Heritage Hill is a State Historical Park. This was very educational and fun to go to as the kids learned about different buildings that were built here in Wisconsin and what they were used for. Most of the buildings are from the 1800′s.

This is the Cotten House. It is a Greek revival house that was built in the 1840s. This home belonged to the John Cotton Family until 1883 when it was sold to J.W. Woodruff. In 1896 Woodruff sold it to the Catholic Diocese. In 1938 the Diocese gave the Cotton House to the Brown County Historical Society and it was moved to its present location. It was then restored and opened as a museum in 1941. Cotton House is listed on the National Register of Historical Places.

Dakota really took interest in looking at the old things in this building. We didn’t tour it as my kids had a one track mind on seeing everything and going swimming. They had these cute white bonnets that the women wore while cleaning to keep their hair clean. Dakota was fascinated by a skeleton key which was HUGE.

This is the Moravian Church. It was built in downtown Green Bay circa 1851, the Moravian Church was the worship center for members of the Protestant settlers in the area. It is the oldest standing church in Green Bay and reflects the Greek Revival style of architecture. Today it is frequently used as a setting for Weddings.

This picture isn’t anything special other then the fact that I love sunflowers and thought it was gorgeous.

This is the Franklin Hose Company No. 3 and it was built in 1887 and located on the corner of Main and Irwin Streets. The building was the second one put up at that site to serve as a volunteer fire department. The Franklin Hose Company disbanded in 1891.

The kids learned that the guys that were the volunteer fire fighters drank beer and played cards. They learned that the gadget they pulled to fight fires were put into rivers and hand pumped out to get water.

Brittany got a chance to pretend she was helping put out a fire. They had a long line of people and one filled the bucket and they passed it down a line to put out the fire. This is how they use to put out fires. They had to be very quick about it.

Not really sure what this is. Dakota spotted it and wanted me to take a picture.

My oldest son and my daughter participated in a game of tug o war. It was boys versus the girls. The girls had them till the printing guy ran out and joined in then the girls all fell down. My son said wow mom those girls are really good. They were holding there own. LOL

Not really sure what this game is called. One of the gals that works there was playing this with Brittany for a while. Brittany had fun with it.

This is the Print Shop and it’s a replica building that demonstrates the fine art of printing. This particular business was modeled after the original De Pere News that was started in 1871. All of the printing equipment is original to the latter half of the 19th century.

Brittany had a blast making a calendar from August of 1872.

This picture was taken because Dakota liked the spot. It was a pond that had a ton of cattails around it.

This was the Officer’s Quarters which was constructed in 1982, this building is a replica of a surgeon’s quarters. It reflects Federal style architecture. The interpretation of this building shows the lifestyles of officers and their wives during the 1830′s at Fort Howard.

The Fort Howard Area – After the war of 1812, Americans looked to better defend the Old Northwest for ensuing settlement. As Americans pushed westward, the U.S. government ordered a chain of forts to be built in the western frontier. Constructed in 1816, Fort Howard connected the eastern forts with frontier outposts. From 1820 to 1822, the troops at Fort Howard temporarily moved to the east side of the river and formed Camp  Smith on land that is now Heritage Hill.

Belgian Farm – The buildings in this area represent a typical Belgian-American farmstead. The Charles Massart family owned the house and limestone summer kitchen. The farmhouse is actually a log house with brick veneer added at a later date. The “quoins” design on the corners of the house is a common feature on homes in Belgium. The outbuildings come from various Belgian-American farm families in the area. All of these structures were located in Kewaunee County!

I was fascinated with the kitchen of course. They also had wooden shoes at the entrance. There were a couple other buildings around I didn’t capture.

I didn’t get pictures of everything. I would have liked to see the soldiers in the old fashion outfits but they were not there this time. We were on a tour of the Hospital as well and learned that it didn’t serve during war time but housed veterans. The beds look uncomfy.

There was so much to see and do and we really enjoyed it. I had all three of my kids with me. Brittany was really into participating in activities. Dakota not so much. Brad did here and there. Great learning experience for all the kids. It is kids week this week so kids get in free.

Sorry for the post being so long. I shared the info about the buildings from the brochure I grabbed which I thought was really interesting.

 

 

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