Marathon County Historical Society
Our purpose is to collect, preserve and exhibit materials relating to Marathon County history. We off In 1995, the Society purchased the home of A.P. Maher.
In 1954, Leigh Yawkey Woodson and her daughters donated the home of her late parents, lumberman Cyrus C. Yawkey and Alice Richardson Yawkey, to the Historical Society. In 1974, the house was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. A 3 million dollar restoration of the Yawkey estate was completed in 2008. the restoration include the house, the carriage house and the formal gardens. Wood
We are starting of 2024, by looking back a century to see the significant changes made to the landscape of downtown Wausau that took place in the 1920s.
History Chats programs are presented in conjunction with the Marathon County Public Library. Go check out all the great programs and materials they offer at their website! www.mcpl.us
Thanks also to the support from our members that make this possible. To become a sponsor or member and support the preservation of your local history, visit our website at www.marathoncountyhistory.org
01/02/2024
2024 is a New Year of New History Chats programs! We're starting this week by looking back a century to see the significant changes made to the landscape of downtown Wausau that took place in the 1920s.
Join us for the livestream this Thursday at 12:30, on Facebook and YouTube Live. Or catch the recording of the program on those same platforms.
01/01/2024
The Marathon County Historical Society would like to wish you and yours a joyous new year filled with possibilities, laughter and good company.
12/30/2023
Not that long ago I visited the Apostle Islands in northern Wisconsin along the shores of Lake Superior. If you have never been, you should plan a trip. Just outside of Bayfield is a small village called Cornucopia. They boast the northernmost U.S. Postal Service office in Wisconsin. I'm sure that they received a lot of Santa letters this year.
Photo Credit - Allan Born circa 1937
Photo Credit - Article County Journal December 21, 2000
12/29/2023
Did any of you have a Mrs. Beasley doll?
What did the Marathon County Historical Society do this past year (and what do we have planned for next year)? Today our curator of events Sheryl Del Conte joins us for a recap of 2023 as we look forward to 2024!
Watch the 2023 Cemetery Tour:
https://youtu.be/8HmZ0zGso0s
History Chats playlist:
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLn0JFcczoQH_kbrP3C6iCYL-fALe9ezUk&si=JX71LMLPx8TJ6-ml
History Speaks playlist:
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLn0JFcczoQH-YjlcCR87uvwa4MRTIyNEM&si=1ej4NAbHuxdqHQGN
History Chats programs are presented in conjunction with the Marathon County Public Library. Go check out all the great programs and materials they offer at their website! www.mcpl.us
Thanks also to the support from our members that make this possible. To become a sponsor or member and support the preservation of your local history, visit our website at www.marathoncountyhistory.org.
12/25/2023
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from the Marathon County Historical Society.
This week on History Chats, we are featuring a few staff at the museum being shown unidentified photographs (as slide transparencies) to give their best guess as to the who, what, where, and/or why (or whatever comes to mind).
History Chats programs are presented in conjunction with the Marathon County Public Library. Go check out all the great programs and materials they offer at their website! www.mcpl.us
Thanks also to the support from our members that make this possible. To become a sponsor or member and support the preservation of your local history, visit our website at www.marathoncountyhistory.org.
12/19/2023
How do you go about dating a photograph? That's the idea behind this week's History Chats, where we show a handful of unidentified slide transparencies to members of MCHS staff to see what they can figure out.
See what you can guess about some of these pictures below! And look out for the video later this week to see how we did. Thursday at 12:30 on YouTube and Facebook.
12/17/2023
We've been asked to announce the Ugly Sweater Contest Winners. Anna Chilsen Straub took first with 39 votes for her reindeer vest ( #4) and Sheryl Del Conte took second with 33 votes for her dazzling dog sweater ( #5).
12/16/2023
Over 325 people came out last Saturday, December 9th for Holidays at the Houses. Everyone enjoyed the festive songs from the CenterStage Show Choir, decorating cookies, Santa Claus, model trains and especially our reenactors during the Yawkey House Museum holiday tour. Thank you to our amazing staff and volunteers.
12/15/2023
Not too late to visit the Marathon County Historical Society to view the incredible gingerbread creations from the Sweet Landmarks of Wausau Gingerbread Contest. People's Choice Award voting ends December 22nd so come cast your vote.
Thank you to Christine Martens and her fellow Friends of Wausau Historic Landmarks for hosting their annual contest.
12/15/2023
Holiday at the Houses Coloring Contest Winners. Congratulations!!
History of Wausau High School | History Chats
This week, our History Chats program looks at the history of Wausau High School(s).
History Chats programs are presented in conjunction with the Marathon County Public Library. Go check out all the great programs and materials they offer at their website! www.mcpl.us
Thanks also to the support from our members that make this possible. To become a sponsor or member and support the preservation of your local history, visit our website at www.marathoncountyhistory.org.
12/12/2023
In this week's History Chats program, Gary Gisselman presents the history of Wausau's Public High Schools.
Join us live for the program on YouTube or Facebook Live, 12:30 on Thursday (or at the same places later to see the recordings if you can't make it live).
Today we're looking at a very cool box we found in storage, which was once a state-of-the art piece of technology (less so these days). Watch to find out what it is and the history of presentational aids (pictures, slides, etc.) that led to its creation.
