top of page

Hearth & Home

Explore the daily rhythms and traditions of home life among the diverse residents of the Fox-Wisconsin portage in 1832. Everyday life was considerably different than it is today. There were cultural and ethnic differences in the ways families and communities lived their lives here on the frontier, too. Each experienced its own unique essence of "hearth and home."

Galena Reenactors Kitchen (1).jpg
video play button green.png
Curriculum 2025.jpg

Investigate the daily rhythms of life

In 1832, when the Indian agency house was constructed at the Fox-Wisconsin portage, people from many different cultural and ethnic backgrounds called this place home. Although there were similarities in daily life across cultures, each cultural group, each community within those cultural groups, and even each individual family within any given community, experienced its own unique essence of "hearth and home." Explore the daily rhythms and traditions of home life among the diverse residents of the portage in 1800s Wisconsin.

mysterious old house candle a_edited.jpg
video play button green.png

This Mysterious Old House: History Beneath the Surface

Venture into intriguing areas of the 1832 Agency House that are not seen during regular tours. Investigate nooks and crannies that have fascinating stories to tell.

2025 Speaker Series: "Hearth & Home"

  • Dr. James Marten: Inventing Childhood: Coming of Age in the New Republic

  • Dan Cornelius, J.D.: Indigenous Interactions with the Land

  • Tamara Funk: Haste to the Wedding: Philosophies & Customs of Euro-American Courtship & Weddings in the 18th-20th Centuries

  • Terese Allen: The Flavor of Wisconsin: Food Culture & Heritage in the Badger State

Special Mini Exhibit

Details coming soon.

1278013_10151712171247333_1796316851_o.jpg

2025 "Hearth & Home" Themed Events

  • Hearth & Home Workshop for Kids

  • Cultural Arts Day

  • Enduring Skills Weekend: Hearth & Home Edition

  • Open-Fire Dutch Oven Cooking Workshop

  • Campfire Series: "Mrs. Kinzie" and Indigenous storytelling

  • Living History: Mourning & Funerals in 1832

Hearth & Home 2025

bottom of page