The Herington Historical Museum features photos of the town's history and artifacts from the community's earliest days. Learn about the history of area clubs and organizations and study church history.
The museum itself has a quiet, intimate feel to it, and when you look at the exhibits, you get the feeling you're looking through your grandparents' attic - you never know just what you'll find in the next box, but chances are it'll be something different and unusual. For genealogy researchers, the museum has Herington newspapers on microfilm, dating from 1884 and Hope newspapers from 1885. There are also a number of family histories from some of the first families of Herington and the surrounding tri-county area (Dickinson, Marion & Morris counties). The museum also has church records and cemetery records for Herington and a few of the smaller communities.
For railroad enthusiasts, the museum has a baggage car annex with pictures and memorabilia recording the history of the railroad in Herington and the surrounding communities.
There is an extensive collection of military uniforms and memorabilia, dating from post-Civil War through Desert Storm - Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, WAC's, etc.
The museum's gift shop has centennial history books on sale for Herington, Woodbine, Burdick and a few other towns, as well as the Forgotten Fields book by Lou Thole, which gives the history of numerous air fields that were established during WWII (one of which was the Herington Army Air Force base).
Also in the gift shop are souvenir t-shirts & sweatshirts that are available only at this museum, railroad items, unique craft items & floral arrangements, paintings and some of the more traditional souvenir items.