Power of Place: Celebrating America 250
September 5, 2026-February 27, 2027
What makes a place feel like home? Is it the buildings we recognize, the people we remember, the routes we travel, or the stories passed from one generation to the next?
Power of Place explores the many layers that have shaped Lombard—from the prairie beneath our feet and the growth of downtown to neighborhoods, businesses, transportation, traditions, and the people who left their mark on the community.
Through historic photographs, maps, artifacts, building models, postcards, and personal stories, visitors can see how familiar places have changed over time. Some buildings still stand. Others have been moved, altered, or lost. Roads and rail lines changed how people traveled, while new neighborhoods and gathering places expanded the boundaries of everyday life.
The exhibition also looks beyond the buildings themselves to the people who gave these places meaning—from early residents and business owners to artists, community leaders, and even a Lombard astronaut.
Throughout the exhibition, visitors are encouraged to look closely, ask questions, and form their own ideas about place and memory. Add a push pin to our maps, read messages left on historic postcards, and think about the places that have shaped your own story.
Lombard’s story is still being written—and all of us are part of what comes next.
Share Your Story for America 250
As the nation prepares to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the Lombard Historical Society is looking ahead by preserving the stories of our community today.
This project is also a tribute to our own beginnings. In 1970, local residents came together to collect photographs, documents, objects, and memories in preparation for the nation’s Bicentennial. Those efforts helped establish the Lombard Historical Society and created a collection that continues to tell Lombard’s story more than 50 years later.
Now, for America 250, we are inviting the community to help us build the collection for future generations.
