Peshtigo Fire Museum — Attraction in Peshtigo

We took a six day vacation split between the Green Bay and Appleton areas, and one of the days we drove up to Peshtigo to view this museum. We saw a lot of museums (and parks and art, lots of hiking) on our trip, but this was by far the best part. Upon walking in, we were greeted by Jenna and treated to an awesome introduction into both the history of the fire as well as the artifacts in the museum. Then we spent nearly three hours pouring over the items and information on display and viewing the cemetery. There were several times I had goosebumps from hearing the more individual stories of people who both survived and didn't and while visiting the mass grave of nearly 400 unidentifiable bodies. Especially when considering this place has no admission fee (please donate though!) they have a massive collection that shows what life was like in the area leading up to today and what happened before, during and after the fire itself, all presented very well. There's sure to be something to...

It was great to learn more about the Peshtigo Fire and see a few artifacts that were saved as well as learn some moving stories. Personally I wasn't as interested in the period pieces that were there - and that was the VAST majority of the museum - but I'm sure others would be. That's the beauty of this place - to see what directly pertained to the fire didn't take that long - but if you wanted to stay for hours, you could. We didn't spend much time in the cemetery because they were waiting to lock the gate - I would've liked to have explored more out there - but we did see the mass grave. My only complaint would be their hours - closing at 4p on a Saturday in the summer was nuts, especially when there were probably 10-15 people there. And we got lucky that we even got in the cemetery - I heard others express interest in going in but were turned away because they were closing. I understand it's run by volunteers but I thought it was a bit rude to chase folks away. Especially when they rely on...

In 2021, we remember it has been 150 years since the catastrophic Peshtigo Fire. The museum has many displays of area history, including items that survived the fire. A docent walked our group around the museum, and shared stories about those who experienced the fire. I had tears in my eyes several times as she shared the details. I also walked through the cemetery. There is a mass grave of the hundreds of people who died as a result of the fire. In the cemetery, there were placques next to several graves with the personal accounts of those people. I learned so much as I toured the museum. I feel the fire was an important event in Wisconsin's history. I definitely...