Welcome to the Waushara County

Welcome to the Waushara County, Wisconsin
History and Genealogical Website!
part of the WIGenWeb Project

Museums & Historical Sites

Woodland Indian Mounds
Whistler Mounds Park, Hancock
These historic earthen structures are found in Whistler Mounds Park on Sixth Avenue along the western
shore of Fish Lake adjacent to the Hancock Village Park Campgrounds. Constructed by
the Woodland Indians during the period 650 - 1200 A.D., these mounds were mapped by archeologists in 1916
and are registered in the National Register of Historic Places.
A publication describing all of the mound sites in Waushara County is available at the
Hancock Public Library.

Pioneer Museum
Main Street, Wild Rose
Maintained by the Wild Rose Historical Society, the extensive complex houses many unique treasures.
The starting point is the Elisha and Jane Stewart home located on Main Street. Built in 1884,
each room of this charming Victorian-era home is furnished and decorated as it was originally.
Pioneer Hall, also located on Main Street, once housed a bank and a drug store. Exhibits within this structure include antique dolls, old photographs and newspaper clippings that tell the story of this once bustling little town.
A country school, built in 1894, has been restored and authentically furnished. The barn holds implements used
in felling forests, breaking the land, planting, cultivating and harvesting crops. A cobbler's bench is also on exhibit. Adjacent to the barn is a blacksmith shop where tools and implements were once forged. In the carriage house
visitors will find a milk wagon, horse-drawn sleigh and cart.
Museum tours are available from 1:00 to 3:00 pm. on Wednesdays and Saturdays
from mid-June through Labor Day. Special group tours by advance arrangement.

Waushara County Museum
Saint Marie St., Wautoma
Housed in the old County Jail, the Museum's collections include antique furniture, clothing, artifacts, memorabilia, documents and more. The old sheriff's living quarters, consisting of nine rooms and hallways, are now complete with various exhibits such as a school room, bedroom, war room, country store, kitchen, parlor, jail office and more.
The cell section, which consists of eight rooms and a hallway also has a number of exhibits, including old tools,
office equipment and railroad relics. The jail cells in this two-story section remain, as they were
at the turn of the twentieth century, complete with steel bars and cell doors.

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