Check Out Heritage Day this Saturday - Door County Historical Society

There’s a lot happening at Heritage Village on Saturday, August 15—and we mean a lot!

From 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., Heritage Day will fill the Village with hands-on activities, demonstrations, games, and experiences that offer a glimpse of everyday life in Door County from 1880–1910.

And this isn’t a “look but don’t touch” kind of history day. We want you to get involved!

Roll Up Your Sleeves and Give It a Try

Have you ever made butter by hand? Here’s your chance! Learn how families turned cream into butter—and then try making some yourself.

You can also make a cornhusk doll, a simple toy that generations of children created from materials they had on hand.

Before texting, email, and even the telephone became commonplace, people stayed connected through letters and postcards. Stop in and write your own postcard to a friend or family member. Take a few minutes to experience communication the old-fashioned way.

And because history should be fun, too, test your skills in our old-fashioned watermelon seed spitting contest! Kids and adults are welcome to give it a try. How far can you go?

There’s Something Happening All Around the Village

Head to the Granary to learn about the different grains grown and harvested in Door County. See the grains in different stages and discover the machines and tools used to process them.

Then make your way to the Madden Tool Museum, where an incredible collection of tools offers a fascinating look at the work, ingenuity, and craftsmanship of earlier generations.

You’ll hear the ring of the hammer at the Blacksmith Shop, where our blacksmith will fire up the forge and demonstrate a trade that was essential to life in a growing Door County community.

And don’t skip school! Step inside our historic one-room schoolhouse, take a seat at a desk, and experience a lesson taught by the schoolmarm. It’s a fun opportunity for today’s students—and their parents and grandparents—to see just how much the school day has changed.

Be sure to check out our Community Quilt Project, too. See how individual contributions are coming together to create something that represents our community today while continuing a tradition that reaches back generations.

Throughout Heritage Village, you’ll find even more opportunities to explore historic buildings, meet interpreters, ask questions, and imagine what daily life was like more than a century ago.

Three Hours. A Whole Lot of History.

Butter making. Cornhusk dolls. Postcard writing. Blacksmithing. Grains. Historic machinery. Old-fashioned schooling. Tools. Quilting. And, yes, watermelon seed spitting!

That’s a lot of activity packed into just three hours. Don’t miss it!

Heritage Day is designed for all ages, so bring the kids, grandchildren, friends, neighbors, or visiting family and spend an afternoon experiencing Door County history together.