Fitchburg Historical Society

06/15/2026

Anyone nostalgic about summer in a small town - you know - like in the classic musical, The Music Man? A local band, ice cream social, picnics, lounging on a blanket and chatting with friends and family on a lovely summer night?

Check out these local events that provide an updated vibe:

Monday, June 15: the first of the Concerts at McKee series features Armchair Boogie, a Madison-based bluegrass band at 7 p.m, with a local youth band from Madison Music Foundry opening at 6:00 pm. Food trucks, beer, and beverages will be available to purchase. McKee Farms Park is located at 2930 Chapel Valley Road, Fitchburg.

Tuesday, June 16: throughout June, the Oregon Community Band holds weekly concerts at Waterman Triangle Park in downtown Oregon, with a community organization offering refreshments before many of them. This week’s concert is at 7, and the Oregon Area Historical Society is hosting an ice cream social starting at 6 pm.

Bring a lawn chair or blanket and create a new summer tradition.

P.S. Fireflies have been spotted and mosquitoes seem to be slow in arriving - two signs that we should take advantage of spending time outdoors in the evening.

04/29/2026

In addition to the office within the Fitchburg Library that serves as our “headquarters,” we maintain two display cases on the second floor – a vertical case outside the Fitchburg Room, and a large, horizontal case in the Fitchburg Room. For the past several months the vertical case has been showcasing a revolving series of card and board games. Check it out the next time you’re at the library. It’ll jog your memory about hours whiled away playing games with family and friends, and just might give you some ideas of other games to try.

As an expansion of this display, a new display was just installed in the Fitchburg Room. Titled “Toys and Games: Past and Present,” it features over 100 items – toys, games, dolls, arts and crafts items – loaned to us by members of the community. The items were selected primarily based on their continuity – the majority of them are things that were part of childhood for multiple generations. Our hope is that this display will help show how many toys and games span decades (even centuries!) and that it will spark conversations through shared memories.

The displays may be viewed any time the library is open. To check them out (no pun intended), head to the second floor reference desk, and continue left. The display case with games will be on the right-hand side just before the entry to the Fitchburg Room. The toys and games case is just inside the Fitchburg Room.

04/09/2026

It's that time of year - pancake breakfast! Enjoy a tasty breakfast prepared by someone else and support this valuable community resource at the same time.

(And the odds are good you'll run into a friend or neighbor!)

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The yellow signs around Fitchburg mean one thing — the Senior Center Friends Pancake Breakfast is back.

Join your neighbors on Sunday, April 19 between 8-noon at the Senior Center, for a morning of good food and great company. Enjoy a hearty pancake breakfast without worrying about the mess in your kitchen or the dishes afterward.

It’s a simple way to connect with the community and support the Senior Center. Come hungry and bring a friend.

▪ Fitchburg Senior Center, 5510 Lacy Road
▪ $10 Adults, $5 kids under 12

03/25/2026

Today's providing another sneak preview of spring - sunny and high of 70°! Crocus and snow drops are popping up, daffodils are teasing, and birds are starting their competition for mates and prime nest real estate.

For the gardeners among us, we have another incentive to take a couple of hours on Sunday and attend our program about the UW Arboretum. Our friends at K and A Greenhouse have generously donated a $50 gift certificate that we will give to one lucky attendee on Sunday!

Join us this Sunday, March 29, at 1:30 at the Fitchburg Public Library, 5530 Lacy Road, for "What's Past is Prologue: Learning from Arboretum Land." Susan Carpenter, Wisconsin Native Plant Curator, will explore how early ideas and experienced in the 1930s about restoring land have evolved into current goals and projects. She'll wrap up the program with spring tips for gardeners who want to grow native plants.

03/20/2026

For a pleasant change, we have spring-like weather on the spring equinox. This makes our upcoming program even more timely - the urge to get into our gardens is blossoming!

