also sold barns and other farm buildings from 1909-1936. The largest number and variety of such buildings were sold before 1920, when the majority of the United States population was still rural.

Join architectural historian and mail-order home expert, Rebecca Hunter, as you examine images from catalogs of Sears, Wards, Gordon-Van Tine Harris Brothers and Aladdin as well as pictures of authenticated mail order barns that are still standing.
Location: Gail Borden Public Library – Main Branch, Elgin Room
More information: https://attend.gailborden.info/event/15613948
Time: 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Step inside history and explore Washington Elementary School, a striking example of Richardsonian Romanesque architecture built in 1891 during Elgin’s period of rapid growth. Constructed of stone and pressed brick on Chicago Street, the school opened with modern features uncommon for its time, including steam heat, indoor plumbing, fireplaces in every classroom, and dedicated cloakrooms—innovations that reflected a forward-thinking approach to education.

For nearly 135 years, Washington School served as a cornerstone of the west-side community, fostering generations of students and even counting Nobel Prize–winning chemist Paul J. Flory among its alumni. As the school prepares to close following the 2025–2026 academic year, its legacy endures as a place that not only educated, but brought people together, shaped lives, and left a lasting mark on Elgin’s history.
***This tour includes a significant number of stairs; please plan accordingly.
Contact: Christen Sundquist, 847-931-6004
Location: 819 W. Chicago Street, street parking or parking available behind school, Enter at Rear Parking Lot, Door 4
Time:  1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Revitalize your home’s character at this demonstration/workshop focused on the essential skills of traditional window repair. Designed for homeowners and DIY enthusiasts, this session covers removing glass from a wooden frame sash window, replacing and resetting the glass, and finally installing new glazing compound to make the window weather-tight. Please RSVP for this event as space is limited.
RSVP/Contact:  Beth Cywin: [email protected]
Location: Nancy Kimball Cobblestone House, 302 W. Chicago Street
Time: 10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.

Receive one-on-one genealogy assistance from Elgin Genealogical Society volunteers. For more information about Elgin Genealogical Society, visit www.elginroots.com.
Contact:  https://attend.gailborden.info/event/14474287
Location: Gail Borden Public Library – Main Branch, 2nd Floor-Genealogy
Time: 12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.

Bluff Spring Fen is a 170-acre preserve on the southeast side of Elgin.  The site includes wetlands, hill prairies, and oak woodlands, and is home to numerous threatened and endangered species.  The program includes current and historic images of Bluff Spring Fen and tracks the forty-year effort to transform the preserve from neglect and abuse to a premiere example of a rare Illinois ecosystem.   We will also explore a selection of the many plant and animal species that make the Fen their home.

Join Chicago Academy of Sciences’ Chief Curator Emeritus for Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, Doug Taron as he enlightens us on butterfly habitat conservation.

Location: Gail Borden Public Library – Main Branch, Elgin Room
More information: https://attend.gailborden.info/event/15679825
Time: 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Celebrating Elgin's rich sports history, this exhibition traces the evolution of our community through its iconic sporting venues and the legendary figures who called them home—brought to life through a collection of sports artifacts from Elgin’s athletic past.
Contact/RSVP: Please register at elginhistory.org
Location: Elgin History Museum, 360 Park Street
Time: 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m

This free slideshow presentation and guided tour highlights the impact of George and Mary Carpenter Lord on early Elgin's development. The Lords' epic commitment to local philanthropy still resonates throughout Elgin today.

Elgin Public Museum Director Sharry Blazier takes you on a journey through the Lords' many accomplishments and projects, both George and Mary dying during the construction of their last dream: what is today Elgin Public Museum!

Following the slideshow will be a guided tour of the museum, pointing out its neo-Classic architectural features. When the museum opens to the public at noon, feel free to stay on with no admission fee to further explore the museum on your own.
Contact:  Sharry Blazier, 847-741-6655; follow Elgin Public Museum on Facebook
Location: Elgin Public Museum, 225 Grand Boulevard
Time: 10:30 a.m. to 11:45 a.m.

Held in Elgin's historic Bluff City Cemetery, this family-oriented program has been a local tradition since the nation's first Memorial Day in 1868. This year’s program will pay tribute to the 250th Anniversary of the United States.  The keynote speaker will be Christine Harmon, Daughters of the American Revolution. Also featured will be a local High School Band and the Elgin Master Chorale. Co-Sponsored by the Elgin Patriotic Memorial Association and the city of Elgin.
Contact:  Please visit www.elginmemorialday.org
Location: Bluff City Cemetery, 945 Bluff City Blvd.
Time: 11:00 a.m.; also a live broadcast will be on WRMN Radio, 1410 A.M.

Dairies to Prairies tells the story of Elgin’s dairy heritage. With its own Butter Board of Trade, Elgin once set the price for butter nationally! Elgin's first wealth was the dairy industry with the Borden Condensing plant and easy rail access to the City of Chicago market. The project also explores how these former dairy farms have come under pressure from suburban development, modern day agriculture and efforts to restore natural prairies. Now the Gail Borden Public Library is working to digitize the Elgin Dairy Report publication for better understanding of Elgin's butter and dairy industry.

We will highlight the newly-digitized Elgin Dairy Report volumes thanks to the grant we received from the Illinois State Historical Records Advisory Board. Presented by Historian Jerry Turnquist and Genealogy & Local History Librarian James McAdams.This program is in partnership with the Elgin History Museum.

Location: Gail Borden Public Library – Main Branch, Meadows Community Rooms ABC
More information: https://attend.gailborden.info/event/15853381
Time: 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Abdul Alkalimat, a descendant of Frank and Lucy McWorter, shares the remarkable story of the family who founded New Philadelphia in west-central Illinois. Learn how the McWorters secured freedom for their family, built a thriving town, and left a lasting mark on Illinois history.

This presentation is in partnership with Illinois Humanities Speakers Bureau Program. FREE admission for all.
Contact/RSVP: FREE. Please register at elginhistory.org
Location: Elgin History Museum, 360 Park Street
Time: 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m