CALEDONIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY VOLUNTEERS PRESERVE THE PAST

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Volunteers are key at the Caledonia Historical Village CHV).  The Caledonia Historical Society (CHS) owns and operates the village located just east of Hwy 38 and 5 Mile Road as a 501(c)3 non-profit. 

The 1877 Caledonia Town Hall is now located in the CHV, and the preservation of the Town Hall was the impetus for the origination of the CHS.   Subsequently the CHS chose to preserve the 1902 Sturtevant Milwaukee Road Depot, the 1840’s Log Cabin, the 1927 Caboose, and the 1919 two story Machine Shed.  All of these structures were moved to the CHV.  All of the structures have been restored or are in process of being restored.  There are also many artifacts stored in the structures that epitomize the life of the early settlers who lived in the Caledonia area in the mid-1800’s through the 1920’s. 

All CHS projects are completed by volunteers.  Volunteers also maintain the grounds and the upkeep of the structures. The current project is the 1919 Machine Shed.  Volunteers will be working on the shed once again as soon as weather permits.

MEMBERSHIP MEETING!

The CHS meets every month on the third Thursday of the month at 6:30 pm.  The location in the winter months is the Caledonia-Mt.Pleasant Park Building at 9614 Hwy K.  The January  meeting will be held January 16th at 6:30 pm.  The February meeting will be held February 20th at 6:30 pm.  The public is welcome.  

NEED MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE CHS?

For more information, visit the various pages on this website or email: [email protected]

CALEDONIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY PRESERVES THE HISTORY OF CALEDONIA

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Learn the history of Caledonia.  Preserve the history of Caledonia.  Share the history of Caledonia. 

The Caledonia Historical Society (CHS) is a non-profit organization dedicated to collecting, preserving, and sharing materials and information relating to the history of Caledonia.  The Society promotes the understanding of the history through the buildings of the Caledonia Historical Village and the artifacts within them.  History matters.  It connects people to something larger than themselves.  People need history to understand the world around them and to develop solutions for the future. 

The December meeting of the CHS is the CHS Christmas Potluck Dinner at the Caledonia-Mt. Pleasant Park Building at 9614 Co Hwy K . The doors open at 5:30 pm with dinner served at 6:00 pm.  Please bring a dish to pass.  The public is invited.  For more information, view this website or email [email protected]

SAVE THE DATE!

The annual Christmas in the Log Cabin Boutique and Bake Sale in the Town Hall will be held on December 7th from Noon to 7 pm and December 8th from Noon to 4 pm each day.  Visit the Caledonia Historical Village and enjoy the spirit of winter in the village. There will be a live Nativity on Saturday.  Items available in the 1840’s Log Cabin include jewelry, wood carvings, Christmas decor, fiber arts, quilts, macrame, shatter glass art and much more.  Items available in the 1877 Town Hall will be home made baked goods and craft items.  Purchase of items supports the goals of the Caledonia Historical Society.

CALEDONIA EARLY GOVERNMENT!

Caledonia became a township in 1842 and the first meeting of the government was held April 7, 1842.  The purpose of the meeting was to determine the date for the first election of town officials.  The early meetings were held in individual’s homes.  Caledonia got its first town hall in 1877 when a single-room, rectangular structure was built near the center of town on Mary O’Connor’s land along Hwy 38.  The original Town Hall fell into disuse when the new municipal buildings were constructed in Husher. It remained standing in disrepair until the CHS moved it in 2005 to the Caledonia Historical Village and restored the building. 

The restoration of the 1877 Caledonia Town Hall sparked the beginning of the non-profit, the Caledonia Historical Society.  The Town Hall was the first building moved to the Caledonia Historical Village.  You can learn more about the Town Hall on the CHS Building and Items pages on this website.

  

Fall Heritage Festival

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The Caledonia Historical Society is happy to announce that the next Fall Heritage Festival will be held on Saturday, September 7th and Sunday, September 8th from 10 am to 4 pm each day. The Fall Heritage Festival is held at the Caledonia Historical Village, 7300 5 Mile Rd (just east of HWY 38 on 5 Mile Rd).  The theme of this year’s festival is “Passport to the Past.”

The admission is free, but a donation for parking is suggested.  There will be heritage educational games and exhibits, food, music, pie auction, and crafts.  John Deere tractors will be available for you to test your tractor driving skills and hole digging skills with a small backhoe.  There will be spinning and weaving demonstrations.  There will be re-enactors with a civil war demonstration battle including cannons.  There is also a bake sale.  All of the baked items and craft items are hand made/home made.

All of the buildings will be open with docents available to answer questions.  There are many artifacts stored in the buildings as well as on the grounds of the Caledonia Historical Village.

There will be many activities that will interest children and adults.  Come and join the Caledonia Historical Society in celebrating our past.  Our past is who we are today.

Next Membership Meeting

The next Caledonia Historical Society membership meeting is Thursday, August 15th at 6:30 pm in the 1902 Milwaukee Road Depot at the Caledonia Historical Village.  The meeting is open to the public and everyone is welcome.

SUMMER AT THE CALEDONIA HISTORICAL VILLAGE

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Volunteers!

Volunteers are always needed at the Caledonia Historical Village which is located just east of Hwy 38 on 5 Mile Rd in Caledonia. The Caledonia Historical Society owns and operates the village as a 501(c)3 non-profit with only volunteers. Volunteers are needed to groom the grounds surrounding the village, to help maintain the buildings located in the village, and to renovate the early 1900’s Botting Road machine shed. Volunteers are normally in the village on Monday and Thursday mornings from 9 am to around 11:30 am. Come join them; learn about the history of the village; help preserve that history.

Events!

The CHS website is undergoing construction. Check the calendar for events and soon there will be an active events tab. The next monthly meeting will be held July 18th at 6:30 pm in the 1902 Milwaukee Road Depot located in the Caledonia Historical Village. The public is welcome.

History of Linwood Park!

Linwood Park today is a piece of property just east of the Caledonia Historical Village on the west bank of the Root River. The land was originally used by Caledonia as the town dump. Linwood Park was opened in 1965 and was the first park fully owned and operated by the Town of Caledonia. A naming contest for the park was held in 1968 and Mrs. Otto Lorence and Mrs. LeRoy Schmidt were declared the winners. They both suggested the name Linwood Park as a fitting testimony to the area’s large and influential Bohemian community. A shelter was added in 1989 and since then a number of benches have been added overlooking the Root river. Information provided from the book, “Journey To A Village, Caledonia 1835-2008.”

CHS EVENTS AND LINWOOD HISTORY

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Events!

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

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!

Mark your calendars for May 18th.  The second annual big CHS rummage sale will be held on May 18th this year from 10 am to 4 pm.  The sale will be held in the buildings so the weather will not be a problem.  If you have donations for the rummage sale, contact Elveda Morrill at her email which is [email protected]  We do not accept clothing and all items must be in working condition, and you must be able to provide an expected sale price.  Donations can be dropped off on May 16th between 10 am and 4 pm or May 17th between 10 am and Noon.

Also mark your calendars for May 26th, the first open house of 2019 held at the Caledonia Historical Village, just east of Hwy 38 on 5 Mile Rd.  The buildings with docents will be open from 11 am to 3 pm, and admission is free, but donations are welcome.

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, May 16th, at 6:30 pm at the Caledonia Historical Village, 7330 5 Mile Rd.   The public is welcome.