Near Elmhurst College in west suburban Elmhurst is Wilder Park, a mid-sized suburban park that includes the Elmhurst Public Library, Elmhurst Art Museum, Lizzadro Museum, Wilder Mansion and the Wilder Park Conservatory and Formal Gardens.

This is the Wilder Mansion, named after the last family that owned the place, before the Elmhurst Park District acquired it and the surrounding land in the early 1920s.
I understand that for most of the 20th century, the building housed the Elmhurst Library, but these days it’s a wedding and event venue. Even though it was late Saturday morning, the place was closed. I was a little surprised. I expected someone to be there, setting up for a wedding.

Not far away is the modest Wilder Park Conservatory and Formal Gardens. The gardens were around back and not growing much yet.
At one room and a non-public greenhouse, I believe the Wilder is the smallest public conservatory in metro Chicago, smaller even than the one in Mount Prospect, but it has a nice array of plants. Especially when outside is still mostly brown.

Along with a few rock formations.

Outside the conservatory is a public oddity.
The sign says:

Elmhurst Landmark
1870
Urn-Adorned
Cook County Court House before Chicago Fire
of 1871

According to the ElmhurstHistory.Org: “Following the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, many people from the Chicago area collected ruins from the fire as a souvenir [sic]. Seth Wadhams, who lived in what is now known as the Wilder Mansion, brought two roof finials (decorative pieces) from the Cook County Courthouse, which had burned in the fire. One of the finials deteriorated over time. The second one remains in Wilder Park.”

It looks like you can see many of the courthouse finials in this pre-Fire photo. Strange thought that one of them might be, probably is, the obscure stone relic now miles from its original perch.