Amberg Historical Museum Complex facts for kids
The Amberg Historical Museum Complex in Amberg, Wisconsin is a special place that helps us learn about the past. It includes the main Amberg Museum and other old buildings that have been moved there to be saved. The Amberg Historical Society runs this museum with help from the town of Amberg. This society is a non-profit group connected to the Wisconsin Historical Society. The museum complex is even recognized as a Wisconsin Heritage Site by the Wisconsin Department of Tourism!
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The Amberg Museum Building
The main Amberg Museum building used to be the Amberg fire station. Inside, you can see the very first Amberg fire engine. It was a chemical fire engine that firefighters had to pull to the fire themselves!
Native American and Lumbering History
The museum has a collection about Native Americans. You can learn about medicinal plants used by the Pottawatomie people. There's also a dug-out canoe made by the Menominee tribe.
Another big part of the museum is about lumbering. This was a very important industry in the area. You can see old chain saws and a medicine chest from a logging camp. There are also "end marks" from logs that floated down the Menominee River. These marks helped people know who owned the logs.
Blacksmith Shop and Veteran Exhibit
Inside the museum, there's a blacksmith shop. It's full of tools used by blacksmiths, carpenters, and mechanics from long ago.
The veteran exhibit honors local people who served in the military. It especially remembers those who fought in World War I and World War II.
Pioneer Life and Research
The pioneer photograph collection shows many pictures of early families. It helps you see how the town of Amberg grew over time.
The Amberg Historical Society also has a research library inside the museum. It's a great place to find old town records, school papers, family stories, photo albums, and newspaper clippings. You can even find an online catalog that describes many museum items. It also has stories about important people and recordings of people talking about their memories. The museum's website lets you explore some items and photos online. You can also take a virtual tour of the museum complex and find a list of people buried in the Amberg Cemetery.
The Old House
The Old House at the complex shows what a home looked like in Amberg around the late 1800s and early 1900s. Many volunteers, students from Amberg Grade School, and local businesses helped move and fix up this house. This special project was even given the "Hometown Pride Award" by "Midwest Living" magazine!
Other Historic Buildings and Quarrying
The society also moved other important buildings to the complex to save them. One is the original Amberg depot, which was a train station for the "Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad". Another is the Cedarville station. This was a "whistlestop" where trains would briefly stop. It was often visited by travelers called "hobos" in a community that no longer exists near Amberg.
A large derrick from the August Paveglio quarry was also moved to the museum complex. Quarrying granite was a very important business in Amberg. The Amberg Historical Society's book, "Amberg--The First 100 Years 1890-1990," lists eleven quarries close to Amberg. In the Amberg Museum, you can see granite samples, stone blocks, and tools used by stone cutters.
The Amberg Town Hall
In 2005, the town of Amberg let the Amberg Historical Society use the original Amberg town hall. This building is so important that it's on the "National Register of Historic Places"! The society offers tours of this building. Inside, you'll find different exhibits, like a general store, a school room, an agriculture display, and textiles. Each exhibit shows local items collected by the society.
Visiting the Museum Complex
The museum complex is easy to find! It's about one-third of a mile off U.S. Route 141 on County V. The museum is open on Fridays from 1 PM to 4 PM and on Saturdays from 10 AM to 4 PM. These hours are from Memorial Day (late May) through Labor Day (early September). The best part is there's no charge to get in!
See also
- List of historical societies in Wisconsin
