Tinker Swiss Cottage Museum and Gardens is a looking glass through
which one can view life in Rockford during the Victorian Era

By examining the journals left by former Rockford Mayor Robert Tinker one is able to learn about the industrialization of Rockford and the vision for parks and community gardens. We are able to walk through the rooms of the Cottage and see the very furnishings that the Tinker family surrounded themselves with in the late 1800s and the artwork, some which created by Tinker himself, that was cherished and typified the Victorian lifestyle. From the artifacts that Robert’s wife Mary brought to the Cottage we are able to learn about her first husband John Manny and his famous Reaper that prompted the only visit to Rockford by Abraham Lincoln.

The Grounds of The Tinker Swiss Cottage Museum and Gardens
are where the history of Rockford began

The Tinker grounds tell a story that is even older than the story of the Cottage built in 1865. The Tinker grounds are also the site of the founding of Rockford by Germanicus Kent, Thatcher Blake and Lewis Lemon in 1834. And going back further than 1834, the grounds also reflect the existence of Woodland Indians who lived on the banks of Kent Creek and left a Burial Mound under the White Oak/Bur Oak hybrid tree now over 275 years old. This is where the history of Rockford began.

Tinker Swiss Cottage Museum and Gardens is original and unique

Programs at Tinker are expanding to meet the needs of the increasing number of visitors. School groups come to the unique Tinker Swiss Cottage to experience what life was like so many years ago and students have the opportunity to participate in some of the leisure-time activities that children enjoyed during the Victorian Era, as well as actually use some of the tools and implements that were part of the household. The Cottage and gardens are magical and each day brings an offering of something new to be enjoyed, explored and studied.

Tinker Swiss Cottage Museum and Gardens
is a treasure of Rockford and the State of Illinois.

Each day we become more committed to saving this very special part of Rockford history and are making a great effort to make it possible for generations yet to come to see the Tinker Swiss Cottage Museum and Gardens just as it looked in the Victorian Era.

May we count on your support to help in the preservation, restoration and conservation of this important part of Rockford’s history? You may make a tax deductible donation as a restricted gift to support the Railroad Garden Restoration or as a restricted gift to the Tinker Endowment, or as an unrestricted gift for the General Operating Support of the Museum.