Ekdahl House Museum

Built in 1887 by Swedish immigrant August Ekdahl, the one-and-a-half-story gabled house once sat directly behind the village's original wooden train station, backed by open prairie. Today, the restored structure operates as an outdoor museum viewed through the windows, preserving the early civic hub that formed just after Western Springs incorporated.

Inside, the staged interior displays Ekdahl surrounded by his cobbler tools alongside a waiting area where villagers socialized while trying on ready-made and custom shoes. In the back corner, the town's initial postal station reflects life before home delivery, when picking up letters meant stepping into the local cobbler's quarters.