The Clark-Norris Home was built in 1899-1900 by Sam and Ann Clark of Dover, Illinois. Dover was a small farming community five miles north of Princeton where Mr. Clark was a farmer and also bred championship horses and cattle.

The Clarks moved into their new home two months after celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary. It was a house that reflected their considerable wealth and was very modern at the time it was constructed.

The house is built of buff colored brick, has a slate roof, dormer windows, and several small balconies. Its curved glass windows are complimented by a large, curved veranda which in 1971 was glassed in to accommodate some of the museum’s collections.

The woods used throughout the house are oak, walnut, and sycamore, and the floors are of maple, oak, and walnut. The light fixtures use both gas and electricity. The house was originally and is still heated by a hot water system.

In 1915, the Clark’s only living child, Grace Clark Norris, and her husband, Alfred, moved into the house to take care of her aging parents. The Norrises did not have children, and upon her death in 1946, Mrs. Norris bequeathed her home and many of its possessions to the Bureau County Historical Society.

The museum was previously located in one room of the Courthouse basement, and Mrs. Norris realized there was a need for more space and a permanent location. The museum opened to the public in the Clark-Norris Home in 1948.

Many of the furnishings on the first floor belonged to the Clarks and Norrises, while items on the other three floors have been donated by Bureau County residents.