Exhibitions
Located in the heart of downtown on Third Street, the Geneva History Museum offers a 3,000 square-foot Main Gallery, Geneva’s Story, a 950 square-foot feature gallery that changes each year. Children's Gallery Exhibitions offered each summer.
Admission includes two museum galleries - $5/adult; $2/ages 3-10
FREE Tuesdays
FREE for Museum Members
Hours: 11 a.m. - 4 p.m., Tuesdays thru Saturdays
Main Gallery
Geneva's Story
COME SEE THE ADDITIONS TO THE MAIN GALLERY!
Geneva’s story is all around us. It is shaped by the river, connected by the railroad, advanced by development, and enhanced by people who visit or call it home. Chapter by chapter, discover our evolving community. We invite you to hear stories, explore objects, and share memories. Explore oral histories, videos and more images on five iPad stations or sit and relax in the Fargo Theater to discover more of Geneva’s rich history. NEW Story Booth where you can listen to or record your Geneva stories, play the first Apple software graphic games on an Apple IIe computer, and pose in front of our neon selfie wall.
Feature Gallery
The story of a woman who recognized the gradual decline of a historic site and took action.
In collaboration with Preservation Partners of the Fox Valley
Funded by the Fabyan Foundation and State Street Jewelers
February 10 - December 21, 2024
In 1971, Darlene Larson visited the deteriorating Japanese Garden on the former estate of Colonel George and Nelle Fabyan and became inspired to restore it. She formed a partnership with the Fabyan Forest Preserve and enlisted her fellow Geneva Garden Club members to roll up their sleeves and raise funds. Six years later they celebrated the restored garden with over one-hundred people at a dedication with a tea ceremony, origami creations and authentic music.
Darlene quickly recognized other restoration needs and created the Friends of Fabyan, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the preservation, restoration, and education of the legacy of George and Nelle Fabyan. Under Darlene’s leadership, Friends of Fabyan assisted with several restoration projects including the Fabyan Villa museum, garage, windmill, lighthouse, and several cement structures on the estate.
Visit this exhibition featuring photographs, in-depth notebooks and scrapbooks from Darlene’s collection. Learn about the structures on the estate with a 50" touch-screen map along with more than 100 photographs of what it looked like in 1920. Inspect objects including the large casting mold that re-created the eagle statues, and pieces of original cement structures.
Learn the stories of the Fabyan staff members and those who grew up on the estate through photographs and video stories. Be inspired by the long-term goals Darlene outlined in her final newsletter from Friends of Fabyan.
Holiday Displays
Geneva Giving Trees & Crèche
November 19 - December 21
Marvel at 15 decorated Christmas trees and our 18th century Crèche
Every year, the Geneva History Museum invites local nonprofits to decorate Christmas trees. This year, the trees are back at the Museum!
Vote for your favorite trees with donations, and support local non-profit groups while celebrating Geneva’s spirit of community! The winning organization keeps 100% of the funds pledged in support of their tree, while the remaining organizations split their winnings 50/50 with the Museum.
Kate Raftery, founder of The Little Traveler, acquired this 18th century Neapolitan Crèche and paired it with the 17th Century French Provincial Corner Bed. Although it is not certain when she obtained it, the earliest record of the Crèche being displayed at the Little Traveler dates to 1930.
The Crèche was displayed at the Little Traveler each Christmas until 1963, when it was given to the Museum for safekeeping. It was returned to The Little Traveler a few years later and kept in storage. It was given to the Museum again in 1990 and has been displayed each year to continue the holiday tradition started by The Little Traveler.
Visit this amazing display and learn more about the symbolisms and hidden meanings. This is one of the rarest objects in the museum's collection!