Waukesha County Historical Society & Museum

HANDS ON HISTORY: The Waukesha County Historical Society & Museum wants to wish you a Happy Independence Day! taking place to celebrate this holiday: Fireworks at Lowell Park on July 3rd, 9:30 PM and the 4th of July parade on July 4th, 11 AM in downtown Waukesha. The museum will also be open that weekend, so stop by and grab this FREE crafting kit and fact sheet!

Wednesday-Friday 10AM to 4 pm

Saturday 10-4 PM

Collections Spotlight Wednesday!
TRIANGLE PARK
Triangle Park, located on the corner of Barstow and Broadway in downtown Waukesha, has had a wide variety of names and configurations. It started as part of a much larger village green in the early settlement and was several acres in size. It was a busy market space and farmers clogged the area daily bringing their goods to market. When Waukesha became incorporated in 1852, a ‘wood inspector’ had to be appointed and he chose the area to be used for stacking and measuring the wood brought into town for sale.
As downtown streets were improved and widened, the village green slowly shrunk in size. The area was the only park and was renamed Village Park. Elm saplings were planted that would grow into towering elms, creating a shady area. An Amusement Hall featuring a motion picture theater and roller-skating rink was built at its edge. This made it a popular gathering space, especially for young people.
When Silurian Springs Park was dismantled in 1891, its fancy fountain was relocated to the downtown park, and it became a Waukesha landmark featured on many postcards. After WWI, the park underwent major changes again with the er****on of the war memorial featuring tablets bearing the names of Waukesha men who served in the war. The size of the park was again reduced to accommodate the Rapid Transit tracks that ran down Broadway. It was renamed Honor Roll Park. Subsequently, it became Triangle Park and was a welcoming resting spot in front of the Avalon Hotel and the Freeman office building.
In 1989 it was renamed Theodora Youmans Park in honor of the Waukesha women who played a key role in the women’s suffrage movement, securing voting rights for Wisconsin women. A miniature of the water dome was added to the fountain area.

We love hosting the Waukesha County Fair and the Fairest of the Fair.

Collections Spotlight Wednesday!
PEWAUKEE LAKE
One of the interesting things about this photo is how much the usage of prime lake front property has changed in the last 100 years. Taken in the early 1900s, it shows buildings housing four garages, one diner type restaurant and the abandoned Pewaukee Lake Mill. There is barely room for the street between them and the water, the wide beach of today is missing.
It is likely that these garages also sold various makes of cars as well as servicing them as the large dealerships of today did not exist.
Pewaukee Lake has been a popular tourist and recreational area since the late 1800s.

Join us on July 9th for our monthly Lunch and Learn - Behind the Scenes with an Olympian in the Family. Nancy and Elizabeth Jorgensen (mother and sister of Waukesha’s 2016 Olympic Champion in triathlon) discuss their family’s experience with Olympic training, travel, and drug testing. They open up about Gwen’s failures and wins, her injuries and glory. They offer inside information on women in professional sports and the challenges they face, with personal anecdotes about Gwen’s experiences giving birth and raising two boys while competing on the international scene.

You can purchase tickets on-line through Eventbrite - https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2024-july-lunch-and-learn-tickets-866786691327

OR you can sign up via the phone at 262-521-2859 or at the museum - 101 W Main Street.
The cost to attend with no lunch is still $10, the cost for members to attend and a wonderful Rochester Deli lunch is $22 and $25 for non-members.

