Lake County's Bess Bower Dunn Museum Opening Soon

LIBERTYVILLE, IL – The Bess Bower Dunn Museum of Lake County will officially open its doors to the public in the coming weeks. The Dunn Museum, which will be operated by the Forest Preserve District of Lake County, will hold a grand opening event on Saturday, March 24 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Located at 1899 West Winchester Road, the museum will include the "world's first scientifically accurate, life-sized Dryptosaurs;" a chronological look at Lake County's history; and many exhibits that have been moved from the former Lake County Discovery Museum to the new Dunn Museum in Libertyville.

During the grand opening event, admission will be free and guided tours of the new exhibits will be offered. There will also be drop-in activities and visitors will get the chance to meet paleoartist Tyler Keillor. Keillor is responsible for creating the life-sized Dryptosaurus for the new Dunn Museum.

The museum is named for Bess Bower Dunn, who died in 1969 and is Lake County’s first official historian. She traveled throughout the county photographing historic sites and meeting with residents to record their stories, according to a news release.

She personally acquired many of the artifacts and documents that are now part of the Dunn Museum’s priceless collections, according to Forest Preserve District officials.

In fall 2016, the former Lake County Discovery Museum closed its doors at Lakewood Forest Preserve in Wauconda after 40 years of operation and began relocating to its new home in Libertyville. The process of packing and moving the vast historic collections, which comprise nearly 20,000 artifacts and 1,000 linear feet of archival materials, took over a year to complete, according to the news release.

The new central location at the Lake County Forest Preserve General Offices in Libertyville provides more than twice the gallery space for exhibitions about Lake County’s past, dedicated teaching areas, a public research center, as well as convenient access for all Lake County residents and other visitors. For more information, visit DunnMuseum.org or call 847-968-3400.

More via the Forest Preserve District of Lake County website

Forest Preserve District of Lake County photo