Highlights Archives
Big Savings at Sites on Visitor Appreciation Day
It's become an early season tradition at Wisconsin's historic sites — a special day set aside to let people all over Wisconsin, and beyond the state's borders, come and experience history firsthand at a fraction of the normal cost. And at some historic sites admission is free! It all happens this year on Sunday, June 8 — Visitor Appreciation Day. The day also coincides with a statewide open house at Wisconsin State Parks and free fishing throughout the weekend.
At Old World Wisconsin, the Society's flagship historic site just south of Eagle in Waukesha County, admission will be just $4 for adults and $2 for children 5-17. Tram transportation that transports visitors all day throughout the 576-acre site is available for only $2 per person. And the outdoor museum has a host of special activities planned throughout the day.
On Visitor Appreciation Day Wade House in Greenbush will open its doors to all comers for just $2 — children and adults alike — to tell the story of one small Wisconsin community's life and times during the early 1860s. At that time the era of stagecoach travel in frontier Wisconsin was still in full swing, and the Civil War was raging in the South. Wade House visitors can board a horse-drawn wagon that will take them to the steps of the historic stagecoach inn, then pay a visit to the Herrling Sawmill, one of the few working water-powered sawmills in the country. And no visit to Wade House is complete without a stop at the Wesley Jung Carriage Museum, which houses the largest collection of hand- and horse-drawn carriages in Wisconsin.
On the opposite side of the state, nestled on the banks of the historic Mississippi River, stands the magnificent Victorian mansion, Villa Louis in Prairie du Chien. If you haven't toured this architectural masterpiece since completion of its top-to-bottom restoration to its 1890 heyday, you are in for a real treat. And, on Visitor Appreciation Day, the cost to tour the elegant mansion is just $2 for adults and children alike.
Another $2 bargain, for adults and children, can be found at Pendarvis in Mineral Point, where lead miners from Cornwall flocked in droves beginning in the 1830s to take part in the region's lead mining boom. After touring the quaint cottages built by these hardy miners, visitors can take a self-guided walking tour of a 43-acre restored prairie and explore the remants of mining activity on Merry Christmas Mine Hill.
Three other sites that normally charge admission fees will offer free admission on Visitor Appreciation Day: H.H. Bennett Studio in Wisconsin Dells, Stonefield in Cassville and Madeline Island Museum in La Pointe. First Capitol in Belmont and Reed School near Neillsville offer free admission throughout the season.
:: Posted June 4, 2008
|
