This house was moved to Chaplin Creek Village to become the home for the farmstead at the historic site. During 2007 it was formally named the Kelley House in recognition of one of our long-time members was born in the building. It is our intention to restore the building in such a way as to resemble what it may have looked like in the mid-1800's, including a replica of the original two room addition that was unfortunately lost in a fire while the home was still being occupied in its original location just up the street from the historic site. With support from our members and other volunteers, we are hopeful to open the Kelley House up for visitors by the 2010 Summer Harvest Festival.

During 2007, the Historical Society members, managed to make quite an impact on the restoration of this building as can be seen in these "before" and "after" pictures representing where we started early in 2007 and where we left off late in October of 2007. If you would like to see additional pictures of the progress of this restoration, please visit this external web site at: Kelly House Restoration Pictures.

If you would like to get involved in finishing the restoration of the Kelley House, please visit the Get Involved section of our web site.

Mabel's Lunchroom Restoration Project

Mabel's Lunchroom is a favorite among the members of the Historical Society and the Franklin Grove community. Legend has it that if as a child you finished your lunch, that you were allowed to have a piece of Mabel's home-made pie (blueberry being the favorite) with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream on it! Mabel Henry would attract customers of all ages.

The building orginally housed a women's haberdashery. A haberdasher is a person who sells small, commonly used items in clothing via retail. This can include ribbons and buttons, or completed accessories, such as hats or gloves. A haberdasher's shop or the items sold therein are called haberdashery. The building was donated by one of our members and relocated from downtown Franklin Grove when space was cleared for the Village's new library in 2004.

As seen above, this is the only remaining original picture of the building that we have been able to locate. As you can see below, by the time the building was donated to the Historical Society, it was in pretty bad shape.

During 2008 we made significant progress in restoring this building. The efforts are being made to rebuild Mabel's Lunchroom to resemble its original configuration with seating and food services for visitors. Through the generousity of three of our members, we have already raised a significant portion of the funding required to support this project. However, we are still searching for additional contributions to provide the necessary funding as well as volunteers to provide some of the labor to bring this treasure back to life.

If you would like to get involved in the Mabel Henry's Restaurant Restoration Project, please visit the Get Involved section of our web site.

Chaplin Creek Chapel Restoration Project

This building, which we plan to become our village church, will be named Chaplin Creek Chapel. The building was once a summer kitchen and was originally part of the buildings that sat on the property with the Whitney Mansion located just south of the historic site on Whitney Road.

Known as a historic readaptation, we hope to start the restoration project in the Spring of 2010. A fund raising and grant request program will begin in 2010 to support this project.

If you would like to get involved in the Chaplin Creek Chapel Restoration Project, please visit the Get Involved section of our web site.

Chaplin Creek Reporter and Print Shop Restoration Project

This building, which we hope to adapt to become our village print shop was originally a carriage shop that was later converted to a garage. As in the case of the chapel, we hope to complete a historic readaptation of the building to become a print shop to house our 1800's printing press and hopefully our old Linotype.

At this point there is no specific target for completion of the project but when an interested organization or individual expresses an interest, we will be sure to make this project a priority.

If you would like to get involved in the Chaplin Creek Reporter and Print Shop Restoration Project, please visit the Get Involved section of our web site.

The Opera House Restoration Project

This beautiful old building started life as a barn at a nearby farm in Franklin Grove. Later converted to a granary, the building served as a storage facility for grains harvested by local farmers before being sold on the open market.

Donated to the Historical Society in 2005 and moved to Chaplin Creek Village in 2006, this structure is planned to be converted to an opera house and community center. Our plans are to refinish the exterior to its original appearance while the interior will be fitted with a stage, lighting and seating for entertainment activities including small plays, performances by local musicians and other theatrical events.

If you would like to get involved in The Opera House Restoration Project, please visit the Get Involved section of our web site.