Lake County historical society museum being forced to leave

NWI Times  https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/article_5554cc4e-e2af-4acc-8cca-92491ea9556e.html

“Lake County Historical Society Museum being forced to leave Crown Point courthouse after 43 years

Joseph S. Pete  Aug 10, 2025

The Lake County Historical Society, one of the oldest continuously operating historical societies in Indiana, was gearing up to celebrate its 150th anniversary.

Volunteers were preparing for special events like an art exhibit and an open house with impersonators of the Crown Point civic founder Solon Robinson, Sheriff Lillian Holley and historian Timothy Ball.

But instead of planning a big celebration, the Lake County Historical Society Museum is now scrambling to try to find a new home and pack away its collection.

The Old Courthouse Foundation notified the historical society that the museum must vacate its longtime home in the Old Lake County Courthouse by the end of the year. The local history museum has been located in the Grand Old Lady for the last 43 years.

“We are grateful to have operated the museum at the courthouse since 1982,” Executive Director Diane Gora said. “As we conclude this chapter, we reaffirm our unwavering commitment to preserving Lake County’s history and celebrating our sesquicentennial milestone.”

The Old Courthouse Foundation, which saved the nearly 150-year-old Romanesque and Greek Revival Courthouse from being turned into a parking lot in 1973 and which maintains it today, did not respond to requests for comment. Crown Point Mayor Pete Land declined to comment.

The Lake County Historical Society Museum has showcased artifacts, photos and documents that illustrate Lake County's history, including John Dillinger's escape from the Old Lake County Jail and Crown Point being astronaut Jerry Ross's childhood home. It is located in the former marriage mill that people once flocked to for quickie weddings.

The museum will remain open to the public until the end of the year. The 150th anniversary programs are still planned.

But the museum's volunteers are now inventorying and packing up the collection. They are shipping off items to other museums where they might be a better fit, such as sending Gary memorabilia to the Gary Historical & Cultural Society or a collection of pencils to a writing instruments museum in Wisconsin, Lake County Historical Society and Museum President and Historian Jeanene H. Letcher said.

"We're trying to find artifacts a more appropriate home where they can still be on display at a museum and be held in a public trust," Letcher said.

The hope is to move the rest of the winnowed-down collection to a new home. Lake County deserves to have a local history museum, Letcher said.

"Lake County history is fascinating if you really think about it," she said. "We were settled as early as the 1830s. People passed through on their way further west. It's been a hub to many industries. Even people from multiple generations in Lake County don't know everything that happened here."

The courthouse, a historical landmark that was saved from demolition by preservationists, was an ideal home for the museum, Letcher said.

"It's sad," Letcher said. "It was the perfect place because of the central location and the courthouse's role in the history of the county and the history of the courthouse square. We have a marriage mill exhibit with wedding dresses in the marriage mill room where people would come to get their marriage license."

The hope is to find a new location for the museum, even just a room where it can display a few exhibits, she said. Most museums display 10% of their collections at any given time, and most of the museum's collection likely will end up in storage regardless of however large its new home is.

"We hope to maintain a museum space to tell some of those stories and put our objects on display. We need to find a space that will allow us to do that," she said.

The goal is to stay in Crown Point since it's the county seat and centrally located.

"It's the logical place for the county museum," she said. "It's sad for me personally that we won't be able to remain in the most iconic building in Crown Point and one of the prettiest in Indiana. It's sad we can't stay there and celebrate its history. But hopefully we will remain centrally located."

The Lake County Historical Society is asking for the public's support as it makes the transition. It needs people to volunteer their time, donate funds, suggest potential spaces it could relocate to or help promote its anniversary. For instance, it needs help packing away the collection in archive boxes.

Until Dec. 31, people can continue to visit the museum between 1-4 p.m. on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

For more information, visit lchs1875.org, email info@lchs1875.org or call 219-662-3975 or 219-308-4407.”