Contributed by the Elroy Area Museum
The Elroy Area Museum, located on Main Street in Elroy, will open Memorial Day weekend.
The museum will be open for tours on Saturdays and Sundays (plus extra days on Memorial and Labor Day weekends) from 1–4 p.m.
Since opening in 1990, through the dedication of numerous volunteers, the museum has become one of the finest displays of early central Wisconsin from the 1850s to current times. If you are interested in seeing what the Elroy area looked like in the 1850s and the many changes to the city once the railroad arrived in 1872, then stop in to enjoy the many displays.
Did you know?
• Elroy was developed in the 1870s because it was the midway point for the railroad between Chicago and Minneapolis.
• The railroad arrived in Elroy in 1872 and had 12 sets of tracks to allow switching of trains, along with a roundhouse that could service 22 railroad engines. Up to 30 trains per day passed through Elroy.
• In 1885, Elroy had eight general stores and four hotels (primarily for railroad passengers).
• The Bank of Elroy was started in 1932 by combining the assets of the State Bank of Elroy and Citizens Bank (which were both closed due to the Depression), in addition to local citizens buying stock. The Bank of Elroy moved to its new building on Main Street in 1980 and became Royal Bank in 1990.
• The Elroy Public Library was built in 1907 through a $10,000 gift from the Andrew Carnegie Foundation.
• The Elroy Theatre was built in 1937 and has run continuously ever since. It is the only theatre in Juneau County.
• A recent inventory at the museum has identified several thousand items on display or in the archives.
The Elroy Area Historical Society is looking for people interested in serving on the museum board, which meets monthly. In addition, the museum is looking for volunteers to help give tours of the museum on the weekends during the summer.
If you are interested in serving on the museum board or helping out one or two weekends during the summer to give museum tours, please contact Holly Hinzpeter at (608) 462-7505 or holly_maplelawn@yahoo.com or Carol Zindorf at (608) 572-2827 or zind4119@gmail.com.
