Originally published Aug. 21, 2008
Earlier this year a friend turned 50 and to mark the achievement threw a party that lasted, well, hours. This year the Madeline Island Museum also turned 50 and it’s spent a good part of the summer season celebrating its milestone. Given that it has spent those 50 years collecting and preserving hundreds of years of island history, from its early roll in the fur trade to Native American life and later a summer haven for visitors, the season-long celebration can hardly be called excessive.
Even accounting for my natural bias in favor of Madeline (which, casual reader, is the island off of Wisconsin’s northern tip in Lake Superior, not that other island off the end of Door County) this museum is my favorite of all of the state’s designated historic sites. Pendarvis in Mineral Point is wonderful, an Villa Louis in Prairie du Chien, especially since its grand restoration, is a must-see as well, but the island museum is something special, not least because it requires a ferry ride across Chequamegon Bay to get there.
Also known as The Fort for the log stockade that rings its oldest structures, the museum was the creation of Bella and Leo Capser, St. Paul natives who spent summers on Madeline for many years. Leo, in fact, spent his first summer on the island in 1903 and over the years became so smitten with the island and its history that he decided a museum was in order.
There is more to building a museum than merely writing a check, though. Beginning in 1955, with the help of other islanders and visitors, Leo secured four historic structures, the former La Pointe town jail, an old log barn, a log structure known as the Old Sailor’s Home and, perhaps most historic, a portion of an 1834 building used by John Jacob Astor’s American Fur Co. The structures were joined together in a prominent space near the ferry landing and converted to museum space.
Relics and artifacts cover every aspect of island history, from the days of voyageurs and missionaries in black robes through the years of commercial fishing and lumbering and into modern times. The Madeline Island Museum opened its doors in 1958 and 10 years later was deeded to the Wisconsin Historical Society as a state historic site. Even then the Capsers continued their involvement and eventually left an endowment that allowed in 1991 construction of a modern addition to house offices, more exhibit space and other facilities. Outside, within the sharp-pointed stockade walls, there is room for additional artifacts – a historic outhouse is popular with young visitors, of course – and can be used for encampments and other programs, while the green in front of the museum is used each July 4 for song and speeches after the popular island parade. I think I have missed that event just once in the last 25 years or so, and don’t plan to miss it again.
The museum has mounted a special exhibit on its own history and development this summer. In addition to several special programs that have already taken place there will be a special event on Sept. 28 honoring the anniversary of the Signing of the Treaty of 1854. The museum is open through Oct. 4. For a ferry schedule (the island is about a 20-minute ride) visit http://www.madferry.com/ and for more on the museum go to www.wisconsinhistory.org/madelineisland.
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