The Heritage Center Experience
When you visit our museum of 11 historic buildings filled with artifacts
from our past, you will be able to get a feel for how early
citizens would have lived and worked.
Several of the buildings were once the center of a working
family farm. That farm's land has now become criss-crossed by city streets,
its fields of corn and grain now host to houses, yards, driveways and swingsets.
But, the heart, the nerve center, of that farm have been retained:
the Victorian Italiante farmhouse, the classic barn, the grain storage
building they called a "granary." The pasture where the dairy herd once
grazed after they waded in the small creek, is still there
(changed to a recreational walking trail system).
The creek even retains its picturesque historic name, the Paperjack,
so called because a man who sold rags and was
called a "paper jack" once lived on its banks.
Added to the farmstead buildings have been others, a store, log cabin, church, country schoolhouse, log barn, a working man's home and a history shed.
You can show children a picture and say, "This is how it was,"
or you can watch the delight in their eyes as they experience,
first hand, a real country school or general store.
Please consider us for wonderful historic gift ideas!
A large slice of New Richmond can be found in the farmhouse at Heritage Center. We have several excellent books "They Built Their City Twice: A History of New Richmond, Wisconsin" researched and written by our Curator and longtime New Richmond resident, Mary Sather. This book features 150 vivid photographs and 200 pages of local history spanning 150 years. For more information and more on our book selection, see the Heritage Center Gift page. Thank you.
Preserving Our Heritage
Only through the efforts of the present can we support both the memories of the past and the plans and dreams of the future. You can show your support in many different ways:
Membership, Volunteer, Cash Donation, Artifact Donations, Future Bequests. To see how you can make a difference in our efforts, please visit the Preserving Our Heritage page.