Watertown Historical Society, Watertown, WI

06/24/2026

Can you spare three hours once a week this summer to support the Octagon House Museum & America's First Kindergarten? The Watertown Historical Society is seeking friendly volunteers to staff the Octagon House Visitor Center on Fridays, Saturdays, or Sundays from 12-3 p.m. Duties include greeting guests and selling tour tickets. Volunteers must be comfortable using a touch-screen device (iPad).

Volunteering is fun and easy - you'll meet visitors from across the country, learn about local history, and help create a memorable guest experience. Dress is business casual - no 1850s-era costume needed 😀.

To sign up to volunteer, or to learn more, please contact Jodi by messaging this page, calling (920) 261-2796, or emailing [email protected].

Thank you!

06/23/2026

1776 CENTENNIAL GRAND PROCESSION

U. S., State, County and City Officials

Military and Civic Societies, in Continental and Modern Costumes,

Representations of General Washington and his Staff Of Congress of 1776.

Liberty and the States,

Exhibition of the various Occupations and Products Of Mechanics, Manufacturers, Farmers,

Awarding of Prize Banners

Allegorical Tableaux.

Display Steam Fire Engines

National Songs sung by a choir of One Thousand singers, accompanied by Three Bands of Music.

06/18/2026

Make plans this Sunday to visit the Octagon House! Dad will tour for free with one paid admission!

06/15/2026

Ripple Effect takes the stage tonight at 6:30 p.m. for our first Music at the Museum concert of the 2026 season. There is no cost to attend, but donations are appreciated. Popcorn and bottled water will be for sale (donated by The Towne Cinema and Realty Executives Platinum - Dave Yelk LLC. Please bring a lawn chair for seating.

See you there! 🎶

06/14/2026

1876 CENTENNIAL YEAR BASEBALL GAME PLAYED HERE

The grounds belonging tc the College of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart was the scene, last Wednesday afternoon, the 17th inst., of an interesting game of baseball, between the first nines of the "Centennial' and A "Silver Star" Clubs, the former representing the College of Our Lady, and the latter the Northwestern University.

After a heated contest, the prize, a regular National Association Base Ball, was awarded by the umpire to the winning nine, which was carried off by the "Silver Stars."

The game lasted about two hours.

Below is the score:

SILVER STARS 29
CENTENNIAL CLUB 25 .

Article from 24 May 1876

06/13/2026

1917 3 CENT POSTAGE RATE TO BECOME EFFECTIVE
. . . Postal Cards Will Cost Two Cents

Three cent postage on first-class mail matter will be in effect on and after November 2, 1917.

Postal cards will cost two cents on and after that date as well, but there will be no raise in the rates on drop letters,

06/04/2026

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fXNKsH28GA

The Rise and Fall of America’s Octagon Houses: A Curious Architectural Legacy SKIP AD AT BEGINNING

Step back in time to explore the surprising story behind America’s ...

05/30/2026

HOW TO MEASURE THE FLOOR SIZE OF AN OCTAGON
. . . . SURPRISINGLY SIMPLE CALCULATION / KEN

05/25/2026

Some beautiful weather is expected for Memorial Day! The Octagon House is air conditioned! We have tours available today at noon, 1:00pm, and 2:00pm.

05/23/2026

1911 Memorial Day BOYS BECAME MEN

Recall the extreme youth of the army of the Union in those days when the life of a nation was at stake. The survivors of the Union army of the Civil war are known to number at this date 620,000, and a majority of these men are in the active pursuits of industry.

Although there are a few very old men among the veterans, the average age of the survivors is sixty-three years.

The most desperate civil war of modern times was fought, it is now realized,

. . . . by boys in their teens or barely out of their teens.

The records of the war and navy departments show that of the enlistments 1,151,438 were at the age of eighteen years or under, and that 2,159,798 enlistments en were at the age of twenty-one years or under, while only 618,511 of the total 2,778,309 enlistments were at the age of twenty-two years and over.

In decorating the graves of the dead and in honoring the living soldiers of '61 the whole nation renews yearly the inspirations of patriotism.

This year there are still in the land of the living and the country they saved more than half a million of the heroic "boys" of '61, and we are just coming to see that they really were boys, and boys well worth who have answered the last roll call and those who are yet with us in the battles of peace.