What are the opening hours?

Tuesday 10am - 4pm Wednesday 10am - 4pm Thursday 10am - 4pm Saturday 1pm - 4pm

History Center of Lake Forest-Lake Bluff

Home
United States
Lake Forest, IL
History Center of Lake Forest-Lake Bluff

Call Directions Website Contact the organization

We connect people and inspire curiosity by exhibiting, preserving, sharing and celebrating history.

We are the history museum and archive for the Lake Forest and Lake Bluff communities in Illinois. Our organization was founded in 1972, and we have been at our current location at 509 East Deerpath since 2018. The History Center of Lake Forest-Lake Bluff connects people and inspires curiosity by exhibiting, preserving, sharing and celebrating history. Our programs, exhibits and education initiatives provide audiences with an understanding of how communities develop, change, and grow and help further develop one's sense of self, place, and community. We serve the Lake County area, with a focus on Lake Forest and Lake Bluff community history, offering numerous public programs, tours and exhibits each year. With a robust collection dating back to the 1840s, the History Center handles research requests each year from people looking for information about Lake County events, architecture, businesses, institutions and people.

11/02/2026

Happy Halloween from the History Center! This week's Mystery Photo Monday comes from the Lake Forest Parks and Recreation Department.

Do you recognize any of the people in this photo?

11/02/2026

As we count down to Local Legends, we’re looking back at some of our past honorees. Next up: Ellen Stirling, our 2016 Local Legend.

In 1922, Ellen’s grandmother, Margaret Foster, opened the Sports Shop on Market Square, becoming one of very few women running a business in Lake Forest. By the 1980s the shop had fallen on hard times, and Ellen stepped in to save it. She renamed it the Lake Forest Shop, refocused the business, and started hosting trunk shows, and within six years she had it back on solid ground. She led the shop for more than three decades, through its 100th anniversary in 2022.

Ellen also helped found Lake Forest Bank & Trust and created Shop Your Cause, which raised more than $300,000 for local nonprofits. On October 1, her family celebrated her legacy with the launch of Threads of Time: The Lake Forest Shop and the Women Who Wove Its Legacy, a new book by her daughter Leslie Stirling Basedow and Kraig Moreland. The evening featured a historic fashion show through the decades, with proceeds benefiting Lake Forest Open Lands. We’re so grateful we had the chance to celebrate Ellen as a Local Legend.

This year we honor novelist and Lake Bluff native Rebecca Makkai, and seats are filling up fast. Get yours through our Facebook event page or on the History Center website!

10/30/2026

As we count down to Local Legends, we’re looking back at some of our past honorees. Next up: Don Pierson, our 2023 Local Legend.

For 40 years, Don covered the Bears and pro football for the Chicago Tribune. He co-wrote Mike Ditka’s 1986 autobiography, co-authored the Bears’ Centennial Scrapbook, and spent years helping choose who gets enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He received the Dick McCann Award in 1994 for distinguished reporting on pro football, and the Ring Lardner Award in 2009 for excellence in sports journalism. Former Bear Mike Adamle once said Don wrote thousands of stories and never used the word “I.”

Don and his wife Kathy have called Lake Forest home since 1974, one year before the Bears moved in, so he’s been part of the neighborhood almost as long as he covered the team.

This year we honor novelist and Lake Bluff native Rebecca Makkai. Don’s event sold out, and seats for Rebecca’s are filling up fast. Get yours through our Facebook event page or on the History Center website!

10/26/2026

Mystery Photo Monday: Can you help us identify this location?

This image is of a home in Lake Forest published in Lake Forest, Illinois: Estates, People and Culture by Shirley Paddock and Arthur Miller in 2000.

Do you recognize this house?

10/20/2026

We’re so grateful to Forest & Bluff Magazine for their beautiful three-page feature on Rebecca Makkai and Local Legends in the October issue! Thank you to Sherry for the lovely story, and to Erin and the whole JWC Media team for once again supporting the History Center as our media sponsor.

We can’t wait to honor Rebecca on November 14th. If you haven’t yet, be sure to RSVP by emailing [email protected].

10/19/2026

Mystery Photo Monday: Can you help us identify the people in this photograph?

This image is of The South Park Colts, coached by Bob Martin. Do you recognize any of the people in this photo?

10/19/2026

Tickets are going fast for Local Legends 2026! Don’t miss your chance to join us Saturday, November 14, from 4 to 6 pm at the History Center.

This year we celebrate novelist and Lake Bluff native Rebecca Makkai, Pulitzer Prize finalist for The Great Believers. Before her first novel, she spent twelve years teaching at the Montessori School of Lake Forest, and today she teaches graduate fiction writing and leads StoryStudio Chicago. WGN’s Larry Potash will sit down with her for an intimate conversation about her life, her writing, and her Lake Bluff roots.

Want to go a step further?

Become a sponsor! Sponsors are invited to a private cocktail reception on Friday, November 13 at the Armour Estate, and sponsors at "Manuscript Level" and above also join us for an intimate luncheon and book talk with Rebecca. Every sponsorship keeps the History Center’s work going all year long.

Get your tickets or become a sponsor here: https://secure.qgiv.com/for/2026-2027programs/event/locallegends2026/

10/16/2026

Looking Back at Local Legends: In 2025, we honored Joanna Rolek as our sixteenth Local Legend.

Joanna grew up in Evanston, studied vocal performance in Boston, and sang professionally in Boston, Denver, and Chicago before moving into arts and nonprofit leadership. For nearly three decades she has led the Lake Forest-Lake Bluff Chamber of Commerce, which connects close to 470 member businesses with each other, with residents, and with both towns, helping keep our downtowns busy and our local shops thriving.

Her newest project brings both of those worlds together. ArtsLink North, launched in 2025 after more than ten years of work, unites over 60 arts and cultural organizations across Lake County and gives people one place to find local performances, exhibits, and events.

From one champion of the arts to another: this year we’re thrilled to celebrate novelist and Lake Bluff native Rebecca Makkai as our 2026 Local Legend! Join us Saturday, November 14 to hear her story.

Get your tickets here: https://secure.qgiv.com/for/2026-2027programs/event/locallegends2026/

10/14/2026

Join the History Center for this Virtual Program with award winning author Judith Pearson!

You don’t have to have read the book to enjoy the conversation!

This is a virtual, Zoom event. Please register in advance and check your emails prior to the event for the latest information on how to join the Zoom!

There was a time when women’s health was severely marginalized.
There was a time when breast cancer wasn’t discussed.
There was a time when October wasn’t pink.

But three women refused to be silenced, their indomitable spirits igniting a movement for change.

Register for this Free program on our website or visit the link below:https://secure.qgiv.com/for/2026-2027programs/event/radicalsisters/

Address

509 E. Deerpath
Lake Forest, IL
60045

Opening Hours

Tuesday	10am - 4pm
Wednesday	10am - 4pm
Thursday	10am - 4pm
Saturday	1pm - 4pm

Telephone

(847) 234-5253

Website

https://www.lflbhistory.org/

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when History Center of Lake Forest-Lake Bluff posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.