Our History
Preserving the history of Douglas County and sharing our stories.
Established September 1854
The Douglas County Historical Society can trace its roots back to September of 1854. At that time it operated under the name of the Superior Historical Society and its president was Colonel R. P. Carlton, the oldest resident of the area. By 1902, the Superior Historical Society still had no collection and was holding meetings only once every four years. The meetings were then discontinued due to lack of interest until October of 1931 when, under the leadership of John A. Bardon, a collection was developed that included photographs, objects and documents.
In 1934 the group’s name and mission was changed to include all of Douglas County. The new Douglas County Historical Society was offered the home of the A. A. Roth family to use as their museum in 1938. After remodeling the building, the collection was moved to this location in 1939. It wasn’t long, however, before the Historical Society began to outgrow this home.
By the 1960’s they were looking for a larger space to house their ever-increasing collection. An old armory at 16th Street and John Avenue was considered in 1961, but then they received news that the Superior Children’s Home was closing and an even grander scheme developed. Yet even this would have its hurdles to overcome.
The Superior Children’s Home had been in service for 42 years, since the Victorian-era mansion that housed it had been left to the Children’s Home and Refuge Association by its owner, Grace Pattison, when she left Superior in 1920. Built by her husband, Martin Pattison, in the late 1800’s, it was Mrs. Pattison’s wish that the Children’s Home Board destroy the building and sell the property rather than use it for something other than a children’s home.
At first it seemed unlikely that anyone would be able to convince them otherwise, but City Attorney Marcovich pointed out that Mrs. Pattison had left an alternative: let the title to the home revert to the Pattison heirs for disposition. The Pattison heirs, it turned out, felt that the home should be preserved and then turned the title for it over to the City of Superior.
The Douglas County Historical Society moved its collection into this grand home in May of 1963. The home, known as “Fairlawn,” served as its headquarters for many years. In later years, gala events, such as Victorian teas and murder mystery dinner theaters, were held on Fairlawn’s grounds by the Historical Society, making their name and that of Fairlawn nearly synonymous. In 1999, however, the lease for this property was lost as the mission at Fairlawn turned to that of a house museum telling its place in Superior history. The organization again went in search of a place to call “home.”
For two years, the Historical Society was located in the lower level of 1401 Tower Avenue, in the heart of Superior’s old downtown business district. The building, known as the “Old Post Office,” dates to around 1905 and once served as the city’s post office and federal building. Today it has been renovated and restored to its original grandeur and contains the offices of a number of local businesses. This location, however, simply could not house the society’s large collection and so the search for permanent headquarters continued.
In November 2002, The Douglas County Historical Society was pleased to announce that the search was finally over. The organization had purchased and moved into another historic building in Superior. Located at 1101 John Avenue, it was built in 1925 for $35,000 and was known as the Vasa Temple.
Newspaper articles of the time inform us that it was erected by the Svea and the Freja lodges of the Vasa Order of America, which was a Swedish American organization. Lidgerwood-Mundy bought the building in 1948 and has been there until recently, when they moved their engineering and accounting divisions to their main headquarters. They have maintained the building very well, keeping the wiring updated and re-roofing the building in 1991.
Not only does our Great Hall serve as our exhibit room. Coolidge Desk In addition the building’s 40 by 60-foot hall is also large enough to utilize for meetings, weddings, funerals, musical and theatrical productions.
As DCHS moves forward, we will need more caring volunteers to join our team and help us preserve and protect this vital asset of our treasured history.
Reach out to us at 1101 John Ave, Superior, WI 54880 or email at DCHS@DouglasHistory.org or simply call us at 715-392-8449 if you have any questions or want to get involved.