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ebook History of Watertown, Wisconsin
Annual Report of Historical Society
01 31 1969
01 31 1969
Annual Report of Historical Society
Details of the 1968 operation of the Octagon House complex
and its all-time high attendance during the May 1 to November 1 season of
15,106 persons.
1968 was a banner year for the Historical Society. The attendance at the Octagon House Complex
passed all previous records, the total reaching 15,106 admissions: 6,353 adults, 1,809 students, 6,944 children
from 6 to 12, mostly from the third and fourth grades where they study
Wisconsin history. Our fame has spread
throughout the country. Forty-six states
were represented, 23 foreign countries and a total of 104 groups. The Society’s membership has reached 360,
also an all-time high.
Our tight schedule May 1 to Nov. 1, from 10-5 daily has
needed the continuous help of our invaluable, busy house managers, Mr. and Mrs. Donald Mabie, the
curator and the guides: Gertrude
Curtiss, Harriet Kiefer, Peg Johannsen, Marion Franzman,
Jannine Burbach. These, plus extra junior guides and desk attendants at especially busy times, make up
our staff. Each visitor receives a complete interesting story of the house,
First Kindergarten and Plank Road Bam.
From outside reports we are pleased to hear that the quality of our
guide service is unusually high and visitor response is enthusiastic. In order to keep up
our image we can always use more volunteer help.
Higher Costs
Because of higher cost of maintenance and servicing of the
museums, the Board of Directors has voted to raise the adult admission fee in
1969 from 85 cents to $1 and all children from six to 18 from 15 cents to 25
cents. This change follows the pattern
of most historical spots in the state.
Membership in the society for a year is still $1, which allows free
visits to the house.
On Sept. 24 we were the hosts to the American Association
for State and Local History Seminar group which was holding sessions at the
State Historical Society in Madison.
This was a rare and gratifying experience and put our small private
organization in contact with directors, curators and
workers in historic spots from all over the United States.
We have had unusually good publicity during 1968. Mrs. Mabie made
contact with personnel of the Chicago Sun-Times who gave us a good story and
drawings in a Sunday issue, Dr. Kiessling, a staff
writer for the Milwaukee Journal, made arrangements for a front
page feature in the Women’s section on the Octagon House on Sunday,
Sept. 22. It was widely read throughout
the state and no doubt motivated many tourists to visit us. On one Sunday after that date
we had over 399 visitors.
We also had a story about John Richards, pioneer, in Badger
History, a publication of the State Historical Society, slanted at young
people. Your curator spoke ten times to
groups here and elsewhere on early Watertown houses and their restoration.
Featuring, the Octagon House, our publicity chairman, Mrs.
Ray Rose, has kept society members aware of the work of the group by copy in
the Times and flyers to members on current subjects.
New highway and city directional signs are in the making.
Regrets Retirement.
The Society regrets the retirement of Clarence Wetter from
the Daily Times staff. His intimate
knowledge of old Watertown made him a most valuable writer of interesting
historical and legendary stories about almost any subject or person in the
area. We will miss his cooperation but we feel he will not remove himself
completely from our circle and he may emerge from time to time to give us a
story.
The Biography of Margarethe Meyer Schurz (having sold 500
copies) is in its second printing. We
hope the Society members will remember the book and the great contribution Mrs.
Schurz made to childhood education in the United States. Apropos of this -- through our many contacts
in Washington from this area, we might consider applying again for; a United
States stamp commemorating the First Kindergarten in Watertown. As many of you know, our first try in 1957
was not adequately promoted and was denied.
The museum premises are all in good condition. The Octagon House has been checked by Ralph
Ebert, local construction engineer, who reports that the structure is safe,
well-kept, and not in need of any major repair.
During the past season we have checked and painted the tin roof. We have painted the stairwell, a difficult
operation. We are still sorely in need
of office and storage space, and this may be the; time to. consider building an
admission and custodian’s building on the premises to enable us to spread out
and finally to be able to show the house in its entirety. At present four rooms are not open to the public
and it would definitely be a great improvement to our
facility to be able to present it as it was in the 1850s.
The beautiful old elms on the grounds are in jeopardy
because of the Dutch elm disease. We
have lost two large trees and may lose them all. Fortunately, there are some healthy maples
and hardy boxelders to provide some landscaping; and we have planted new trees
to replace our losses. In 1968 the
Garden Club added an interesting and attractive octagon-shaped herb garden to
our back yard. It caused a great deal of
comment from visitors who recognized the common use of the kitchen garden in
the years gone by.
We had 105 acceptable gifts added to our collection in 1968,
some of which have been on exhibit during the past season. We are always on the lookout for early
Watertown memorabilia and artifacts.
The 1969 season will have a new addition located in the
Plank Road Barn. A real stuffed noodled
goose will be mounted by a taxidermist and exhibited to commemorate the early
German industry of goose noodling which is now almost extinct. Fred Rumler is now
the only participant left in this specialized industry and we are grateful to
him for his authentic story of the process.
Mrs. Ralph Ebert is working on the project which should be ready by
May-1.
We have had several communications from Harvey Richards, Ft.
Myers, Fla., a grandson of John Richards, in which he conveyed his continued
interest in our program and success. We
are grateful to the family for the confidence they have placed in us. The life of John Richards and his family,
exemplifying the true American Pioneer spirit, is a vital part of the story our
guides tell out visitors. His
great-great granddaughter is now writing a biography of this unusual man, which
should be finished in 1969. We will look
forward to this book with great expectation.
Presented at the annual meeting of the Watertown Historical
Society by Miss Gladys Mollart, Curator.
History of Watertown, Wisconsin