Highlights Archives
Ring in the Fourth of July — 19th-Century Style
Independence Day marked an occasion for festive, community-wide celebrations and colorful, small-town parades in many a rural, 19th-century Wisconsin village, and today you can still relive the tenor of those times at Old World Wisconsin and Madeline Island Museum. Old World Wisconsin celebrates Independence Day with An Old World Fourth of July complete with old-fashioned games, a band concert, a patriotic hymn sing and a festive parade through its 1870s crossroads village on Wednesday, July 4.
But the festivities in the village are only a small part of the Old World Wisconsin experience. The vast outdoor museum also features 13 heirloom gardens, the Pleasant Ridge African American settlement and 10 ethnic farmsteads dotting almost 600 acres of wooded hills and valleys. And if exploring all that Old World Wisconsin has to offer makes you hungry, enjoy a cafeteria-style meal in the rustic confines of the octagonal Clausing Barn.
For a completely different look at Fourth of July festivities, head north to Madeline Island in the beautiful Apostle Islands to take part in A Day on the Green at Madeline Island Museum. That far north, Independence Day marks the start of the island's summer tourism season, and the whole community gets into the act with a festive parade through historic La Pointe, ending with a patriotic program on the museum green.
After the festivities, browse the museum's rich exhibits that explore the history of the Apostle Islands fur trade and the arrival of summer cottagers in the late 19th century. And, for the remainder of the 2007 season, you can see fine examples of Native American craftsmanship in an exhibit of the Crandall American Indian Doll Collection.
For more information on hours, dates, admission and other details, visit the visitor information pages for Old World Wisconsin and Madeline Island Museum.
:: Posted July 2, 2007
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