Maryville Heritage Museum

Featured Museum Items

Each month we will feature items from the Maryville Heritage Museum collection. This month we are featuring the museum and building itself.

The original village hall. On September 13, 1905 building plans were started for the construction of a public building. At a board meeting, Mayor Neubauer and trustees Albert Hrubetz and J.M. Varner reported that the Donk Brothers mining company would help with the construction. B.L. Witherwell of Edwardsville was awarded a $675 contract to build a two-story frame building, 24 feet by 20 feet, with a belfry, which was to be the second public building to be used as the Village Hall and firehouse. The belfry was to be 4 feet by 4 feet and able to eventually accommodate a bell.  The building was located on the Northeast corner of Second and Lange Streets, next to the village jail.  On the front was a double sliding arched door for the fire equipment.  The outside of the building was painted white with green trim.  The interior walls were painted blue with red trim.  The interior had a concrete floor with stairs in the back.  Later on, a wood burning stove would be added, with some minimal lighting.  Upstairs the village offices were housed and was decorated more suitably for public use.  The second floor was loaned out for school and church functions, as well as being rented out for dances and get-togethers.  The first floor was rearranged as a polling place during village and county elections when needed. 

           The location of the building would turn out to be a poor choice.  The intersection of Second and Lange sits down in a hollow.  The village firemen would struggle to move the heavy hand pumper, as any direction would be an uphill pull.  Also, at that time, the streets were made of dirt covered with coal cinders.  During bad weather the streets would become wet and muddy, making moving the heavy fire equipment even more difficult.

In August 1909 a committee that included Mer Neubauer, who was then fire chief and the village treasurer, F.J. Neubauer, was appointed to approach H.C. Perry, superintendent of the Donk Brothers Mine, “for the purpose of making arrangements to have a lot purchased, in a more suitable location” to have the village hall and firehouse relocated.  A piece of land at the northwest corner of North Donk and East First Streets was purchased for $150 from the Donk Brothers for the new location. [East First Street is now East Zupan Street.] 

J.C. McLanahan of Collinsville won the bid of $137 to move the building two blocks from Second and Lange Streets to the new location at East First street and North Donk.  The firemen were thrilled to learn that William Holtgreve, a local Maryville grocer, lived across the street from the new firehouse location, and he offered the use of his horses to pull the fire equipment to fires.  Firefighters were paid $1 for each alarm that they answered.

1940’s era photograph of the Maryville village hall. The village hall also contained the fire department and the police department.

The Village was growing and in May 1916 drawings and floor plans were accepted to construct a new village building to house the fire department on one side, and the police department on the other side of the first floor.  The second story would be for the village offices and have a large meeting room.

In July 1916 the Village Board accepted the bid of $3,518 from the H. C. Hirsch Company to construct the new village hall building.  Included was moving the old fire bell from the old firehall’s belfry to the new one.  The new Village Hall was built directly in front of the old one.  The old building was sold at auction to Joe Oberto for $200 before construction of the new building began.  Mr. Oberto agreed to store all the village fire equipment at no charge to the village, until the new building was completed.

           The contractor H.C. Hirsch agreed to build this new village hall and firehouse for $3518, if they also received the contract to build the new school building which was to be built on Donk Street. A new school was to be built due to that the old school on East Main burnt down in September 1915.

1958 Maryville village hall. You can see the one door open which was for the fire department and the police department on the other side.

1971 era photo of the village hall and firehouse. The village hall consisted of the council chambers and the clerks office on the second floor. The front of the first floor was occupied by the fire department and the back was occupied by the police department. The fire and police department’s were running out of room. The fire department records show that for several years they looked at different parcels of land to construct a new firehouse, without success.

October 18, 1971 – A special meeting was held at the fire department to discuss a new firehouse or an addition to be added to the current city hall. Estimates were discussed of $30,000 to add an addition on to the current building. Also, discussion that the fire department would split the costs in half with the village to add the addition on to the current village hall.

It was determined that the old firehouse had gotten too small for not only the fire department, but the police department and the village offices.  The police department had a small office on one side of the first floor, but when the fire departments 1965 Seagrave arrived, a bay was needed for it. The police department office moved into the small area that used to be the jail. With the inevitability that the fire department would need more space, as well as the police department, it was decided to add an addition on to the old firehouse/city hall. In 1971 construction began on an L-shaped addition onto the old city hall. The fire department and police department would be on the first floor, village council chamber and clerk’s office upstairs. As well as a new open hall area with restrooms which would be rented out for dances, bingo, etc.

Around 1988 the village purchased the old DCFS property from the state of Illinois. They began renovating the buildings for village use. One outer building would be used for the police department.

In 1993 the old Maryville East school building was demolished to make way for a new firehouse. The new firehouse was dedicated in May 1994.

For several years the old village hall building was used for storing supplies and equipment for the village’s public works department.

During 2002 the Village of Maryville celebrated their Centennial year. A committee was formed and requests went out to the village residents for historical artifacts regarding Maryville’s first 100 years. The centennial committee began putting the artifacts on display for the centennial event. A museum began to happen.

After the centennial, the building did not have standard hours for several years. For a period of time a university student curated the museum and began the task of making a list of museum items and artifacts.

In July 2016 the then museum committee consisted of members who had been part of the centennial group, as well as some new members to the committee. The museum was not open for visitors at this time. The committee worked very hard and created a display commemorating the Maryville Homecoming event and was open during that year’s homecoming. It was decided by the committee that we needed to finish opening the museum completely, so that we could accept visitors in.

On September 29, 2018 the Maryville Heritage Museum had a grand reopening. The museum would have opening days of the first Saturday of the month from 10am until 2pm.

While working to reopen the museum the committee noticed that when dumping water down the sink or flushing a toilet, the drain would back up. It was determined that the clay tiles used for the waste water lines had collapsed. Repairing the line would of been a monumental task requiring lots of money also.

The museum had no choice but to operate without a working restroom facility for many years.

2017 photo of the museum

Photo of the current museum building.

In late 2025 the museum was notified by Illinois State Representative Katie Stuart that we would be receiving a significant grant from the State of Illinois for ADA improvements that include ADA compliant restroom facilities. Committee member Joe Semanisin was instrumental in having face to face meetings with Representative Stuart’s staff, advocating for a grant for the Maryville Heritage Museum.

Bids are currently being assembled and we are looking forward to reopening in the Spring of 2027 with a completely reimagined Maryville Heritage Museum building.