JAHM is open Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 10:00 am - 4:00 pm.
The Joliet Area Historical Museum Gallery is located on the corner of Route 66 and the Lincoln Highway at
204 N. Ottawa Street.
PARKING
Cars:
Free Parking is available in the Museum parking lot at the corner of Ottawa and Webster Streets. Metered parking is available curb side.
(Do not park in the lot directly in front of the Museum’s Welcome Center, your vehicle will be towed.)
Buses:
Buses may remain in the Museum’s loading zone, unless another bus is scheduled to arrive during the course of your education program.
They may also park in the Museum’s parking lot at the corner of Ottawa and Webster Streets if parking is available.
Special Needs
The Museum is handicap accessible. A patron drop off is located directly in front of the Museum’s Route 66 Welcome Center Entrance. Please call ahead if special assistance is needed, so that appropriate accommodations can be arranged.
The Joliet Area Historical Museum Gallery is located on the corner of Route 66 and the Lincoln Highway at
204 N. Ottawa Street.
PARKING
Cars:
Free Parking is available in the Museum parking lot at the corner of Ottawa and Webster Streets. Metered parking is available curb side.
(Do not park in the lot directly in front of the Museum’s Welcome Center, your vehicle will be towed.)
Buses:
Buses may remain in the Museum’s loading zone, unless another bus is scheduled to arrive during the course of your education program.
They may also park in the Museum’s parking lot at the corner of Ottawa and Webster Streets if parking is available.
Special Needs
The Museum is handicap accessible. A patron drop off is located directly in front of the Museum’s Route 66 Welcome Center Entrance. Please call ahead if special assistance is needed, so that appropriate accommodations can be arranged.
The First Hundred Miles Route 66 Welcome Center
ROUTE 66
Get your photograph taken at our Route 66 Diner Scene! Photographs playing outside the windows of the diner scene are all historical images of Route 66 in Joliet. |
MADE IN JOLIET
Collection of artifacts manufactured in Joliet from a 1909 Economy Motor Buggy to handcrafted wicker furniture made by inmates at the Old Joliet Prison. |
BLUES BROTHERS
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Permanent Exhibit Galleries
Explore Joliet area's rich history through our award-winning permanentexhibit galleries located on the main and upper museum levels
ILLINOIS & MICHIGAN CANAL
Explore the history of the Illinois & Michigan canal in a life-sized replica of the canal base constructed in the Joliet area between 1836 and 1848. 
OLD JOLIET PRISON
This exhibit demonstrates that beyond the iconic, imposing architecture, the story of the Old Joliet Prison was, and continues to be a story of human interaction. Joliet’s relationship with the penitentiary, while complicated, was not always antagonistic. These interactions occurred through residents’ employment at the Prison, local faith-based institutions ministering inside the walls, and a variety of artistic, cultural, and recreational activities that allowed for visibility between the residents of the City of Joliet, and behind the walls of its “city within a city,” the Old Joliet Prison. JOLIET STREETSCAPE Hop on the trolley and experience a ride in downtown during the 1920s and 1930s. Stop at a local theater for a show, or enjoy some window shopping at local businesses! 
GALLERY OF CHAMPIONS This exhibit features local notables who have been honored through the Joliet Sports Hall of Fame, Joliet Hall of Pride, and features sculptures from the Friends of Community Public Art. |
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Temporary Exhibits
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FOCUS: INSIDE THE JAHM COLLECTION SERIES The FOCUS Series displays some of our smaller collections of artifacts that are not otherwise seen by the public. The current exhibit focuses on the history of Lewis Brothers Shoes, a local Joliet shoe store founded in 1919. See original shoes, photographs, advertisement materials, and packaging from the store. |
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“The exhibition Wallace W. Abbey: A Life in Railroad Photography stems from source material drawn from the book of the same title (Indiana University Press, 2018). To celebrate the publishing of Abbey’s gorgeous display of black-and-white images and to honor the generous donation by the Abbey family of more than 35,000 slides to the Railroad Heritage Archive, the Center developed this exhibition.
A lesser-known figure in the railroad photography community, Abbey transitioned his profession from journalism to public relations over the course of his forty-year career. Through Abbey’s various career changes he never lost the initial passion that fueled him at first as a young boy of thirteen photographing Frisco Line freight trains in his grandparents hometown of Cherryvale, Kansas, all the way to his retirement in Pueblo, Colorado where he passed his time at the Association of American Railroad’s Transportation Technology Center. His unique role as a photographer, journalist, historian, and railroad industry executive allowed him to capture often overlooked perspectives spanning primarily from the 1940s through the 1970s.
Abbey’s masterful skill combined journalism and artful vision to help people from differing backgrounds understand and appreciate the world of locomotives, passenger trains, big-city terminals, small-town depots, and railroaders. He witnessed and photographed the sweeping changes in the railroad industry following the shift from steam to diesel locomotives, and showcased the transformation of transportation and photography after World War II.
The exhibition Wallace W. Abbey: A Life in Railroad Photography serves as a platform to present the life work of one of America’s most dynamic railroad photographers. Abbey offers a full understanding of all aspects of railroading and delivers his visual ideas in an exciting presentation enjoyable to the railroading community and the general public alike.”
*Source: Center for Railroad Photography and Art