Col. Wood's Museum

[1] At one point, the museum housed a pair of mummies as well as sheets of papyri (which supposedly formed the basis for parts of the Book of Abraham) that had once belonged to Latter Day Saint movement founder Joseph Smith.

The original version of the museum was founded by Col. John H. Wood and opened on March 22, 1864.

[3] This incarnation of Wood's Museum contained a plethora of bizarre and interesting items that visitors could see for only a quarter, including: around sixty cases of birds, insects, and assorted reptiles; a panorama of London; many model ships; paintings of Indians; a rifle owned by Daniel Boone; a scale model of the Parthenon; the "Great Zeuglodon" (a 96-foot-long skeleton of a Basilosaurus); and a pair of mummies with sheets of papyri that had once belonged to Joseph Smith (founder of the Latter Day Saint movement).

[2][3][4][5][6] Col. Wood's Museum burned to the ground during the Great Chicago Fire, and all of its contents were lost.

Nevertheless, a week after the conflagration, Wood leased the Globe Theatre (which was located just outside the main downtown district) and began the long march towards reopening.