Vernon County Historical Society

09/07/2026

Noted genealogist Blaine Hedberg of the Westby Area Historical Society will be the guest speaker at the next meeting of the genealogy class. His presentation will be about "Using land records in your genealogical search".
The class meets on Thursday, September 10, at 10AM, at the Vernon County History Center. Blaine worked at the Norwegian American Genealogical Center and Naeseth Library in Madison for 30 years, and now lives in Westby.
New students are always welcome at the class. Vernon County Historical Society members attend for free, and non-members are asked to pay $5 per class session. Classes are held in the conference room on the first floor.

09/02/2026

Have you heard about the fallout shelter recently discovered on Vernon County land? What a find! If you're interested in learning more about this period of Vernon County's history, stop by the museum - we have an entire exhibit on the 3rd floor about the Civil Defense program. The museum building was once a fallout shelter itself, so you'll even be able to see some artifacts that have been found here, leftover from that time. We also have many extra copies of the Vernon County Family Emergency Plan, mentioned in the Vernon Reporter's article, available for sale in our gift shop, if you'd like to take a piece of this fascinating history home with you.
Read the article here, if you missed it! https://vernonreporter.com/long-forgotten-underground-cold-war-era-fallout-shelter-discovered-on-vernon-county-property/

08/29/2026

Today is the day! We will be serving delicious charcoal-grilled pork chops (with plenty of sides) rain or shine, from 4-7 or until sold out. Don't miss your chance to support local history by enjoying some amazing food!

08/28/2026

Thank you so much to everyone who helped us identify the photos we posted last week! We are so lucky to have a community that knows and cares about its history as much as you do.
If you like solving mysteries or rediscovering old memories, we have plenty of unidentified photos at the museum. Here are two more - the first one is from June 1969 and the second one is from October 1989. Can you tell where these photos were taken? Do you see anyone you recognize? Let us know in the comments!

08/27/2026

Today is the last day! Exhibit closes at 4PM.

08/25/2026

08/22/2026

We need your help! We were recently given these three photos of Viroqua. The first two have no additional information on them. The third one possibly shows the building across the street from the swimming pool, but we're not 100% certain. If any of these photos seem familiar to you, or if you have any guesses on where or when they might have been taken, please let us know in the comments!

08/21/2026

We had a great turnout for last week's genealogy class, "Finding Those Who Served: Military Genealogy." But if you weren't able to attend, don't worry - a recording of the class is now available on our Youtube channel! Watch it here: https://youtu.be/ut22dCDaIuw

Guest speaker Russ Horton, Archivist at the Wisconsin Veterans Museum, gave us many tips and tricks for researching ancestors involved in the military, including several resources that are available to use online. Thank you, Russ!

Next month's genealogy class will be on Thursday, Sept. 10 at 10 am, and will welcome Blaine Hedberg from the Westby Area Historical Society as our guest speaker. We hope to see you there!

This month's genealogy class welcomed guest speaker Russell Horton,...