Museum Exhibits

The Historical Museum & the Bird Family

The Charles H. Bird home, shown here in 1922, was donated to the village of Sun Prairie as a memorial to the first settler and his family.  Due to the weak condition of the home, the donor agreed to its removal and replacement by the current building, Sun Prairie's first Public Library. Learn more about this remarkable family and this historical building.

Bird Home BW

Brazee Lake Ho-Chunk

Native Americans were here in the "Four Lakes" region of Wisconsin, long before European settlers arrived. This painting of the Eben Peck cabin in 1837 (on display at the Wisconsin Historical Society) shows the first settler of Dane county sharing this bountiful land. Ho-Chunk families spent their summers hunting and fishing around Brazee Lake as Sun Prairie grew from a town to a village.   
Eben Peck cabin 1837

Georgia O'Keeffe Room

Georgia Totto O'Keeffe (1887-1986) was a world-renowned artist born in Sun Prairie, who leaned on her Wisconsin upbringing and strength to make her way in a predominately male art world. Known as "The Mother of American Modernism" she is remembered as a daughter of Sun Prairie with an historical marker where her house once stood, an avenue with her name and a dedicated room in our museum.
Document

WI Porcelain Company

The Wisconsin Porcelain Company was Sun Prairie's largest employer from 1940-1963. Started in 1920 and managed by Ludwig A. Stohl, the company produced up to 600,000 fuses per day and shipped them by rail to a supplier in St. Louis. Hiring men and women equally, this company is often credited for saving the city during the Great Depression, by employing citizens in menial jobs to keep them from leaving town to find work elsewhere.
Porcelain Employees 1921-1923