The Heritage Center was established in 1987 for the purpose of preserving local history and now occupies a portion of the renovated Illinois Central Railroad Depot located on the north end of State Street.  It has been said that not a week goes by without some new additions to the Center's growing collection. You can find many interesting artifacts that display past lifestyles, a vast collection of photographs documenting Ackley life and growth, and friendly volunteers to put you in touch with mountains of research materials.