How long has the Museum been here?
The Museum's main buidling, the Engine House, was built in 1887, as the Village's first public building. It housed the fire department and jails on the first floor and a meeting space upstairs. It served as a dance hall, recreation room and briefly a school, and was home to the first Village Hall. After Village Hall was built in 1927, it continued to be used as a fire house.
After the fire house closed in 1969, the building was home to the Skokie Health Department until 1982. The Skokie Historical Society then moved into the space. The Village sold the building to the Skokie Park District, and in 1992, after extensive restoration by the Skokie Park District and Skokie Historical Society, the Skokie Heritage Museum opened on September 20th.
The Log Cabin was moved to the space in the 1980s and would become a part of the Museum when it opened in 1992.