Category: WCHS

After having been down to open on Saturday’s only since last Thanksgiving the museum will once again go back to our normal hours of operation on Wednesday, March 4th, 2026. Our new hours will be Wednesday through Saturday from 9:30 AM till 3:00 PM.

Our restricted winter hours are chiefly due to energy costs, but it also gives us a chance to take care of maintenance and restoration. This winter we were able to clean and reorganize one of our main storage rooms and also remodel the second floor bathroom.

Mary Jo Moore, age 83, passed away on Friday, February 13, 2026, at Jackson Purchase Medical Center, surrounded by her family. She was lovingly known by her grandchildren as “Sugar.”

Mary Jo was born on May 11, 1942, to the late William and Mary Edna Harper.  She graduated from Marion High School in Marion, Illinois, in 1959.  Later, she married C.W. Moore on March 25, 1961.  He was the love of her life.  They would have celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary this year.  

Boy Scout troop 21 of Marion toured the museum on February 12^th, 2026 at 6:30 P.M. In attendance were about 15 boy scouts accompanied by about 16 parents and troop leaders. The scouts were conducted on a tour of the museum by WCHS President, Sam Lattuca and WCHS curator/coordinator, Sharon Vansaghi. The scouts were instructed about the many artifacts in the museum and how people used to have to conduct their everyday lives in work and play.

Dolores Jean Thetford, age 92, of Herrin, Illinois, passed away peacefully at home in Herrin surrounded by her loving family.

Dolores was born on April 9, 1933 in Marion, Illinois to Elby and Gladys (Norris) Barnett. She was united in marriage to Charles William Thetford on March 6, 1953 in Marion, Illinois and together they shared many years of love and devotion.

The first quarterly meeting for 2026 was held at the Willimson County Historical Society museum/library on Sunday, February 1^st, 2026. WCHS president Sam Lattuca started the meeting out by reviewing the current state of the museum and by recalling recent projects worked on, changes to the museum and items taken into the museum since the last meeting.

The guest speaker was Marion businessman, Jeff Mayer, who recounted his early interest in the downtown Marion area and how it has influenced his decisions to buy and restore numerous buildings in the downtown area. Mayer has completed remodeled the old Goodall building on the square into combination businesses and residential apartments that most Marion residents are aware of, in addition to owning properties on E. Jefferson and the old Duty and Hyde buildings in the 200 block of N. Market.

The WCHS museum/library is currently in its winter hours of operation which is open to the public on Saturdays only from 9:30 till 3:00 PM. It will resume its normal hours of operation on Wednesday thru Saturday from 9:30 till 3:00 PM on Wednesday March 4^th. The public is invited to come and tour the museum at no charge during normal working hours or pursue their family genealogy.

Due to a severe winter snowstorm being predicted for the weekend, we will not be opening on Saturday, January 24, 2026. Everyone take care.

The Williamson County Historical Society will be holding a membership meeting on Sunday, February 1, 2026 here at the museum/library at 2:00 P.M. During the meeting we will be going over projects undertaken at the museum & library since the last meeting, accessions taken in, upcoming projects and the state of the museum. The program will be by Marion businessman Jeff Mayer who will be discussing his historic Marion business property restorations and projects.

2026 membership dues are now due for the year so members should check the address mailing label on their latest quarterly to make sure their dues are paid. If you’re dues are current it will say 2026 or higher, if it says 2025 or earlier, your dues are due. We appreciate your support.

We hope to see you at the meeting and feel free to bring a friend or family member, the meetings are open to the public.

The Williamson County Historical Society received a donation on Saturday, December 6th, 2025. The check for $1,000 was presented to WCHS president Sam Lattuca by Larry Mayer. Larry and his wife, Becky, are residents of Marion and have been members of the WCHS for over 10 years.

As usual, when winter comes around, we drop our hours of operation back after Thanksgiving to Saturday’s only from 9:30 AM to 3:00 PM. This is primarily due to heating costs. In addition, it gives us some time to do maintenance and repairs that we normally wouldn’t be able to do.

As always, just because we will only be open to the public for one day a week until the first Wednesday in March when weather warms up, we are still available to do research and answer queries. We can be reached with the contact information posted on our Contact Us page.