The mission of this society is to educate the public on the history of the township of Manhattan, Illinois while bring together those people' interested in history; to discover and collect any material, which may help in the education process, to establish or illustrate the history of the area; to provide for the preservation of such materials and for its accessibility; and to disseminate historical information.

The society has recently set up a museum for the town of Manhattan, IL and Manhattan Township. Organizing historical materials and presenting them to the public is our main task. Twice a year the displays salute veterans. Researching material and genealogy requests, writing for display boards, displaying artifacts, developing advertizing materials, digitalizing records, staffing the museum and caboose on open days as well as caboose and museum maintenance are all apart of the groups activity as well as socializing.