Local Oswego history tour open this weekend

The site of the Grove School, south of Oswego, where the Lucas children (shown above in 1894), members of one of the area’s Black farming families attended classes, will be one of the stops when Oswego’s Little White School Museum hosts “Oswego History Tour - African American Heritage” at noon Sunday, July 7.

Learn Oswego history when the Oswegoland Heritage Association and Oswegoland Park District co-host two upcoming historical tours, one walking tour and another by bus.

At noon Sunday, June 23, there will be an Oswego History Tour on the historic homes on Main Street.

Heritage association board members Ted Clauser and Linda Heap Dean will lead a stroll down Main Street enlivened by stories about the early Oswegoans who built and lived in the historic homes down South Main Street from Tyler Street to Illinois Route 71, according to a news release from the Little White School Museum.

Participants should wear good walking shoes and be prepared to be part of the afternoon’s conversation, according to the release.

The tour will begin and end at the corner of Main and Tyler streets and last for about an hour.

Registration is required and residents cost $5 and nonresidents cost $10.

At noon on Sunday, July 7, there will be an Oswego History Tour on African American heritage.

This tour will be led by Little White School Museum Manager Anne Jordan and include the areas where Black families farmed and attended area one-room schools, as well as a visit to the Oswego Township Cemetery where some of these residents, including five Black Civil War veterans, found their final rest, according to the release.

Registration is required for this roughly hour and a half tour. It is $7 for residents and $10 for nonresidents.

To register for either program, call 630-554-1010 or visit the museum’s reservations page at bit.ly/LWSMPrograms.

For more information about the Little White School Museum, call 630-554-2999, email them at info@littlewhiteschoolmuseum.org or visit littlewhiteschoolmuseum.org.