The Hoard Historical Museum isn’t just a place to explore local history—it’s also a hub of community connection, where every purchase from our gift shop directly supports the artisans and organizations that make Fort Atkinson unique. When you browse our curated selection of gifts, books, and locally made products, you’re not just buying a souvenir,…
The Hoard Historical Museum partners with the UW-Extension Jefferson County Master Gardeners to develop and maintain the Museum’s five gardens: the Roger and Sandra Peony Garden, the Foster House Herb Garden, the Fence Garden, the Entry Garden, and the Rain Garden. Our Master Gardener Team can give guided tours of the five gardens for your group or organization. Reservations are required…
Foster House Open for Tours The 1841 Foster House will be open on select days during the summer. Look at our Event Calendar to see the new tour! Step inside the Foster House to see how 19th century Fort Atkinson residents lived, and learn about how the community grew. A friendly guide will be available to…
The William D. Knox Research Library and Archive houses original, significant, and irreplaceable documents that tell the history and cultural heritage of the Fort Atkinson Area. The archive houses photographs and paper documents such as letters, diaries, and business records. Materials are housed in secure storage, and free for Fort Atkinson Historical Society members to…
Visitors will also enjoy The National Dairy Shrine’s Museum, which features a multimedia show that captures the sights and sounds of dairy farming: past, present, and future.
Visit the room devoted to Lorine on the second floor of the Frank and Luella Hoard House at the Hoard Historical Museum. Learn why Niedecker’s international reputation continues to grow and why her poetry is now ranked among the finest of the twentieth century. Her precise and spare use of words in the Objectivist style…
Approximately 500 birds peer back at you when you enter this unusual room on the second floor of the Frank and Luella Hoard House at the Hoard Historical Museum. This includes birds mounted by famed naturalist Thure Kumlein and taxidermist Walter Pelzer. Also included in this display is a beautiful example of the extinct passenger…
Step into our immersive Mysteries of the Mounds gallery to explore the history and culture of the Native Americans of the late Woodland period. Take a peek inside a replica keyhole pit house to see how they survived and thrived in Wisconsin. This gallery opened in April, 2009, and contains a diorama of a Late…
Here you can relive the 1832 Black Hawk War and learn about General Henry Atkinson and the Sauk Warrior, Black Hawk. In the Lincoln Era Exhibit, you can discover Abraham Lincoln’s involvement in the Black Hawk War and learn about his only military experience before becoming Commander-in-Chief. The Abraham Lincoln Exhibit explores both Abraham Lincoln’s…