There are a lot of statues memorializing Union veterans, but the Grand Army of the Republic, Post 20, which was in Aurora, Illinois, decided that a building would be a better way to honor the fallen, since it would also be useful for the living. Reportedly the post got the idea from a similar building in Foxborough, Mass.

Completed in 1878, the GAR Memorial Hall still stands on Stolp Island in Aurora.
The octagonal structure is of local limestone and designed by one Joseph Mulvey, who is fairly obscure. Not this fellow (probably), but someone who did other (razed) work in this part of the country. The GAR had meetings there and for a while it housed Aurora’s public library.

These days GAR Memorial Hall is a small museum with limited hours — namely Saturdays from noon to 4 p.m. I arrived at about 3, in time to look inside, and get out of the heat besides. Inside, you can see the tall stained-glass windows.

Plus a few artifacts of the war, such as these medicine bottles. The dark one was specifically for quinine.
GAR artifacts.
A number of exhibits were devoted to the 36th Illinois Volunteer Infantry and the 8th Illinois Cavalry, both largely composed of men from the Aurora area. The 36th fought at Pea Ridge, Murfreesboro, Missionary Ridge, Chickamauga and in the siege of Atlanta, among other places. The 8th was at Williamsburg, Seven Pines, Brandy Station, Gettysburg and Monocacy, among others.

An amusing aside, according to the museum: “The 8th Illinois Cavalry’s first fight was not against people but alcohol. At their first encampment in St. Charles, Illinois, some of the citizens of the town brought liquor to the young soldiers, and this threatened the discipline of the regiment [I’ll bet it did]. Without orders, a group of soldiers from the 8th marched into town and smashed the windows of the offending shops, pouring the liquor into the street.”