Summer Events at Old World Wisconsin: Outdoor Historical Museum in Eagle

Old World Wisconsin is a fantastic place to go back in time and see the world as the early Wisconsin Settlers might have seen it.

Old World Wisconsin located in a wooded area in the beautiful Kettle Moraine area in southeastern Wisconsin. The outdoor museum is the largest of it's kind in the world dedicated to the history of rural live. The museum opened in 1976 to commemorate 200 years of American history.

Long before the museum opened, researchers traveled the entire State of Wisconsin searching for authentic historic buildings The researchers document the buildings that had been dwellings and business of the settlers who had immigrated to Wisconsin. The researchers also studied the lives of the families that had lived in the dwellings. to understand more of the lifestyles of the early inhabitants of Wisconsin.

I actually lived near the site of Old World Wisconsin when they were starting construction. It was fascinating.

They had taken down the dwellings, found all over the state The buildings had been taken apart, board by board. The boards, bricks and other parts of the dwellings had been numbered. The parts were numbered so the the buildings could be reconstructed, using a master plan. This painstaking work was done on every building in the settlement. When I stared down at the rough hewn boards and bricks with the white numbers identifying them, the task looked huge.

I have visited Old World Wisconsin many times over the years. It is alway a pleasant day, out in the fresh air, surrounded by the pines that protect the area and add their fragrance to the air.

After purchasing tickets and entering the museum, the visitor sees well worn dirt trails. Costumed interpreters can be seen in the buildings and walking the grounds.

The museum grounds are divided into settlements. There are settlement areas for the settles of Finnish, Danish, German, Polish, Norwegian and African American descent. There is a town area with a blacksmith shop, cobbler, tavern, church and more. Most of the houses are open to tour, with a costumed interpreter there to tell the story of the original people who lived in the buildings.