A shout out to the Waukesha Public Library for hosting a volunteer recruitment event. The Waukesha County Historical Society & Museum is looking for more Greeters and people to help with our education programs. Please contact Nicki at [email protected] or 262.521.2859 Waukesha Public Library

Collections Spotlight Wednesday!
DR. GILBERT WRIGHT – WAUKESHA’S FIRST PHYSICIAN
WRIGHT STREET
In 1838, about three years after the first white settlers, the first trained medical doctor arrived in Prairieville on horseback. Dr. Gilbert Wright, 32 years old with all his possessions in his two saddlebags, had arrived in Waukesha. He was warmly welcomed by the seven pregnant wives in the settlement of about 300 people. At first Wright rode out to his patients on horseback, as it was several years before conditions improved enough to support roads for carts to be practical. He married, bought property on St. Paul Ave. near Fuller Street, and built a brick house.
He attended the first meeting of a group that formed the Milwaukee Medical Society (Waukesha was part of Milwaukee County at the time) and served as its first vice-president. He was also said to have brought one of the first pianos to Waukesha. Wright was active in the temperance movement, his church and was anti-slavery.
Unfortunately, he and his wife had marital trouble and he suffered a mental breakdown and lost his fortune. In 1883 he was admitted to the county’s Poor House where he died in 1891 at the age of 85 and is buried in Prairie Home Cemetery.
Wright Street is now in the heart of Carroll’s campus, is one block long and runs east/west between Charles St. and East Ave.

Happy birthday Les Paul!!
Les Paul Foundation

Happy birthday to the “Wizard of Waukesha,” Les Paul!

Les Paul was born in Waukesha, Wisconsin, on June 09, 1915. At the age of 17, he left his home state and ventured to Chicago, New York, and Los Angeles to pursue a career in music. Fascinated by musical technology ever since he was a young boy, Paul moved from experimenting with his mother’s player piano and phonograph to pioneering the solid-body electric guitar, multi-track recording, and many other musical innovations.

A regular on the radio, Paul was also a fixture on early television, and in the early 1950s, he hosted a show with his wife and musical partner, Mary Ford. Over the course of a career that spanned nearly eight decades, Les Paul won multiple Grammy Awards, including the Grammy Trustees Award for lifetime achievement in the field of recording. In 1988 he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, further solidifying his place as a legend of the music industry.

"Les Paul: Guitar Wizard” by Bob Jacobson is a lively story for young readers. Rounded out with sidebars on radio call letters and how an electric guitar works, this biography includes a full discography and more than 60 historic photographs. Available online: https://wihist.org/3wiV4Mc

Waukesha County Historical Society & Museum

Image:
Wisconsin Historical Images, ID #41270. Studio portrait of Les Paul with a guitar.

Come and celebrate Les Paul's birthday at Friday Night Live!!

In addition to great music 🎶 the Waukesha County Historical Society & Museum and the Les Paul Foundation will be at the events tent at 5 Points to help celebrate Les Paul's birthday with some of his innovations, maker kits, and merchandise. Make sure you stop by and see us..

In 24 hours we'll be rocking out to this OUTSTANDING lineup!

Make sure you come and check out the Les Paul interactives, merchandise, and maker kits from the Waukesha County Historical Society & Museum and the Les Paul Foundation . We will be at the event tent at the 5 points.

Not only is tomorrow night the first Friday Night Live of the season, it's also a Les Paul Birthday Celebration!

While you are Downtown, check out these neat guitars decorated by artists that are displayed at the Almont Gallery.

Collections Spotlight Wednesday!
EARLY CAR WRECKS
There is nothing quite as fascinating as a good car wreck picture. These accidents both happened at train crossings and not much is left of the cars. It is not surprising, as these early 1900 cars had little in the way of frame work and no safety features. The car in the first photo shows few of the front-end parts where they belong. The second shows a car totally smashed up and it is hard to imagine the driver surviving.

Free day at the Museum - June 8th - 10 am - 4 pm!!

Join us at the Waukesha County Historical Society and Museum as we celebrate the Wizard of Waukesha’ - Les Paul's - birthday.
Come to the museum and explore our immersive Les Paul exhibit on the man whose sound changed the world.
From his beginnings in his “Living Room Laboratory” experimenting with his mother’s player piano to his work in perfecting what would become the Gibson solid body electric guitar, the exhibit explores the innovative and tenacious spirit of Les.
Throughout the day the museum staff will be demonstrating our new Les Paulverizer and Log made by Dr. VJ Manzo and his students from the Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

Waukesha County Historical Marker Monthly Trivia Question.
One of the many ways the Waukesha County Historical Society & Museum preserves and shares the stories of Waukesha County is through the many markers located in Waukesha County.

