Saline County Historical Society

03/13/2026

Great article about volunteer opportunities coming up in Saline County to help preserve our history!
Still time to sign up(website link on the new story)
This is has been in the making since July 2024…so it’s exciting to see it come to fruition!

SALINE COUNTY, Ill. (KBSI) - Community leaders say an old building in Harrisburg Illinois could soon get new attention, thanks to preservation

03/11/2026

Great program coming up in Vienna:

On March 15th at 2:30 in the community room at the Vienna Public Library, historian Mark Motsinger will share new and exciting discoveries concerning his research into the stone forts of southern Illinois.

02/17/2026

We are looking for sponsors to make the petting zoo an all-day event!
Thanks to sponsors, the petting zoo will be free to visit and will include free feeding cups!
Please share with your marketing department!

02/07/2026

Mark your calendar for this event hosted by our friends at Pope County Historical Society - The Packet

Join Pope County Historical Society Tuesday, February 24th, 6pm at the Historical Society Museum as Ed & Diane Annable make a video presentation of one of their latest books, “War in Copperhead Egypt – The War Within Southern Illinois – 1861-1865.” There was a conflict within Southern Illinois that some would rather sweep under the rug, the conflict of neighbor against neighbor. This was not just a war of ideas; sides were drawn and allegiances followed. Some feared for their lives, for good reason. The infamous Knights of the Golden Circle and a group known as the Copperheads were actively aiding the Confederacy in Southern Illinois. Martial Law was declared in some places, and people were arrested for treason.

02/04/2026

Our friends at the White County Historical Society are hosting this event about the history of one of the more intriguing and mysterious buildings in our local region:

Mark your calendars! Todd Carr will be joining us again, and this time he brings a phenomenal presentation on the Old Slave House, located down in Gallatin County! If ever you wanted to know more about the Crenshaw House history, this is your event! Price and menu details are pending. Spread the word and let us know if you would like to attend!

01/30/2026

👏 🩺Thank you Ferrell Hospital🩻 👏 for being a Silver table sponsor at the museum!

Before the snow arrived, Harrisburg IL FFA Construction Trades built and delivered this beautiful table for our grounds!

Due to our wonderful sponsors, HHS Construction Trades leadership & students, we have been able to add 2 whole tables since just September! Which means we have seating on the grounds for 16-20 more people during events.

Our events draw a lot of families with children and senior adults, who greatly appreciate having a nice place to sit.

01/14/2026

Thank you Construction Trades class!

01/10/2026

This weekend we had the opportunity to facilitate and host the first joint meeting of Southeastern Illinois historical societies, with 6+ counties represented.

The goal of joining together is to strengthen one another by working to grow ideas for community engagement and promote history to locals and tourists alike.

01/09/2026

Total transformation going on at the Museum, from the first picture, to the 2nd picture.

You may have noticed we have been doing more fundraisers, projects like this are why we have been fundraising.

Fundraisers and donations are helping us to restore porches to being safe and walkable.

Thank you Harrisburg IL FFA construction/Building Trades class!

The porch is looking so good. We appreciate your hard work and willingness to help us with this project.

12/11/2025

We know it’s getting close to Christmas, however it’s still technically fall for 11 more days!

Check out the winners and all the entries into the 2025 pumpkin decorating contest, coordinated by the Saline County Historical Society.

A special thank you to:
🎃 Pumpkin Spice level sponsors:
Legence Bank
One Fine Day Salon and Photography

🍂 Individual level sponsor:
Stacey Rister

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A huge thank you to to teachers who worked with us to coordinate this event:
Mrs. DeNeal HHS
Mr. Whitlock HMS
Mrs. Priddy EHS
The teachers do a lot of coordination with pumpkin drop off and pickup, they help the students plan and execute their designs, and so much more!
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🎨 Thank you to all of the pumpkin artists! It was amazing to see what designs each of you came up with.

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Also a big thanks to Friendly Farms for being our local source for great pumpkins

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This was the 3rd year for the pumpkin decorating contest coordinated by the Saline County Historical Society.
The SCHS gathers sponsors, picks up the pumpkins from the seller, delivers the pumpkins to each school, picks up the pumpkins from each school, and displays the pumpkins on museum grounds during the Night at the Museum Haunted History Tours in early November.

This year, we held an open house for the pumpkin artists and their families. We welcomed them to the museum grounds to walk around, look at their pumpkin on display, and enjoy some refreshments.

Each year after voting(among our members) has concluded, small gift cards are sent to the winning students.

We hope you enjoy viewing the pumpkins these creative students came up with.

12/05/2025

Thank you Brandyn at the The Southern Illinoisan for coming out and writing a story about the Christmas event:

HARRISBURG — This Christmas season, kids and families are flocking every which way for an opportunity to visit Santa.

12/02/2025

It’s almost HERE!!!! ⏰ 🎅 🎄

Tuesday December 2nd 4:30-6pm. FREE event!
Rain or shine!

Timothy Mitchells as Santa!

Free INDOOR Santa visits and a chance to take your own Santa photos of your kid(s)!
We’ll even have a ring light on site for that bougie lighting!
Stick around for hot chocolate, walk around and take pictures with the Christmas lights,
Free cookies, hot cocoa, and the Christmas tree lighting at 6pm!
Tree lighting is followed by a candy cane send-off!

Saline Creek Pioneer Village and Museum
1600 S. Feazel St
Harrisburg, IL