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The Quincy Museum began as a small museum in a
building constructed by Dr. James Reed in 1962 for Native American artifacts in
Indian Mounds Park. In 1963 Dr. John L. Snow was selected to manage the
museum under Dr. Snow and the Board of Directors guidance the museum
grew and expanded. In 1969 the museum moved to Quinsippi Island, an
island in the Mississippi River to a building erected with the help of
the Moorman Manufacturing Company, and the Quincy Park District. The
move sparked new interest in the museum and gifts and donations
increased for the collections. In 1977 the Smithsonian Museum took a
special interest in the museum and helped to expand and redesign the
exhibits for the museum's nationally important collection of Native
American artifacts and their natural history collections. In 1980 the
Richard F. Newcomb House became available for purchase in 1980. After
leasing the home from the Quincy College for one year the museum
purchased the property in 1981.
The museum’s new home is in a house built by Richard
F. Newcomb, who at the time was an executive of the Gem City Paper Mill.
Newcomb purchased the 2-1/2 acre lot in 1880 and razed the Greek revival
house that was on the site. Newcomb proceeded to build a Richardson
Romanesque Revival Style house built of buff colored Berea Sandstone
quarried from Ohio. The Richardson Romanesque style of architecture
shows a broad round arches, massive stone exteriors with architectural
ornamental carvings. The house has three stories with three towers on the
front of the house and a large front porch. The first floor features a central
living hall around which were grouped a formal parlor, a den, an
informal sitting room, a dining room, and a library. The second floor
featured a large central hall with bedrooms on the sides. The interior
of the house is notable for the variety of fine woods used in its
construction and the elaborately carved wood in the central hall, the
decorative art-glass in a great number of windows and wood carvings
above the door sills and window sills. The hardware fixtures are of
considerable interest and each floor has its own separate pattern. The
Richard F. Newcomb House was added to the National Register of Historic
Places in 1982.
The rooms on the first floor, including the front parlor, the Great
Hall, the den and the sitting room, are furnished in a Victorian era
style to reflect the era when the Newcombs first lived in the home.
Features on the second floor are the Clat Adams Store Front,
exhibits on local history and rotating annual exhibits on history
and cultures. Also on the second floor is the Ellington Stone, which
may be proof that LaSalle explored the Middle Mississippi River
Valley before Joliet and Marquette. The
third floor houses a dinosaur exhibit, an exhibits on Mississippi
River wildlife, and Native American exhibits which includes a
full-sized Illini
longhouse.
Visiting the
Quincy Museum
Visiting Hours
Tuesday - Sunday: 1 pm - 5 pm
The Quincy Museum is closed
from November & January through March
Admission:
$4 for adults, $3 for students, free for
children under 5
Location:
The Quincy Museum
is located at 1601 Maine Street
(IL-104) east of the Quincy downtown riverfront
area.
 Learn more about the
Quincy
area.
www.thequincymuseum.com
- Official site of the
Quincy Museum
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