Historic Photo: When New Glarus Chose Reinvention

As industry faded and tourism began to rise, this 1962 image captured New Glarus building not just a museum, but a new future rooted in history, heritage, and the promise of becoming a destination.

Todd Klassy
by Todd Klassy
Historic Photo: When New Glarus Chose Reinvention

Published in February 1962, this image captures more than a construction project. It catches New Glarus in the middle of a turning point, when the community was beginning to lean hard into its past in order to protect its future.

The photo, made by Ray Barth of Monroe and believed to have appeared in the Wisconsin State Journal, showed the Swiss Historical Village & Museum taking shape. The original caption read: "A pioneer village representing New Glarus as it looked between 1845 and 1890 is under construction with four cabins built and nine to go. The log church (right) has wood "shakes" for roofing."

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Historic Photo: Downtown New Glarus in 1973
Heritage

Historic Photo: Downtown New Glarus in 1973

A 1973 view up First Street captures New Glarus before today’s streetscape took shape, with Highway 39 traffic, giant American cars, tavern signs and the Swiss Church anchoring a downtown already balancing daily life with its Swiss identity.

by Todd Klassy
When New Glarus Built Its Own Haunted Houses
Heritage

When New Glarus Built Its Own Haunted Houses

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by Todd Klassy
Historic Photo: Downtown New Glarus from Above in 1957
Heritage

Historic Photo: Downtown New Glarus from Above in 1957

A 1957 aerial view captures much of downtown New Glarus before several familiar buildings disappeared or changed uses, while the railroad, swimming pool and old commercial blocks offer plenty of clues — and a few mysteries for readers to solve.

by Todd Klassy
Harvest: How Farming Reshaped the Hills Around New Glarus
Heritage

Harvest: How Farming Reshaped the Hills Around New Glarus

Long before combines rolled across fields of corn and soybeans, harvest around New Glarus meant wheat, barley, hand-cut grain, corn shocks, mill ponds and hard lessons about erosion — a story still visible in the shape of the countryside nearly two centuries later.

by Todd Klassy

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