Experience firsthand how life in small towns began to change as the railroads challenged craft workers and local businesses to compete with new goods and services. Students will help craftsmen like the wagon maker, shoemaker and blacksmith ply their trades while they explain how the "new" economy affected their lives. Students will also visit the General Store. Explore the Crossroads Village.

Experience firsthand what village life was like by visiting the Four Mile Inn, washing clothes at the Hafford House, and being part of the congregation at St. Peter's Church. Explore the Crossroads Village.

Life for most children in the 19th century took place on farms. See how the importance and methods of farming in Wisconsin have changed over time. By gardening, weaving, using the flax break and visiting the oxen, students will learn about these changes as well as what children in the 19th century knew: All about feeding a family, caring for animals, and making a farm a home. Explore a sample of the things you might see in the German Area, such as gardens, historic breeds of animals, food and farms.

Life was very different for children in the 19th century. See how important it was for children to help around the farm. Children will get a chance to try their hand at baking, making quilt squares, and shaving wood for use on the farm. The tour also includes visiting the work horses. Explore a sample of the things you might see in the German Area, such as historic breeds of animals, food and farms.

Why would people half a world away pack their belongings into a trunk and leave their homeland to come to America? Students learn the answers to thought-provoking questions as they engage in traditional activities of processing wool or using a fanning mill. At the same time they discover how hard-working immigrants transformed primitive homesteads into working farms. They'll also learn how one-room school education taught children not only their ABCs, but also how to be an American. Explore a sample of the things you might see in the Norwegian Area, such as a one room school and wool processing.

Explore the challenges of surviving in a harsh rural environment while visiting a Finnish farm. See how families in northwestern Wisconsin made different choices and how those choices affected their standard of living. Students will explore these decisions as they do some carpentry, pound metal with the blacksmith or operate the "modern" washtub. Explore a sample of the things you might see in the Finnish Area, such as hands-on activities, food and farms.

From the 1860s through the 1880s, Pleasant Ridge was settled by escaped or emancipated African American slaves, immigrant Europeans, and European Americans. Children will have a chance to walk the escaped slave route, create a family tree, and visit the African American cemeteries to learn more about the Pleasant Ridge community.

An hour of intensive hands-on activities at Caldwell Farmers' Club Hall, including historic board games, toys, stilts, hoops and sticks, and interactive animal encounters. Explore the hands-on activities at the Caldwell Farmers' Club Hall.