Join us on Sunday, March 29, at 1:30 at the Fitchburg Public Library, 5530 Lacy Road for our spring program: What's Past is Prologue: Learning from Arboretum Land. Susan Carpenter, Wisconsin Native Plant Garden Curator, will explore how early ideas and experiments in the 1930's about restoring land have evolved into current goals and project. She'll wrap up the program with spring tips for gardeners who want to grow native plants.

We are excited to be able to offer a special treat to our program attendees - a 10% off coupon from our neighbor, Fitchburg Farms. This coupon will be valid throughout the summer, and they will be happy to work with you on special orders.

We hope to see you next Sunday!

P.S. If you're looking for those elusive spring pansies, Fitchburg Farms put some out just today!

01/22/2026

We need your help! We promise - it's easy, doesn't cost anything, and you can do it from almost anywhere.

It's time for a new display in the Fitchburg Room of the Fitchburg Library. Our current display features Fitchburg's one room school houses, with photos, artifacts, and ephemera from many of them.

In keeping with a childhood theme, our next display will feature toys and games.

Here's where we need your help: tell us about your favorite or memorable toys or games. What was it? How old were you? Was it a special gift, a family treasure, something you saved up for? Do you still have it?

We'll be doing background research about popular toys over time, but we'd like to know what our friends and neighbors liked.

Feel free to share your memory below, or message us if you're more comfortable sharing that way.

Here's what one of our Board members shared: One Christmas when I was about 7, circa 1965 or so, Santa left a set of musical spoons. There were two spoons, back to back, with the handles inside a rectangular plastic holder. You played the spoons by moving them quickly or by hitting them against a surface, such as your knee. They made a rewarding clacking sound and were a perfect companion in our childhood band to a DIY kazoo, made with waxed paper wrapped around a comb.

11/03/2025

Our program this coming Sunday, November 9, on Wisconsin POW camps promises to shed light on an aspect of Wisconsin’s history that is unfamiliar to many of us.

In video, Bob Block, the presenter gives an outline of his interesting and informative talk on POW Camps of Wisconsin. Bob has done extensive research on the topic of POW camps and comes prepared to share stories of the camps, the prisoners, and Wisconsin residents' responses to the camps in a time of war.

We hope to see you Sunday, at 1:30, in the second floor meeting room of the Fitchburg Public Library.

Bob Block will be the presenter at the Fitchburg Historical Society's fall meeting on Sunday, November 9th,1:30 pm at the Fitchburg Library. In this preview...

10/30/2025

To many it is surprising to learn that Fitchburg was the site of a Catholic Church, rectory, and cemetery. Holy Mother of Consolation Catholic Church in Oregon, Wisconsin had its original location along Hwy M in Fitchburg from 1857 to 1886 with the cemetery, St. Mary’s, serving as the Catholic cemetery for many Fitchburg residents from 1857 -1898. Catherine Schneider tells the little known story of St. Mary’s Church and cemetery on a tour of the grounds.

As always, we appreciate the assistance of Fitchburg Access Community Television - FACTv in producing these videos.

To many it is surprising to learn that Fitchburg was the site of a Catholic Church, rectory, and cemetery. Holy Mother of Consolation Catholic Church in Ore...

04/02/2025

Fitchburg has some residents whose ties to the area go back more than 180 years, but Fitchbirg’s history began long before their ancestors arrived here.

Check out this video for a quick lesson on early Fitchburg history. Jeremy Crosby of FACTv interviews Catherine Schneider from the Fitchburg Historical Society Board on the formation of Fitchburg from the glaciers influence on the landscape through Native American presence and the first European descent settlers setting up government. There are vivid descriptions of the people and events that shaped early Fitchburg.

Jeremy Crosby interviews Catherine Schneider from the Fitchburg Historical Society Board on the formation of Fitchburg from the glaciers influence on the lan...

01/10/2025

Have you ever driven down Seminole Highway and appreciated the scenic marsh, or biked or hiked in the area? This video features Catherine Schneider, Fitchbirg Historical Socieity Vice-President, interviewing several people who were instrumental in the recent restoration and preservation of the marsh.

Dunn's Marsh in northern Fitchburg underwent effective restoration and preservation efforts in recent years thanks to community activism, government interven...