National Museum of Surveying closes in Springfield

SPRINGFIELD — Abraham Lincoln’s National Museum of Surveying has closed.

Officials of the Springfield museum say a sharp drop in corporate donations, the lagging economy and the failure of a fundraising campaign prompted the closing of the museum Wednesday.

The museum, which opened in 2010, highlighted Lincoln’s time from 1833 to 1837 as a central Illinois surveyor.

Museum treasurer Bob Church tells the State Journal-Register the museum has struggled since a building was purchased in 2007 to house exhibits. He said at the time, surveyors, engineers and surveying manufacturers were prospering, adding that changed with the recession.

Church says the final blow to the museum’s prospects came when a planned $400,000 fundraising campaign only raised $50,000.

According to Church, attendance at the museum averaged about 120 people a week.