Fairbury Echoes Museum was initiated to preserve local history and items of long-ago living. A permanent display of items from area businesses, schools, churches, organizations and people occupies two rooms of the museum. A third room features household and clothing items donated by the museum's original benefactors, Floyd and Marion Stafford. The fourth room is a reading and reference room full of interesting items. A mini-exhibit is on display in the fifth room which changes several times each year.

The work behind the creation of the Fairbury Echoes Museum began in a bicentennial committee set up under the direction of the Dominy Memorial Library in 1976. After many volunteer hours and several generous donations by the community and the Staffords, the museum opened in 1979 in a house next door to the library. In 2003, the museum closed at that location and, after reorganizing, it reopened in a building in Fairbury's historic business district.