Welcome
to the New Geneva History Center web site! Thank you for visiting. We hope
that as you click through you will find the information you are seeking,
maybe learn a little Geneva history and also enjoy the site. Please don’t
forget though, the real value of the History Center lies in you visiting
in person. Research in the archives, take in a program, view the exhibits
or browse the Museum Store. Please stop by and visit us, in person.
"The
mission of the Geneva Historical Society in operating its museum and archives
is to collect preserve, study, interpret and exhibit significant materials
relating to the community and to provide related educational and advocacy
services for the purpose of increasing and enriching public knowledge."
In
1943 dedicated volunteers formed the Geneva Historical Society to preserve
local history and educate residents. Their dream came true in 1964, when bequests
and other community gifts built the Geneva Historical Museum in Wheeler Park.
In today's Geneva newcomers outnumber old timers. To serve this increasingly
diverse community the Historical Society reinvented itself as the Geneva History
Center as a first step toward fulfilling its mission. The next step was to
replace the Wheeler Park museum with a more adequately sized and more centrally
located facility.
After more than a ten year process, that dream also become a reality in 2004.
The new Geneva History Center, now located in the heart of Geneva's downtown
district is nearly three times the size of the old facility and includes a
classroom, two exhibit galleries, large meeting room archival reading room,
museum store as well as collections storage and offices. These state-of-the-art
facilities combine with multiple award winning educational programs, professional
exhibits, cutting edge research and dedicated volunteer corps to make the
New Geneva History Center a source of great community pride.
That community pride is demonstrated in the fact that the Geneva History Center
operates on voluntary private donations and does not now or has it ever accepted
public monies for operations as do so many other local history museums.