As you explore the county's historical markers you can also take part in our
Monthly Marker Trivia contest.

The question for June is : What was the postal name for Brookfield Junction?

Find and submit your answers by exploring the markers in person and/or virtually - on our webpage https://www.waukeshacountymuseum.org/research.../markers/

Remember the answer can be anywhere on that marker's page.

Once you have your answer please submit your answers at - https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeDKYyX9kpkwZvFG-YXhH_mLxgNWdp44T9ZfrcyNyqR0XfYCw/viewform

The answers are due at the end of the month when a winner will be drawn at random from correct entries.

HANDS ON HISTORY: The Waukesha County Historical Society and Museum wants to wish everyone a Happy June, our first summer month! June is an exciting time at the museum, as we kick off the month celebrating Les Paul’s Birthday. Born June 9th, 1915, in small town Waukesha, Wisconsin Les Paul became a pioneer in the music field, known not only for his talent but for his innovations and inventions that paved the way for many artists today. Les kept Waukesha close to his heart, and his namesake is still seen today: Les Paul Parkway, Les Paul Middle School, and of course, the Les Paul exhibit at the museum. To learn more about Les Paul, stop by and grab a free fact and craft kit to make your own hand-held drum. We also want to showcase some upcoming Les Paul events affiliated with the museum:

June 7th at 6 pm: Les Paul Celebration at Friday Night Live. We will have a tent set up, come visit!

June 8th from 10am-4pm: Free Day at the Museum, courtesy of the Les Paul Foundation.

June 11th 11:30: Lunch and Learn, Birthday Celebration for Les Paul. Tickets are available through our website, walk-ins permitted on the day of.

It is June in Waukesha so that means it is the official start of Downtown Waukesha's Friday Night Live. Friday Night Live is an amazing outdoor music event that takes place every Friday night from June to September from 6:30 pm to 9:00 pm in downtown Waukesha.

On June 7th - the first Friday Night Live of 2024 – will celebrate Les Paul.
Make sure you stop by the event tent and learn more about the Wizard of Waukesha from the Waukesha County Historical Society and Museum and the Les Paul Foundation. At the tent we will have
- Les Paul Maker Kits (while supplies last)
- A Les Paulzerizer
- Merchandise
- Scavenger hunt

Les will also be celebrated throughout downtown - make sure you stop and check out the Almont window wishing Les a happy birthday, Dan Engh of Art & Framing will be creating one of his amazing paintings that night, and there will be happy birthday cookies from Zia's Sweets.

Join us on June 11th, 2024 to celebrate Les Paul’s birthday for this month’s Lunch and Learn. Les would have been 109 years old on June 9th. Julie A. Palkowski, PhD, Education Coordinator for the Les Paul Foundation, will be leading a fun “Did you know” session which will include music and interesting highlights about the “Wizard of Waukesha,” Les Paul.

You can purchase tickets on-line through Eventbrite - https://www.eventbrite.com/.../2024-june-lunch-and-learn...

OR you can sign up via the phone at 262-521-2859 or at the museum - 101 W Main Street.

Please note, prices for lunch have gone up $5. The cost to attend with no lunch is still $10, the cost for members to attend and a wonderful Rochester Deli lunch is $22 and $25 for non-members.

