Old World Wisconsin is a travel back in time to a different era.
A family-friendly destination, Old World Wisconsin is an amazing open-air museum located near Eagle, Wisconsin. Opened in 1976, the museum is owned and operated by the Wisconsin Historical Society, and it portrays housing and the daily life of immigrants in 19th century Wisconsin.
Throughout the site, interpreters authentically attired in period clothing discuss with visitors the families who lived and worked in the houses and farms that dot the museum’s 576 acres of wooded terrain in the southern unit of Kettle Moraine State Forest.
The museum’s more than 60 historic structures range from ethnic farmsteads with furnished houses and rural outbuildings, to a crossroads village with its traditional small-town institutions. Piece by piece, workers painstakingly dismantled the old structures from their original location and reconstructed them precisely at their new location within Old World Wisconsin.
Today, Old World Wisconsin’s historic farm and village buildings comprise the world’s largest museum dedicated to the history of rural life.
Upcoming summer and fall events include Autumn on the Farms and Halloween Legends and Lore. Please verify hours of operation before visiting with the official Old World Wisconsin website.
