Featured Grant Stories

La Crosse County Historical Society Launches Online Collections Database

March 13, 2018

Jamie Schloegel, Chief Executive OfficerBy Jamie Schloegel, Chief Executive Officer

The La Crosse Historical Society has many stories to tell. Tales of love, war, and lives once lived. Since 1925, its mission has remained consistent: to collect, preserve, and share the history of La Crosse County. From its Local History Museum, Historic Hixon House Museum and Riverside Museum, La Crosse County Historical Society serves as a community resource to pique one’s curiosity to dig deeper and uncover our priceless past. Home to timeless artifacts once forgotten, buried or submerged, it is a place for historic treasures to breath new life.

However, due to space limitations, only a very small portion of all the artifacts held by the Historical Society are on display; most are stored and not seen on a regular basis. To improve access to the artifacts in their collections to the general public, the Historical Society set out to create an online collections database. Made possible through two grants from the General Fund, over 1,500 objects are ready for the public to search. With new records added weekly, the La Crosse Historical Society encourages visitors to explore and return often.

Through the use of modern technology, the Historical Society is able to broaden its impact, making documents, photos and tales of our natives, ancestors and present community members accessible to generations past and future. The online database is a great way to get a glimpse of our area’s unseen history. We guarantee you’ll learn something new each time you visit.

Every day, our community makes history, and the La Crosse Historical Society takes note, ensuring the legacies and lives of our friends, families, and neighbors live on. We invite you to visit the Online Collections Database today.