Collections Spotlight Wednesday!
ROADSTER GLASSES – RALLY ROUND the MARKERS!
We kicked off this year’s Rally Round the Markers event last weekend and these antique driving glasses seem the perfect choice to celebrate this event. They date to about 1910-1915 when the open cars of the period made eye protection necessary. The tinted glasses are made of metal frames with leather padding around the inside of the eye pieces. They are held on by an adjustable leather strap and originally the nose piece was also leather, note the wire holding them together today. Unfortunately, the thin leather piece had rotted with age. The tinted lenses add a slightly modern feel to the glasses.
Our Marker Rally takes you through Brookfield, Lannon, Lisbon and Merton this year and route booklets are available at the museum or download on our website, WCHSM.com. It is a fun driving tour of the Museum’s historical markers in the area and you can enjoy the country along the way. An additional challenge is a series of questions that you can answer about the route and turn into the museum for a chance to win prizes.
So, hop into your open roadster, grab your driving glasses and enjoy a fun summer trip in an area of the county you might be less familiar with. Drive safely.

Are you ready to Rally Around the Markers??
Join us this summer as we Rally Round the Markers.



This year we are featuring 10 Markers in Brookfield, Lisbon, Lannon, and Merton.



The rules are simple – get a Rally booklet, find a driver and a navigator, and then take a drive! As you follow the directions in the booklet you will visit the 10 Historical Markers and answer trivia questions along the way.



Rally Booklets will be ready by May 1st and will be available on our website - https://www.waukeshacountymuseum.org/ and at the Museum



Waukesha County Historical Society & Museum

101 W Main Street

Waukesha, WI 53186



If you complete the course and return your answers by Labor Day, you will be entered into a Prize Drawing.



If you have any questions please contact the museum at [email protected] or 262-521-2859

Collections Spotlight Wednesday!
MINIGOLF
This photo is labelled ‘Resthaven mini-golf’, however, from the car in the background, it was taken in the late 1930s when Resthaven had closed as a private hotel and was being run as a US Veteran’s Hospital.
What really strikes you in the photo is the lack of obstacles on the course. There are no windmills, bridges or other objects to make the course more challenging and interesting to look at. This doesn’t seem to deter the men playing. It always amuses me to look at photos from this time frame and see men playing outside in the summer with their ties still on!
Minigolf courses began appearing in the United States in the early 1900s.

HANDS ON HISTORY: Today we are celebrating International Museum Day! In 1951, the International Council of Museums (ICOM) held a very important meeting, called Crusade for Museums, to discuss the importance of museums in the field of Education. This conversation carried on, and in 1977 the annual ICOM meeting in Moscow declared May 18th International Museum Day, to commemorate not only importance of these institutions but their role in preserving cultural knowledge. As museums progress, we know that there are still many issues to be acknowledged and practiced—but we hope, as we ourselves continue to learn, that our support continues to grow.
To celebrate this wonderful holiday, please consider donating we receive no federal, state, or county funding. The museum continues because of YOU, our Waukesha public—and we thank you for your ongoing support.
If you would like to donate please click this link - https://www.waukeshacountymuseum.org/giving/become-a-donor/
If you want to learn more about museums, stop by the Waukesha County Historical Society to pick up this free craft kit where you can practice being an exhibit designer by building your own museum diorama (NOTE: The picture attached is just one of many examples of how you can decorate your Sealife diorama.)
We are open this week on:
Wednesday-Friday 1pm to 4pm
Saturday 10am to 4pm

Join us on June 11th, 2024 to celebrate Les Paul’s birthday for this month’s Lunch and Learn. Les would have been 109 years old on June 9th. Julie A. Palkowski, PhD, Education Coordinator for the Les Paul Foundation, will be leading a fun “Did you know” session which will include music and interesting highlights about the “Wizard of Waukesha,” Les Paul.

You can purchase tickets on-line through Eventbrite - https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2024-june-lunch-and-learn-tickets-853870398347

OR you can sign up via the phone at 262-521-2859 or at the museum - 101 W Main Street.

Please note, prices for lunch have gone up $5. The cost to attend with no lunch is still $10, the cost for members to attend and a wonderful Rochester Deli lunch is $22 and $25 for non-members.

