A Quincy architectural gem: The History Museum on the Square

The History Museum on the Square at dusk. 

One of Illinois’ little known architectural treasures is the Historical Society of Quincy and Adams County’s History Museum on the Square at 332 Maine in downtown Quincy. Housed in a beautifully maintained Romanesque Revival structure which was completed in 1888, the building served as the Quincy Public Library until 1974. In 1977, the structure, designed by the Chicago architectural firm of Patton and Fisher, was sold to a group of Quincy citizens and became the Gardner Museum of Architecture and Design. That museum closed in 2012, and the Historical Society of Quincy and Adams County accepted both the ownership and assets of the building. Today, the edifice serves as the home of the Society’s History Museum on the Square.

Among the structure’s exterior Romanesque features is the rough-faced native Quincy limestone that forms the walls of the building. The magnificent three-story entrance tower with its deep-set windows and its parapet gable roof also identifies the Museum as Romanesque. Along the south side of the original structure is an extension added in 1929 designed by noted Quincy architect Ernest Wood.

Beth Young is a retired Quincy educator. After thirty three years in the Quincy Public Schools, she held part time instructional positions at both JWCC and QU.  She holds degrees from Quincy College and NIU, and did additional graduate work at Oxford University.

Lynn M. Snyder is a native of Adams County, a semi-retired archaeologist and museum researcher, and a former librarian. She is a board member and Museum Coordinator for the Historical Society of Quincy and Adams County.

The Historical Society of Quincy and Adams County is preserving the Governor John Wood Mansion, the History Museum on the Square, the 1835 Log Cabin, the Livery, the Lincoln Gallery displays, and a collection of artifacts and documents that tell the story of who we are. This award-winning column is written by members of the Society. For more information visit hsqac.org or email info@hsqac.org.

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