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Each week a small segment of Vernon County history is published in the county papers.
For the week of 2/22/2026
by Kristen Parrott, curator
The village of La Farge will be the subject of our next history program. La Farge historian Brad Steinmetz will be the speaker on Tuesday, March 3, at 7PM, at the Vernon County Museum and History Center.
Brad is the author of a two-volume set of books called La Farge: The Story of a Kickapoo River Town. Volume 1 covers “the beginnings until the early 1960’s”, and volume 2 covers “the early 1960’s to 2017”, which is when volume 2 was published. He is also the author of That Dam History: The Story of the La Farge Dam Project. And he writes a weekly history column for the La Farge Episcope newspaper.
Come learn about the village’s name, about its schools and churches, floods and dams, and much more. Everyone is welcome to attend. Programs are held in the first-floor, wheelchair-accessible conference room. To defray costs, we ask for a donation of $2.50 per person.
To complement the program, a small exhibit about La Farge is now on display in the conference room. On exhibit are a few La Farge High School objects, including a diploma from 1934, and several business promotional items, including a cloth bag from Andrew’s Market.
A colorful quilt made by Garnet Stout’s 4th-grade class in 1985 is also part of the display, each square featuring a different aspect of Wisconsin history. Mrs. Stout taught in La Farge for many years. Each child’s name is written on the square that they made.
A black velvet cape with (fake) fur trim rounds out the exhibit. It was worn by Laura Slagle of La Farge in the early 1900’s. She probably bought it at the Chase store in downtown La Farge.
You can learn more about La Farge from the information we have in our archives, including books and articles and photographs. The archives includes a file for every community in Vernon County. Stop by to do some research during our regular winter hours of Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, 11AM to 4PM.
Downtown La Farge on November 11, 1918, celebrating the end of World War I.
For the week of 2/15/2026
by Kristen Parrott, curator
Thanks to everyone who helped to make our February program about Cheyenne Valley a success! If you weren’t able to attend, you can watch the recording we made, which is now available on our new youtube channel. We will be adding more videos to the channel soon, so stay tuned.
Our calendar is filling up for the next month: First, remember to come to Carol Krogan’s retirement party open house next week on Thursday, February 26, from 1 to 3PM, at the Vernon County Museum and History Center. Carol has worked here for a quarter century, so if you’ve visited the Vernon County Historical Society anytime in recent memory, you have probably met her! Come enjoy some cake and wish Carol a happy retirement.
The next public history program will be held on Tuesday, March 3, at 7PM, at the museum and history center. Local historian Brad Steinmetz will offer an insightful history of the village of La Farge. Brad is the author of several books about La Farge and the surrounding area, and he writes a weekly history column for the La Farge Episcope newspaper.
The next genealogy class will be held on Thursday, March 12, at 10AM, at the museum and history center. Teacher Karen Sherry will talk to the class about how to find genealogical information about your Wisconsin ancestors.
From Saturday, March 14, through Thursday, March 26, we will be hosting our first-ever winter exhibition, “Good Earth - Deep Roots”. This special exhibit will feature rarely-seen landscape paintings from the collection, on view for a limited time, plus a silent auction of local art. Nathan Popp, who has a doctorate in art history, is the guest curator for this exhibit.
The museum and history center will be open every day from 11AM to 4PM during the art show, March 14-26. Suggested donation of $10 to see the art show and tour the museum. More details to come soon!
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