The Florence County Historical Society, founded in 1980 after the town and county of Florence marked their Centennial Celebration, officially opened its museum in 2007 at 201 Florence Ave., the center of the city’s historic district.

The museum features three permanent displays — Hiram Damon “H.D.” Fisher and family, who is considered to be the founding father of Florence County; the Heritage of Iron and Timber; and the Military Room honoring local veterans.

“We are always expanding on these each year with new artifacts and photos — especially our veterans’ area,” said Florence County Historical Society Secretary/Treasurer Debbie DeMuri, who is the last original member of the committee.

In addition to the permanent displays, the society develops several new exhibits each season over the winter months. Other areas the society has focused on over the years include prominent individuals, businesses, farms, churches and schools.

THE FLORENCE COUNTY Historical Museum features three permanent displays, including the Heritage of Iron and Timber. This model, built by Mark Dagostino for the 1980 Centennial, is now part of the display. The working addition demonstrates the types of mining in the towns of Florence and Commonwealth. (Terri Castelaz/Daily News photo)

“We have been throwing around several ideas for next year,” DeMuri said.

The 2022 featured exhibit was “Out of the Past” — a collection of miscellaneous items of interest from the county.

“This year’s was a variety of historical topics, from cemeteries to the former jail and sheriff,” DeMuri said. “We may keep this one for next year.”

The museum has accumulated a vast collection of photographs from the county’s eight townships.

“All 2,000 physical photos been digitalized,” she noted. “This is something we currently specialize in.”

THE FLORENCE COUNTY Historical Museum is now closed for the season and will reopen June 10. (Terri Castelaz/Daily News photo)

During the winter months, these photographs are moved over to Kent Walstrom’s fourth-grade class in the Florence County School District. “This is the year they study Wisconsin history,” she said. “He (Kent Wahlstrom) does a good job with them.”

Each spring, the fourth-grade students are able to go to the museum as well as tour the courthouse and the former jail. “This gives them an idea of the history of Florence County,” DeMuri said.

Historical Society President Karen Wertanen also plans to resume the Florence Historic Building Guided Walk, with dates in July and August.

The walk features more than 30 historical locations in the downtown district. The guidebook that is used for the event was originally developed by a Florence County High School geography class under the guidance of teacher Pam Smith.

“This reference book includes details about each stop,” she said.

DeMuri added this was a very popular event for the museum that had been postponed the past couple years due to the pandemic.

“We are looking forward to doing this again and will announce more details after our spring meeting,” she said.

The society hopes to incorporate a virtual Cemetery Walk during the 2023 season, with plans to first focus on the three cemeteries — Woodlawn, Commonwealth and St. Mary’s.

“These cemeteries are really not walkable, so we thought we could do a PowerPoint presentation,” she said.

A lot of research has already been done for the project, DeMuri said. The first presentation will feature unique stones of early settlers and those who were significant to the county’s history.

In the future, they could expand to others, as every township has a cemetery, except for Fern, she noted.

The society hopes the new event could be a potential fundraiser for the museum. “We could possibly show in at the library or during a special luncheon,” DeMuri said.

The Florence County Historical Society’s only fundraiser each year is the annual Strawberry Social and Quilt and Craft Show, in conjunction with its quilt raffle. Next year’s show is slated for July 15 at Maxsell’s in Florence.

“Even as small as we are, it still takes funds to put it together,” DeMuri said. “We are very fortunate that Don and Rachel Egelseer gave us the building to use free of charge, as we don’t have the funds to purchase one.”

They again plan to host a Veteran’s Day Recognition honoring special guests.

“We have recently discussed hosting a Senior Citizen Day,” she said.

Members plan to re-evaluate next year’s plans at the spring meeting, as well as confirm dates.

The society plans to reach out into the community more in hopes to get more people interested in the museum. They currently have eight active members, as well as several who support and are lifetime members of the museum.

They are always looking for new members. Some of the areas they need assistance with are museum guides, exhibit researchers, design/install of new exhibits and catalog artifacts.

The museum will open for the 2023 season June 10. Hours are 10 a.m. to noon Thursday through Saturday.

“If we had more volunteers, we could possibly open more hours during the week,” DeMuri said.

The museum doesn’t charge admission, relying solely on donations and its annual fundraiser.

They welcomed about 200 visitors in the 40 days they were open from June to September.

DeMuri also noted that they help with research, including obituaries. The library has newspapers on microfilm dating from 1881 through 2012. After that time, issues can be found on the website.

For more information on the Florence County Historical Museum or the historical society, go to website at https://www.florencewihistory.org/ or to their Facebook page.

The committee also welcomes artifacts, photographs and ideas for events or exhibits.

Those interested in becoming a member or who want to make a donation can contact DeMuri at 715-528-3597.