Christmas Lights at the American Farm Heritage Museum

Holiday events are magical and taking the grandkids to see the lights was one of the most enjoyable so far!  My husband Keith and I loaded our grandson and granddaughter up this past weekend and headed to Greenville, Illinois.  At the American Farm Heritage Museum they offer the Winter Wonderland.

Usually when we come here, it is to tractor shows, so this was a fun and different experience!

The Visit

The light show at the American Farm Heritage Museum opened November 23rd and will stay open until December 31st.  It is amazing all there is to see and do. 

First is the drive through Greenville where we saw the courthouse.  The courthouse is outlined in lights. It is quite beautiful!

Once you arrive at the American Farm Heritage Museum, first drive through the lights.  Besides the lights themselves, there are cases with displays.  The kids were blown away by the details of the displays and the variety.

After making the loop, they wanted to visit Santa inside the Little Red Barn museum which has several displays set back in the 1940’s or so.  This is open from 5 to 9 every evening.

Inside the barn is a replica of a general store, a one-room school, a blacksmith shop, a grainery and hundreds of other items to look at.  My favorite Christmas item was a vintage Santa sign.

Here they made their wishes made known to Santa.  They also had a cookie or two and we had hot chocolate.

Keith and I even let Lilly take our photo under the mistletoe!

American Heritage Railroad

The kids had spied the train ride and wanted to go.  The railroad, a 15 gauge railroad that runs on a mile track,  is open every Friday, Saturday and Sunday evening weather permitting.

While we were not quick enough to get an inside car.  But, we trolleyed along on an open car for the long ride.  At only $3.00 a person, it was a bargain.  We drove through a tunnel of lights, the North Pole, and lights time to music.

The train was by far the kids favorite item. 

Hills Fort

We were too late to make it to the Fort.

According to the website, “Hill’s Fort played an important part in the opening of the Northwest Territory, making the fort a significant part of our heritage. With expanding settlements in the Illinois country in the early 1800s, it became necessary to build a string of forts to serve as military stations to protect the scattered settlers from Indian attacks.”

“Three forts were built in Bond County: Jones, Lindley, and Hill’s Fort. Hill’s Fort may have started as early as 1806. The Fort locations appears on an 1808 survey map by Capt. Isaac HIll, leader of a team commissioned by Thomas Jefferson to survey the Illinois Territory.  Hill’s Fort was Bond County’s County Seat from 1817-1821 until the seat was moved to Greenville. No longer useful as a fort or county seat, it was abandoned and fell into ruin. The site was lost over time and was rediscovered in 2001 by a local archeology student. “

The American Farm Heritage Museum has a unique reconstruction of the fort. A cabin was the first building constructed, and the blockhouse such as it would have looked around the time of the War of 1812 is complete.

On Friday & Saturday nights Hills Fort will be open with their 1800s Christmas Display.  Sadly, they were closed up by time we got there.

Listening to Christmas music all the way home, we had a holiday evening that we will remember for years to come.