Events!

Please note that all upcoming events are posted on the calendar on this website.

Bake Sale! Bake Sale!  The CHS will be holding a bake sale at the Educators Credit Union on Rapids Drive on February 8th from 9 am to 6 pm and on February 9th from 9 am to Noon.  Buy your sweets for Valentine’s Day from the CHS bakers.

February 14, 2019–Dine at the Charcoal Grill, 3839 Douglas Ave, between 4 pm and 8 pm and a percentage of all food sales when accompanied with the CHS flyer will be donated to the Caledonia Historical Society.  Need a flyer?  Complete the Contact Us page on this website to request the flyer.

Profit For You Tours has three upcoming tours in 2019.  A portion of the tour cost is donated to the CHS.  If you are interested in “The Amish Experience,” or “The Grand Hotel Mackinac Island,” or a “Smoky Mountain Tour,” contact Lori at 414-477-0155.  These tours are great!

Linwood and Linwood School!

Please note that the information provided here has been taken from the book, “Journey to a Village, Caledonia 1835-2008.”

Linwood was the most heavily forested part of Caledonia in the early 1800’s.  The Linwood pocket community straddled the course of the Root River’s path through the middle of Caledonia.

While the original settlers of this heavily wooded area were Yankees, English and Welsh, by 1850 a trickle of Bohemian  immigrants began to settle in the Linwood area.  Several hundred Bohemian families arrived during the 1854 to 1857 time period.  An 1887 map of Caledonia shows a nearly complete transformation of the Linwood area into a Bohemian settlement.

Linwood did not have a general store, but did have a post office, a school, the Holy Family Catholic Church, two cemeteries and Caledonia’s first town hall.  The 1877 Town Hall is now located in the Caledonia Historical Village where it was moved in 2003 and renovated by the Caledonia Historical Society.

The Linwood school was originally a wood-frame structure that was long ago demolished.  The first building was replaced by a brick structure which burned in 1929.  While the replacement building was being constructed, school was held in the Caledonia Town Hall.  That second school brick building is still standing and was taken over by the Lions Club in the 1960’s.

This is a picture of the second Linwood school that burned down in 1929.

The Caledonia Historical Society is dedicated to ensuring that present and future generations will not only know the significance of the area, but will also learn from the past and recognize the need to preserve the historical heritage bestowed upon them.  We are our history.  As John Steinbeck said, “How will we know it’s us without our past?”

Come Join Us!

The next CHS membership meeting is Thursday, February 21st at 6:30 pm at the Caledonia-Mt. Pleasant Memorial Park, 9614 Hwy K, Franksville.   The public is welcome.