About
The museum comprises four rooms and an attached jail. It was originally constructed in 1900 to house an electrical generation plant for the village. Before its donation to the society in 1973, it housed the village offices and firehouse.
Address/Hours
Address: 118 Brodhead Street, Mazomanie, WI
Hours: Memorial Day through Labor Day, Sundays from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Tours may be arranged at other times.
Exhibits
Room one of the museum portrays the settlement of the area and the development of the village.
Room two houses All Around Downtown, a new exhibit featuring a photographic tour of downtown between 1855 and 1900. Both exterior and interior views are displayed along with vintage advertisements from local newspapers. Period artifacts of various businesses are also included. Also in room two is the society’s collection of Mazomanie High School class pictures. The collection begins with the class of 1882 and concludes with the closing of the high school operation when Black Earth and Mazomanie voted to consolidate their school systems as Wisconsin Heights in 1963. A 1930s era stage curtain and a collection of Mazomanie souvenir items are displayed on the east wall.
Room three contains an exhibit of Mazomanie’s participation in the Civil War from the 200 men who enlisted here to the local people who supported them. This exhibit is new for the 2011 season, the 150th anniversary of the start of the war in 1861.
Room four, the Thiers Room, is named in honor of Werner and Ada Thiers. Werner, a blacksmith and the first president of the society, collected a large number of hand tools during his career. Many of them have been arranged in patterns on the east wall of the room. A directory assists in the identification of individual tools. Other exhibits follow the theme of More Than Metal, and deal with woodworking, blacksmithing, leather working, printing, and other professions and subjects.