The Waukegan Historical Society’s headquarters is the Waukegan History Museum located in beautiful Bowen Park. The Museum is the former home of John C. Haines, a past mayor of Chicago, Illinois. The Haines House was built about 1843, making it one of the oldest surviving buildings in Lake County. It was enlarged to its present size in the 1870s. Today, the Museum portrays life of the late Victorian period in 1870s Waukegan through the use of carefully researched wallpapers, carpets, drapes, light fixtures, and period furnishings from prominent Waukegan families. The rich history of Waukegan is found throughout the Museum in the form of exhibits, photographs, and artifacts. Highlights include a trunk that a young Jack Benny used during his early Vaudeville days, the bed that Abraham Lincoln slept on while visiting the city, and the charred clock face from the second Lake County Courthouse.
