Macktown a Living History Education Ctr

“Expenses advertising 533 office exp. 2,871 information tech. 844 insurance 2,793 supplies 460 dues & subscriptions 505 stevens building construc 899 non-investment depreciation 436 total 9,341”

“Net unrealized gain 4,320”

“Machinery and equipment 2,156 4,156 less accumulated depreciation 2,041 2,356 website 600 600 less accumulated depreciation 60 180 total 655 2,220”

“To inform and educate the general public, to restore and interpret the cultural lifeways of prehistoric (native american) and historic inhabitants of the pecatonic (macktown) settlement and the surrounding areas. To encourage and promote tourism and the education of visitors from the general public to the site. The education center/museum, historic buildings, and site are staffed by nonpaid volunteers who maintain regular hours conducting tours, creating programs and events, and working on site for the benefit of the forest preserves of winnebago county, a local governmental body.”

“The education center offers regular programming to the public and has hosted programs and events for various groups, including public and private schools, girl and boy scouts, historic and archaeological societies, local organizations and chambers of commerce. Individuals annually donate thousands of hours to create programming, do publicity, update a website, conduct tours, work on buildings and a native american village area, maintain heritage and medicine wheel gardens, host programs including the gathering re-enactment event, student and adult archaeology digs, and frenchman's frolic re-enactment event. Classes are also conducted in historic persona development, archaeology, music and period crafts. Public awareness and interest continues to grow, and this year hundreds of students and educators participated in the gathering during macktown's education day, an early 1800's living history demonstration event. Schools unable to attend this event signed up for interactive living history day programs. In cooperation with not-for-profit groups and local/state organizations, macktown has been working with the forest preserves of winnebago county, rockton historical society, midwest archeological research services, hononegah high school, rockford ymca, rock valley college, talcott library and the village of rockton to coordinate cooperative programs and referrals. The stephen mack house and whitman trading post, both on site and registered as national historic buildings, have been restored and continue to need protection and repair. The forest preserves of winnebago county, macktown living history and midwest archaeological research services have been working together to locate the foundations of the original settlement structures and to continue archaeological excavations as funds are available. The forest preserves of winnebago county applied for a grant for macktown, a living history education center to construct a time-period appropriate barn on the site dedicated to macktown usage and to cover the pump and well that are not appropriate for the historic district. In 2014 the state of illinois awarded a 50,000 grant to construct this time-period appropriate barn. It is used by macktown for living history demonstrations, storage of materials and supplies, and has been used with livestock. A second project nearing completion is the relocation of the original 1830's stevens' shop and school building which was moved off the property circa 1850. Volunteers have salvaged the original timbers to reconstruct the building on its original site. The building, which housed one of the earliest schools built in winnebago county and one of the only schools to educate native american children boys and girls together, is the last historic macktown building known to exist.”