Ashland Historical Society
The Ashland Historical Society Museum is centrally located in the historic Main Street retail district just one city block from the Chequamegon Bay on the south shore of Lake Superior. The Museum contains artifacts and information from over 150 years of Ashland History. The building's lower level was an original storefront located in a ravine below the present Main Street. Visitors can be escorted to the basement to view the remnants of that storefront and hear the story of the beginnings of the retail area.
The Museum's original collection belonged to the Angvick family, who displayed their photographs and other artifacts at their downtown furniture store in the 1950's. Since then, the collection has grown through the donation of items of local significance from interested individuals and groups. Displays are changed on a regular basis to give visitors the opportunity to enjoy new subjects and see a variety of interesting objects from the past.
The archive includes collections of locally-written history books, city insurance maps from the 1800's, Ashland City Directories, photos, yearbooks, and more available for research and genealogy. There is a minimal charge for research, material copies and photo reprints.
Admission to the museum is free and visitors are invited to tour independently or iwth a guide. Information on Ashland's downtown murals, waterfront walking trail, churches, Victorian homes, and other structures of interest are available.
Each 4th of July, the Society hosts a living cemetery event. The Ashland Cemetery Walk features several costumed re-enactors portraying individuals interred at the site. Visitors leisurely follow the mapped route, which includes the town's previously forgotten Potters Field, and are encouraged to ask the "ghosts" questions. For more information, visit www.ashlandhistory.com.
Text taken from "Local History Highlight, Ashland Historical Society Museum," Columns, The Newsletter of the Wisconsin Historical Society, Vol. 30, No. 2, March/April 2009.
The Museum's webpage, see the Link below, has a very interesting history of the museum in Ashland; click on "Museum History" from their home page.
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