museum of the grand prairie

Just out of Mahomet and off the interstate, this museum at the entrance to Lake of the Woods Forest Preserve can also be thought of as a Welcome Center. In its very pleasant setting, the architecture fits well to contain natural and historical information. Outdoor areas are quite nice for concerts as well.

We were in the Champagne/Urbana area and decided to take a drive thru the country and saw the signs for this wonderful museum. It's really a great place to learn about various subjects. It's a must for anyone with children as it's a real learning experience for them. But even as an adult this place is super. They have a one room school house on the property and a lovely 8 acre botanical garden with picnic tables that are really nice. Quiet and peaceful and really worth a visit. There's also a golf course, walking paths, bike paths right there. It's just an idyllic setting! A really small Japanese style garden complete with waterfall and water lilies. The trees are beautiful as are the flowers. You don't have to be from the area to enjoy this wonderful GEM!

Don’t be put off by the out of the way, low key nature of this museum. A visit is really worthwhile, particularly if you have children. The museum (formerly Early American Museum) has a great collection of exhibits portraying pioneer life in Central Illinois. It covers aspects of early architecture, agriculture, trades and occupations, decorative arts, and childhood and domestic life of the time. There are some excellent hands-on experiences for children in the Discovery Room. The small gift shop has some real treasures perfect for the souvenir shoppers. Well worth a visit

This is a fun place to visit, especially since I grew up in Mahomet. There are many contributions from local residents that I recognized and the displays were detailed and very interesting. There is also a very nice little gift shop with some crafts by locals.

What looks like a very small museum from the outside is surprisingly expansive on the inside. Fulfilling its mission to "collect, preserve and interpret the natural and cultural history of Champaign County and East Central Illinois", the Museum Of The Grand Prairie gives insight into the history of all of Illinois, as well as the history of pioneering the Midwest.What is so delightful about this museum is history being presented in a manner both adults and children can find interesting. There is the Discovery Room, where kids can recreate life on the prairie by way of hands-on exhibits, but the rest of the museum is cleverly designed to allow adults and children to enjoy the general exhibits at the same time. So while the grown-ups learn about Abraham Lincoln's career as a lawyer traveling the court circuit, children can sit in a buggy behind a video horse pulling the buggy through the prairie, and get an understanding of what it was like to travel about the circuit. And while adults learn about the skills of the blacksmith, children can handle tools, or experience old-time metal shaping by striking a penny on an anvil with a hammer.One very clever display helps to explain daguerreotype photography with a mirror set at a child's eye level. Not only does this help to explain how this kind of picture-taking was done on glass, but it also demonstrates the long exposure times necessary by challenging the child to see how long he can hold a pose. A simple, yet highly-effective, teaching device.There are many other such exhibits throughout the multi-floor building. Even though the museum emphasizes a specific area in Illinois, people from anywhere can enjoy it. It certainly lives up to the "Grand Prairie" part of its name. (And the gift shop features, among other items, reproductions of steel toys my fellow Children Of The 50s will remember well.)A simple displayed quote sums up what the Museum Of The Grand Prairie accomplishes so well: "History is not the past. It is a story about the past, told in the present, and designed to be useful in constructing the future". It happens here.

To be honest I was expecting to see a huge building with all sorts of exhibitions on the history of the prairies, so when we arrived to the place I was a bit disappointed; however, I enjoyed the display of artifacts used by the settlers, and also the garden with flowers that used to grow wild in the prairies.

Our local museum is surprisingly good and they have helpful employees to answer questions. The museum has several outdoor entertainment nights during the summer that are free. My grandchilden love it but it's complete enough to interest people of any age.

This is a great little local museum, offering really nice exhibits, some hands-on for children, and I especially enjoy the garden area behind the museum area.

I was initially disappointed by the somewhat dusty exhibits I encountered on the main floor of this museum. Then I discovered the new Lincoln exhibition on the lower level, which describes Lincoln's years as a circuit court lawyer. That may not sound too exciting, but the exhibit uses innovative media to really give a sense of what life was like for the judges and lawyers who spent months on the road dispensing justice in prairie towns. It's well worth a visit for anyone interested in Lincoln or in history.

Great little museum on the prairie focuses on how life on the prairie has evolved over the centuries.

To start off with the name changed to Museum of the Grand Prairie. Its free.There is a museum, a very nice gardens and a forest preserve with some very nice surprises. The museum is very interactive. It is divided up so if you have little kids to teens to some one that really wants to look deep. Nicely done. Outside is a wonderful gardens. It is Aug 2012 and there is a severe drought. The gardens are hit hard but it is still OK. You can see that it is really nice during normal weather. It is still worth a look if you are stopping. There is a wonderful fish pond, and 1 room school house, greenhouse and wonderful grounds. Next to the museum is forest preserve that has a coverd bridge you can drive across, a look out tower, playland, golf course. You can spend some real time here or drive thru.

Visited the Early American Museum on my first visit to Mahomet - it's not very big, but a lot of pride was put into the exhibits and done very well. Great for families and anyone interested in history.

Fun to visit even though we live close. Mostly for the younger kids. Can't wait to see it after the remodel.

Took my grandson there (age 14) as we had been there before. We were both surprised at the changing displays. As baseball fans, we really enjoyed the display on the local teams of years gone by. I'm sure this display is long gone, but there will certainly be something of interest next time.

This is a small museum in the small town of Mahomet. I'm not much of a museum person but this one was pretty interesting. There were many different exhibits including ones about trees/nature and ones about the lives of early americans. The one that I loved the most was the Lincoln enhibit. The exhibits gave people a tour of where Lincoln traveled to and what he did when he came to town. Many children go to this museum so bring your kids! There are some hands-on activity for kids to play with and there are many different programs for kids and there family.