Rockford museum opens early

ROCKFORD – The lack of snow this winter must seem like a present to the Tinker Swiss Cottage Museum & Gardens.

The mild weather has made it possible to open the doors for general admission tours earlier than usual. Steve Litteral, executive director of operations, announced the museum will be open this month. In fact, it’s open now, so embrace the lack of snow with a visit to this nearby facility.

Tinker Swiss Cottage Museum once was the home of Robert Hall Tinker, who built it in 1865. The house overlooks Kent Creek, and its architecture has a Swiss flair. The Tinker family donated the home to the Rockford Park District, which turned it into a museum in 1943.

Guided tours of the home are available at 1 and 3 p.m. Tuesdays through Sundays.

When the weather heats up, save some time to see the museum’s gardens. They range from a prairie meadow to an iris garden. In between, the Victorian rose garden, heirloom vegetable garden, railroad garden and gardens west of the visitor center fill in with their own beauty.

Inside, visitors will see items from the 75 years the Tinkers lived there.

To make the site even more interesting, a pre-Columbian burial mound has been found there. It shows people were enjoying the Tinkers’ building area 1,000 years ago.

A special treat is coming to the museum’s visitor center in March. Jeff Mudgett, the author of “Bloodstains,” will sign his book from 1 to 5 p.m. March 31. He is the great-great-grandson of Herman Mudgett, a serial killer who was featured in “The Devil In The White City,” by Erik Larson.

Herman Mudgett was the creator of the “murder castle” during the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair. Jeff Mudgett discovered his relationship to the killer when he was 40, after finding Herman’s diaries. Those diaries also have provided a link for those who believe Herman was London’s infamous Jack the Ripper. Writing samples from the diaries and Ripper letters seem to show a 97.75 percent match.

The author will speak, then will sign books in the library. Other true crime and paranormal authors will be at the event, too. All authors will be selling their books.