History Chats programs are presented in conjunction with the Marathon County Public Library. Go check out all the great programs and materials they offer at their website! www.mcpl.us
Thanks also to the support from our members that make this possible. To become a sponsor or member and support the preservation of your local history, visit our website at www.marathoncountyhistory.org.
12/06/2023
A big shout-out to Kevin Podeweltz and the students in Riverside Elementary School's Ancestry Club. Thank you for the invitation to join you at your event where students researched their family through interviews and other resources. What an impressive group of young historians. Anna Chilsen Straub and myself thoroughly enjoyed their slide presentations. Maybe a future archivist or curator in the group?
12/02/2023
Here is the recording of our final History Speaks for 2023 on the Gettysburg Address. Prof. Brett Barker gave a great presentation looking at President Lincoln's "few appropriate remarks" that has gone down as one of the great speeches in American History.
"A Few Appropriate Remarks" | The Gettysburg Address at 160 | History Speaks 160 years ago, President Abraham Lincoln traveled to the site of the Battle of Gettysburg to see the dedication of a cemetery, and gave some brief words to t...
This week, our History Chats program looks at the story of a familiar (or maybe not) monument on the Marathon County courthouse grounds.
History Chats programs are presented in conjunction with the Marathon County Public Library. Go check out all the great programs and materials they offer at their website! www.mcpl.us
Thanks also to the support from our members that make this possible. To become a sponsor or member and support the preservation of your local history, visit our website at www.marathoncountyhistory.org
11/29/2023
12/1/23 UPDATE - ITEMS ADDED TO OUR SALE!! We're continuing the Black Friday sale in our gift shop, and selling some duplicate books in our collection - great, low cost shopping for the historian on you gift list. We added a book on the history of the Wausau Club ($4) and a DVD with many historic photos of Wausau businesses ($5 - formatted to play in a DVD player). We also have a big selection of 1890s - 1940s sheet music ($1 each), a large box of incomplete or damaged sheet music that would be great for crafting or decorating ($10 for the whole box), the Marathon City Sequicentennial 1857-2007 history book ($15), original 1976 Wausau bicentennial vests ($4) and pins ($1), Village of Brokaw Centennial 1903-2003 history book ($2), photocopy of the 1895 Marathon County plat book ($5), several Swiss American Historical Society Review books (set of 3 for $5), many titles of DC Everest oral history project books ($5), a photo history book of the Rothschild paper mill ($10), a Wausau West yearbook, ($5), a selection of genealogy books to help local researchers ($2), Preserved for Generations ceramic mugs ($5), prints and repro Wausau maps ($2), and a cart full of older genealogy books (only $1 each). Stop in Wednesday to Friday 9am - 4:30pm or Sat/Sun 1 - 4:30. After that, the sale is over and the carts will be wheeled away.
11/28/2023
This week, our History Chats program looks at the story of a familiar (or maybe not) monument on the Marathon County courthouse grounds.
Join us live on Thursday at 12:30, on YouTube and Facebook Live!
11/23/2023
UPDATE - Lots has been sold but we've also added some things so check out our pictures. We're having a Black Friday sale in our gift shop, and of some duplicate books in our collection - great, low cost shopping for the historian on you gift list. We have a selection of DC Everest oral history project books ($5), two photo books with the history of local paper mills ($10), a selection of Wausau High School (1940s), Wausau East and Wausau West yearbooks, ($5 - $10) several 1970s Wausau city directories ($5), some older Wausau books ($2-5), a selection of genealogy books to help local researchers ($2), Preserved for Generations mugs ($5), prints and repro Wausau maps ($2), and a cart full of older genealogy books (only $1 each). Stop in Sat/Sun 1 - 4:30 for the best selection. We'll keep the carts out next week Tuesday through Sunday for those who can't make it this week.
We welcome back Brenna Welch, to share some stories she has found in a collection of letters from Wausau-native Joseph Duskey Jr. from his service with the 10th Mountain Division during WWII.
Here's the full movie , the Mountain Fighters (1943) that Joe wrote about being filmed for:
https://youtu.be/XVZC3yubzGo?si=9w_8PogV5TVOAVSR
History Chats programs are presented in conjunction with the Marathon County Public Library. Go check out all the great programs and materials they offer at their website! www.mcpl.us
Thanks also to the support from our members that make this possible. To become a sponsor or member and support the preservation of your local history, visit our website at www.marathoncountyhistory.org.
11/23/2023
Happy Thanksgiving from all of us at the Marathon County Historical Society!
Norman Rockwell's "Turkey Feast"
11/22/2023
We are so proud that in the last 10 years so many of you have visited "Our Stories: The History of Marathon County" exhibit. I can't even imagine how many school children have enjoyed learning about our shared past. If you haven't dropped by the Woodson History Center to see the exhibit, it is definitely worth a trip.
At our Members Reception this evening: With one snip of the really big scissors MCHS President Dorothy Maxfield, with a helping hand from VP John Hattenhauer, officially opened the new exhibit... for the first time ever the Woodson History Center is home to three exhibits! (Photo by Michael Martens)
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Address
410 McIndoe Street
Wausau, WI
54403
Opening Hours
| Tuesday | 9am - 4:30pm |
| Wednesday | 9am - 4:30pm |
| Thursday | 9am - 4:30pm |
| Friday | 9am - 4:30pm |
| Saturday | 1pm - 4:30pm |
| Sunday | 1pm - 4:30pm |