Chippewa Valley Museum — Attraction in Eau Claire

The Chippewa Valley Museum is a good place to spend an hour to get a sense for local history. It starts with the arrival of the Frenchman; continues through the logging heyday; moves to the peak days of small town factories; then into the present. There are things to read; artifacts to see; and a couple play areas for kids. Works for all ages. Takes about an hour to get through - unless you read everything. At the end, there's an ice cream parlor - for a nice treat.

I found it an interesting lesson on how the locals adapted to changing conditions (forests, lumber, factories, modern times) to keep Eau Claire from becoming a ghost town.

There's a one-room...

Every summer we attend some of the classes they offer that are partnered with ECASD & love them. The museum is a fun educational place for the whole family in a low key environment & very well chilled on warmer days (might need jacket, & I'm normally warm inside places). Well organized in a properly lit fashion for what's viewed (lower light where films play, medium light for display/walking, brighter in corners or naturally darker areas). Our kids are never bored when looking about & learning. Sadly, often I see stuff my elders still own & use...

Nice visit to a well maintained regional museum. Admission was $10 for adults and we spent a little over an hour there. This is a great place to learn about the area throughout history, from fur trading to logging to farming and more. I appreciated the relatively honest history about the exploitation of Native Americans and immigrants and was impressed to see some Hmong textiles and a video about Hmong New Year. When we visited there was also a Star Wars nostalgia exhibit that made my boyfriend geek out. Definitely worth a visit if you are...