Elmhurst: History, Architecture and Nature

Elmhurst combines local history and modern architecture with opportunities to spend time outdoors. The Elmhurst History Museum focuses on the city’s development, while the Elmhurst Art Museum offers a self-guided audio tour of Elmhurst’s modern architecture. The Wilder Park Conservatory, Keith A. Olson Prairie, and regional Salt Creek Greenway Trail offer additional perspectives.

Local History at the Elmhurst History Museum

The award-winning exhibition at the Elmhurst History Museum explores Elmhurst’s growth and development over its more than 165-year history. It features artifacts from local businesses, residents, and organizations, rare photographs, an interactive tabletop map, and a documentary film. A variety of exhibition formats are presented alongside objects from local life.

The museum is located in downtown Elmhurst, half a block east of the Elmhurst Metra Station, south of the tracks and directly east of York Street. This precise location makes it easy to include the museum as a distinct downtown stop in your travel plans.

Explore Architecture on Your Own

The Elmhurst Art Museum is home to the McCormick House, designed and built by Mies van der Rohe. The museum also offers a self-guided audio tour of Elmhurst’s modern architecture, which you can take by car or on foot. The tour provides historical context and interesting facts about structures by Wright, Mies, Walter Burley Griffin, R. Harold Zook, Dirk Lohan, and other architects. It combines independent exploration with historical context for anyone interested in architecture.

Green Spaces and Seasonal Flower Shows

The Wilder Park Conservatory was established in 1923 as the Elmhurst Park District’s first capital project and hosts three seasonal flower shows. Because the shows are seasonal, timing matters. If you’d like to plan a visit around a flower show, check the dates before your trip.

Keith A. Olson Prairie, formerly known as Elmhurst Great Western Prairie, is located within Wild Meadows Trace, north of the Prairie Path between Spring Road and Salt Creek. It is considered Elmhurst’s oldest surviving natural landscape. This adds a distinct natural setting to the area’s cultural attractions.

The nearly 25-mile Salt Creek Greenway Trail is a regional walking and cycling trail. In Elmhurst, access points are at Eldridge Park; on the Illinois Prairie Path at St. Charles Road, west of Route 83; in Maple Trail Woods; and at the intersection of Thomas Street and Monterey Avenue at Pick Park. The nearly 25 miles refers to the regional trail; the locations listed identify access points in Elmhurst.

Trip-Planning Highlights

The attractions differ in subject and format: the History Museum explores the city’s development through an exhibition, the Art Museum offers an audio tour for discovering architecture, and the prairie and greenway offer opportunities to enjoy nature and outdoor activities. When looking for hotels in Elmhurst, you can first decide whether culture, architecture, or time outdoors will shape your stay.

Discover more destinations: Westmont, Woodridge, Oak Brook, Bensenville, Medinah, Glendale Heights, Glen Ellyn, Carol Stream

For the broader travel overview: Dupage.