Raupp Memorial Museum

Story

The Raupp Memorial Museum is an organization that chronicles the social history of Buffalo Grove, Illinois. It is part of the Buffalo Grove Park District and an award-winning member of the Illinois Association of Museums.HistoryThe village of Buffalo Grove began as a German dairy farming community in the 1840s. The families of Melchoir Raupp and Jacob Weidner were among the first to settle the area. The community grew steadily and was incorporated as a village in 1958. As it became more suburban, farms were sold off to developers. While selling off their land in 1964, Philip, Carl and John Raupp (three bachelor brothers and descendants of Melchoir Raupp) also donated three acres and their farmhouse to the Village of Buffalo Grove. The land was later transferred to the Buffalo Grove Park District on the condition that the land would be used for either a museum or library.The Park District moved forward with plans to turn the area into a museum dedicated to the history of Buffalo Grove and renovations commenced on the farmhouse. The project was moving along until 1972, when the farmhouse caught fire and burned to the ground. The Levitt Company, a local subdivision developer, having completed building all three of its subdivisions, agreed to donate its sales office to serve as the new museum building. In 1975, the building was moved and rolled down Arlington Heights Road to its current location on Dunham LaneThis Illinois museum officially opened to the community and dedicated on September 16, 1979. The building has undergone several major renovations since its dedication. Construction in 2002 added a large main gallery wing, a lower level gallery, and collection storage area. In 2013, the museum received a state grant to overhaul the old Town Square in the original Levitt building and make it ADA compliant. The gallery was completely gutted and replaced as The Crossroads that opened in April 2014.