Last updated: 11/15/2013
Shirley, Illinois
Street Address
10875 Prairie Home LaneShirley, IL 61772
Mailing Address
RR 1, Box 75Shirley, IL 61772

Hours

Open March through December
Tuesday - Saturday
9 AM - 4 PM
NO tours Jan and Feb

Admissions

Free

Staff

Jennifer Schauer
phone: 309-827-6792
Description

At the Funk Prairie Home Museum, our mission is to take you back in time to the good old days. We guarantee you'll find the tours fascinating and entertaining. We're proud of our educational and entertaining presentations and the preservation of the Funk Family legacy. The tours move along quickly, and time flies at the Prairie Home. The incredible stories of the early days of the Funk Family will leave you enthralled!

We are a privately owned museum. We give guided tours of our historic 1864 Family Home, Gem & Mineral Collection, and 1860's Machinery & Barn. The tours are absolutely free. Contact us today to book a tour.

History

What started as a wedding gift from LaFayette Funk to his bride Elizabeth has grown into one of the most amazing museums anywhere. Fully furnished as it was in the 1860's, the Prairie Home is a trip into the exciting history of the Funk Family, filled with dazzling accounts of the family's agricultural and political accomplishments

Artifact Collections
1864 Family Home: The elegant Victorian home completed in 1864 stands proudly today as a symbol of the Funk Family that made agricultural history in the late 1800's and early 1900's. The home of the founder of Funk Bros. Seed Co. has been preserved and is now open to thousands of visitors every year. The breath-taking home is filled with the fabulous furniture and décor of the 1800's. Your guided tour will leave you astonished.
Gem & Mineral Collection: The largest one-man rock collection in the world can be found at the Funk Prairie Home Museum at Shirley, Illinois. At the same location as the Prairie Home is a second tour through the incredible lifetime collection of LaFayette Funk II. From every corner of the earth, and even from the moon, come specimens that you'll remember forever. Bill Case will be your tour guide, and the experience is one of a kind.
1860's Machinery & Barn: The Prairie Home's original barn, restored to its original condition, is the largest wood-peg barn still standing in McLean County. The guided tour consists of a walk through the barn and the wing of the museum filled with actual horse-drawn farm equipment from the good old days. Actual photos from the Funk Family Archives line the walls and illustrate the way things were out in the field. On this tour, you'll learn all about farming methods the Funk Family used when horses were king.
Services

Reservations: All tours should be booked in advance by calling us. Tours are absolutely free.

Group Tours
Exhibitions
Museum Events
DISCLAIMER
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