Spring Festival part of occasion as Trailside Museum turns 90
In May 1932, at the height of the Great Depression, the Forest Preserves of Cook County opened its first trail side museum in River Forest, with the goal of
displaying “every plant and animal in Cook County, live or mounted, for the education of the public.”
Now, 90 years later, the Hal Tyrrell Trailside Museum of Natural History remains one of the area’s premier destinations for environmental education. To mark its anniversary, the museum is making its annual Spring Festival a celebration of the facility and the forest preserve’s role in creating an outdoor destination for generations of visitors.
“We’re one of the oldest and largest forest preserve districts in the United States,” said Irene Flebbe, the museum’s assistant director. “This museum was the first of its kind in the Midwest and one of the first of its kind in the country. Since 1932 we’ve
been researching the area’s plants and animals and teaching people about their surroundings.”
That dedication will be on full display at the Spring Festival May 1, which will feature a variety of events focused both on the history of the museum and the work they continue to do, particularly in preservation and children’s education.
“This year we wanted to focus on a variety of activities,” Flebbe said. “We’ll have displays from different points in our history to show people the different uses of this building over the years.”
The building itself was built in 1876 as a private mansion. It would be the home to two different schools before the Forest Preserves of Cook County bought most of the surrounding land in 1919 and decided to use the building as its headquarters. That lasted until 1931 when it opted to move to a bigger facility and create the museum in the historic structure.
At the Spring Festival, visitors can tour the building and learn more about its past uses, but much of the activity will take place outside and focus on the forest preserve’s mission.
“We’ll have the Illinois Archaeological Survey here to show people the work they do, highlighting the area’s long history,” Flebbe said. “We have animal encounters with turtles, snakes, birds of prey and other creatures that live in the area.”
For kids, there will be crafts and other hands-on projects. They can take part in the “pond dip,” in which they’re given boots and a large dip net to find out what’s living in the water nearby. “They pull up anything that’s not paying enough attention to get caught,” Flebbe said. “Usually tadpoles and maybe some fish. Occasionally they might catch a frog.”
For the adults, environmental and gardening organizations will be on hand to discuss native plants, and a master naturalist from the University of Illinois Extension service will be holding talks, providing some free plants and offering advice for would-be gardeners.
Take advantage of the area’s nearly five miles of walking trails for hiking, or go on one of the guided wildflower hikes held during the event. Representatives from the Chicago Botanic Garden will be there to discuss citizen science through its “budburst” program, which aims to “uncover the stories of plants and animals affected by human impacts on the environment.”
“It invites people to make observations in their own backyard and the forest preserves so we can better understand the big picture, about how our climate is changing,” Flebbe said.
Other activities during the festival include naturalists demonstrating bird-banding programs, take-home birdhouses that kids can build themselves, and ice cream and other refreshments for sale.
“It’s always been a great family-friendly festival,” Flebbe said. “But this year is going to be special.”