The Chicago Museum of History, formerly known as the Chicago Historical Society, was founded in 1856 with the purpose of displaying, studying, and interpreting the history of Chicago. The exhibits are based primarily on the museum's private collection, which number about 22 million holdings, occupying an area of 16,000 square feet, and showcases the city's development, relationship, and impact on American history as a whole, through various exhibits, including architecture, clothing and textiles, paintings, drawings, sculptures, decorative arts, and miscellaneous historical documents.