Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1991.
“The West Chicago City Museum, originally the Turner Town Hall, is a museum in West Chicago, Illinois.”
Wikipedia article West Chicago City Museum, CC BY-SA 4.0.
One of 50 National Register listings published here for DuPage County · listed in 1991 · category: Building.
Sources: the Wikipedia article · the case file at the National Archives · the National Register database, National Park Service
This property stands in Winfield Township. History Of Dupage County (1857), published 1857 gives that township a chapter of its own.
The chapter covers the township.
Machine-read from a century-old scan, so expect the errors a machine makes: misspelled names, dropped words, stray characters.
Read the whole chapter on Winfield Township - 2,392 words on its settlement, mills, schools and churches.
Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 1 fire within 5 miles of Turner Town Hall in 2014, burning about 5 acres in total. None started naturally. None was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Reported cause | Fires |
|---|---|
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 April 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5.0 acres | Illinois Division of Forestry Resources | 14-177 |
Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 3 workings within 5 miles of Turner Town Hall: 2 plants, 1 producer. All of them still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Vermiculite. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zonolite Chicago Plant | Vermiculite | Plant | ||
| East Riverdale Pit & Mill | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Plant | ||
| Warrenville Plant & Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer |
Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names West Chicago, the town this property stands in, in 31 storm reports between 1998 and 2026: 19 thunderstorm wind, 7 hail, 1 funnel cloud, 1 lightning. The reports record 40 injuries. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | West Chicago | 40 hurt, $500,000 | The roof of a warehouse above two of four loading docks, gave way. Forty people were injured, seven of which had to go the hospital. |
| August 2001 | Lightning | West Chicago | $25,000 | Lightning struck a house and started a fire in the attic and roof. |
| March 2026 | Hail | West Chicago | - | A video showed quarter to half dollar size hail near the DuPage Airport. |
| June 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | West Chicago | - | A small carport was lofted and thrown 100 feet into a fence near West Chicago. Large tree branches were downed in the area as well. |
| June 2024 | Tornado (EF0) | West Chicago | - | This tornado began in the Blackwell Forest Preserve in Warrenville and tracked southeastward through the south side of Wheaton before lifting soon after it entered the Morton Arboretum. The tornado primarily caused tree damage along its path, though it also caused some minor damage to signs at a shopping center. |
| July 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | West Chicago | - | A large tree limb was blown down on Fremont Street. |
| July 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | West Chicago | - | A roughly 2 foot diameter tree was blown down in the 700 block of Elmwood Avenue, blocking the road. A 14 inch diameter tree limb was blown down just south of Elmwood Avenue. A 6 to 8 inch diameter tree limb was blown down in the 500 block of Elite Avenue. |
| July 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | West Chicago | - | Emergency management relayed a photo of a snapped tree branch at least 12 inches in diameter from a healthy tree. |
| July 2023 | Hail | West Chicago | - | Emergency management reported one inch hail near IL Rt 59 and Washington Ave in West Chicago. |
| April 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | West Chicago | - | Tree limbs 3 inches in diameter were blown down. |
| July 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | West Chicago | - | Photos showed roof damage to a house on Elizabeth Street. A utility pole was damaged near the West Chicago High School. Numerous tree limbs were snapped off over several blocks of southern West Chicago, including some tree limbs one foot in diameter. One tree had almost all limbs removed from the top half. A flag pole was bent 35 degrees. Wind speeds were estimated to 75 mph. |
| August 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | West Chicago | - | A utility pole was broken and power lines were blown down. |
| August 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | West Chicago | - | A large tree was blown down. |
| August 2018 | Thunderstorm Wind | West Chicago | - | A one foot diameter tree limb was blown down blocking George Street. |
| June 2015 | Flash Flood | West Chicago | - | Around three feet of standing water was reported on Ann Street west of Joliet Street near Community High School. |
| April 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | West Chicago | - | Tree limbs were blown down along with 75 feet of wooden fence. |
| June 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | West Chicago | - | Several trees were blown down. |
| July 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | West Chicago | - | One foot diameter tree blown down. |
| July 2007 | Flood | West Chicago | - | Four to five inches of standing water Route 59 and Route 64. |
| July 2006 | Thunderstorm Wind | West Chicago | - | Large tree blown down at Route 59 and Geneva Road. |
| July 2006 | Hail | West Chicago | - | Penny size hail was reported at Route 59 and Route 64. |
| September 2006 | Thunderstorm Wind | West Chicago | - | Wind gusts were estimated to 60 mph. |
| May 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | West Chicago | - | Many large trees and power lines were blown down across much of the downtown area. |
| May 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | West Chicago | - | Large tree limbs were down. |
| May 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | West Chicago | - | DuPage EOC reported a 58 mph wind gust and a 52 mph wind gust was reported at the DuPage airport. Strong winds downed trees. |
| April 2020 | Hail | West Chicago | - | no account filed |
| May 2018 | Hail | West Chicago | - | no account filed |
| June 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | West Chicago | - | no account filed |
| June 2009 | Hail | West Chicago | - | no account filed |
| May 2004 | Hail | West Chicago | - | no account filed |
| July 2000 | Funnel Cloud | West Chicago | - | no account filed |
No historic map-sheet match is published for this property yet. That does not mean no map exists. This record needs a coordinate-quality review before it can be joined to a sheet boundary. Browse the county's mapped places while that work is pending.
Other National Register properties close enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties to their map sheets.
| Photograph | Property | Distance | Listed |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Himmelfarb, Samuel and Eleanor House and Studio | 2.2 miles | 2018 |
 | McAuley School District No. 27 | 2.4 miles | 1982 |
 | Big Woods School | 4.7 miles | 2016 |
 | Trinity Episcopal Church | 4.9 miles | 1978 |
| Theosophical Society in America Headquarters | 4.9 miles | 2025 | |
 | Adams Memorial Library | 5.1 miles | 1981 |
| National Archives record | The nomination case file for reference 91000573 in Record Group 79. |
| Wikipedia article | Community-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA. |
| DuPage County | All 50 listed properties in this county. |
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