Mail in the 1800s

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Brent Wielt of the Macon County Conservation District. Attendees will learn how mail changed in the 1800s and how it affected society. From postcards to letters, flyers, stamps, and more. See what was sent and received and how it became the basis of what we still get today.

For further information about the event contact the museum at 217-422-4919

Date: Saturday, July 22
Time: 1:30 PM
Place: Macon County History Museum
5580 North Fork Road
Decatur, IL 62521
Cost: $2 admission fee

Blacksmithing at the Macon County History Museum

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Local blacksmith Steve Knowles will show adults and children alike how to do basic blacksmithing in the museum’s Prairie Village blacksmith shop. He will make items in the blacksmith shop forge and illuminate visitors on the skill of blacksmithing and its importance to our history. We restored the shop last fall and early this spring so it will be in use for the last time this year with various events to be scheduled next year.

 

Date:     November 19

Time:    1:00 – 3:00 pm

 

Place:  Macon County History Museum

                 5580 North Fork Road

                 Decatur, IL62521

 

Cost:  $2 admission fee

How “Bumpology” Shaped 19th Century America. Presented by Lee Slider.

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Phrenology in the 19th Century was the belief that a person’s abilities could be determined by the shape of one’s skull and the size of the “bumps” thereon.  Thoroughly discounted by science today, phrenology was proscribed to be a true science by most intellectuals of the time.  It is estimated that over 2,000 “Practical Phrenologists” had set out across America to read the heads –“having their heads examined,” of a population eager to better themselves.  Prof. Phineas Fairhead P.P. a.k.a. Lee Slider will provide an entertaining lecture on this little known aspect of 19th Century popular culture.  

Date:     Saturday, August 20

Time:    1:30 PM

 

Macon County History Museum

217.422.4919

5580 North Fork Road. Decatur, IL62521

 

Cost:  $2 admission fee