Collections Spotlight Wednesday!
MIMEOGRAPH MACHINE
One universal constant was that whenever your teacher passed out tests or worksheets the first thing every kid did was give them a good sniff hoping for that wonderful fresh copy smell. I recently went through a few boxes from my attic and came across a treasure trove of now useless mimeograph stencils from my brief one-year stint of teaching.
The A.B. Dick company of Chicago received a patent on the term mimeograph in 1887 when they took over some of Thomas Edison’s work. The process was relatively inexpensive, and the stencils worked well for low volumes copies which made it popular for church bulletins and for use in schools. It was slowly displaced beginning in the late 1960s and into the 1980s by the photocopier, which was much more expensive, both to purchase and per copy.
The museum has a Dick mimeograph and the Mimeograph Print Recorder pictured. The model shown was used in the Big Bend School and is thought to date to 1927. It has an electric motor, a 9-1/2” drum for the stencil and is 30” high, 26” long and 15” wide.
Donor: Mr. & Mrs. Andrew Trinastic

Collections Spotlight Wednesday!
BARNEY STREET – SEBINA AND MARY ‘POLLY’ BARNEY
Most of us are aware that many of the streets in the oldest sections of Waukesha are named after notable people in the city’s history. Some names are more familiar than others, with ‘Barney’ ringing no bells for me. I live near Barney Street and finally drove down it to discover that it is all of one block long and runs between Broadway by the post office and McCall Street to the south.
It is named after Sebina Barney who is one of the original Prairieville settlers, arriving in Waukesha with his wife, Polly, and son George in 1838. The trip, which started in Vermont, involved passage on a variety of packets, paddlewheels and steamers. He had already bought farmland in Mineral Point but soon discovered that the cost of shipping his household goods there from Milwaukee would be too costly, and liking the looks of Waukesha, decided to settle here. They moved into a house that had been built by another settler whose wife was lonely and homesick and who offered it to them as company for his wife. Barney took up his former trade as a blacksmith while also farming the small tract of land that went with the house.
He found that farming here could be a very profitable business and soon gave up blacksmithing and started acquiring property at what is now the Saylesville Rd and Hwy 59 intersection where the historic Barney House (his son’s house) is still located. Sebina built up a very profitable stock breeding program that his son continued.
Barney was one of the co-founders of the Waukesha County Bank and was its first vice-president. He remained associated with the bank until his death. Barney also owned a good size tract of land that Barney Street now runs through, which he donated to Waukesha for the street. In 1855 the house on Saylesville road was started and when it was nearing completion Sebina Barney went out to view the house and caught himself on a nail. The wound never healed and eventually contributed to his death in 1879.

While a couple of days late we still want to celebrate May the 4th !
HANDS ON HISTORY: May the 4th be with you today as we celebrate Star Wars Day! The origins of Star Wars Day can be traced back to a pun inspired by the iconic phrase "May the Force be with you." Fans around the world began celebrating May 4th as a day to honor the Star Wars franchise and its enduring legacy. Since its debut in 1977, Star Wars has captured the hearts and imaginations of millions, transporting us to a galaxy far, far away filled with epic adventures, memorable characters, and timeless wisdom. From the original trilogy to the prequels, sequels, and spin-offs, Star Wars has become a cultural phenomenon that spans generations. On this special day, fans unite to showcase their love for Star Wars through cosplay, movie marathons, fan art, trivia contests, and themed events. Another fun way to celebrate is with take-home crafts related to our favorite characters, creatures and droids! To learn more about Star Wars Day in Waukesha, stop by WCHSM to pick up a free crafting and fact kit to take home!

Collections Spotlight Wednesday!
IT’S CONSRUCTION SEASON!
Back when I was a kid, road construction near your house meant endless hours of entertainment to us kids, and endless dust coming in the windows to our mothers. This photo taken in 1951 shows vastly different construction equipment to what is used today. The road graders, bulldozers and dump trucks in the photos are the ones that we got as toys for Christmas and played with in the sand box or patch of dirt in the back yard.
The notes on the back of the photo reference “ work on the new Dopp street”. I am not familiar enough with that neighborhood to figure out exactly where on Dopp that would be. The houses in the background seem to denote an extension from an older neighborhood to a new.