waukesha county historical society & museum

glorias317

This was a nice little museum three floors with the best of it being the Les Paul exhibit. I stress little because not all rooms were filled on all the floors but still was informative the price was fairly reasonable.if you're into guitars you would know about the Les Paul guitars. That was a great exhibit. get your picture with Les Paul, play a Les Paul guitar and learned about some of his inventions ,very informative.

JanP193

We had been hoping to make it here on one of our trips to Wisconsin ever since we learned about the opening of the "Wizard of Waukesha" exhibit devoted to the life of native son Les Paul. We were not disappointed!The historical society has done a lovely job with the museum including many local items of interest in this historic building. The Les Paul section contains guitars and other items one might expect, but also delightfully personal touches such as trophies he constructed and awarded to his mother and to his wife, Mary Ford.Very enjoyable!

696willj

Our family decided to visit the Waukesha County Historical Museum for their Halloween Night at the Museum - when its exhibits come to life. We learned this is the 3rd year the Museum has hosted this fun, theatrical and well played drama adventure through the museum at night. The theme this year centered around some Waukesha County history, but included pirates, suspense, crime and audience group participation as well as a treasure hunt for the kids and adults. The characters did a great job representing their roles and educating the groups about history and the Museum exhibits and local historical folks. Well played and humor appealing to kids and adults were dashed in with excellence. We're sorry we missed the last 2 years of adventures but now we know about this gem and will come back next year.

whasis

It's hard to miss this imposing building right on Waukesha's Main Street. Offering three floors of exhibits, the museum has an interesting Civil War section; a fascinating exhibit on Waukesha's past as a renown resort town where celebrities and others would come for the "healing" spring waters, with additional information on the bottling and extensive distribution of those waters; a section on the early development of Waukesha city and county; a small but interesting display detailing the Waukesha connection to Hollywood; and a wonderful exhibit on the "Wizard of Waukesha", native son and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member, Les Paul. This is a small but very interesting museum that will engage both children and adults and provide and enjoyable afternoon.

WaukeshaGirl

There is everything you wanted to know about Waukesha in this small museum. Also just added a small section on Les Paul.

ILJilly

We are musicians and came to the museum for this exhibit...it was very good...$7 well spent. Learned a lot about Les and how he came to invent the electric guitar from household objects. Loved Les's inspirational quotes, such as "I set my sights high and with determination. If you believe in yourself you need only reinforce all of your dreams." Seems like a nice place to take kids.

ang_arm

We visited during their "Night at the Museum" event. There were some interesting exhibits that I didn't expect for a small, local museum. The actors in the "Night at the Museum" show were working their hearts out to engage our somewhat-shy boys. I've recommended this museum to other moms in my neighborhood. It's a nice little diversion some weekend afternoon that provides some variation from the usual min-golf/sports/movie theater recreation that we all typically engage in with our kids. We haven't gotten around to it yet, but I fully intend to plan another trip to the museum to enjoy it when it's not a "Night at the Museum" event

laurafP9559LH

We are Les Paul fans, which drew us here for the special exhibit honoring "The Wizard of Waukesha," but enjoyed the other exhibits, as well. Very nice Civil War displays and a travelling program from Canada that chronicled the Underground Railway and some of the local contributions to that effort. Yes, it's a small museum, but, in our experience, sometimes those are the best!

SandyML262

The exhibits are okay but too much emphasis is put on the "City of Waukesha" rather than the "County of Waukesha" and I do believe the name of the museum is "County" not "City". Besides Les Paul, there were numerous other people of importance born, raised or lived in Waukesha County but there is no mention of any of them in the museum. The museum also has to do a better job of it's visibility. There are people in the City of Waukesha who know nothing about it; and many, many people in Waukesha County do not know they have a County Historical Museum.

luvtworoam

Enjoyed our visit and found there was much more to see and enjoy than we had anticipated. Worth the price of entry.

MEH9302

This museum has a little bit of everything - some exhibits better than others.Their featured exhibits are usually good like the current Les Paul exhibit. Last year we saw a biographical exhibit on Owen Gromme, a WI artist. Check before you go.

Barbarino_12

After moving to this area and visiting the museum, I was amazed to learn the history of the "healing waters" of Waukesha. Apparently, people used to come to Waukesha from all over the world to drink and/or bathe in the water from the springs, which were thought to have healing properties. There are still one or two springs in the area that have not been capped off and can be viewed. Being the birthplace of Les Paul, there are now numerous artistic guitars, large and small to be viewed throughout the town as well as some history in the museum. Well worth the time!

queenie067

They just recently opened a brand new exhibit honoring Les Paul. Les Paul was known for his guitars and great music. He also was born here in Waukesha and would return here once in awhile. He is also buried here at the Prairie Home Cemetery. The grave site can also be visited.They do have other exhibits not pertaining to him in the museum. Also Gibson guitar picked Waukesha as one of the guitar cities. There are huge guitars on display in the downtown area. Including one in front of the museum. Also on Friday nights through the summer they close Main Street for Friday night live. They have 9 different stages with all different type of music being played. The groups change weekly. They have 1000's of people show up most weeks. No fee for FNL but the museum does charge. Food available for FNL.

DebiH478

The one thing about this museum that is good is the exterior architecture of the building and you can enjoy that without wasting your money on the admission fee.It would be suitable for a grade-school field trip, but beyond that, don't bother.

800JimL

A great County Museum with a focus on County history. Now working a Les Paul Museum! This Museum has a great program for students and a wonderful summer program!