Wade House Historic Site


Wade House Historical Site, also called Old Wade House, is a open-air museum in Greenbush, Wisconsin. A Wisconsin historic site, the site is operated by a Wisconsin Historical Society.
The site contains nine structures, three of which are listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
The namesake structure is the Sylvanus Wade House constructed in 1848–1849.
Live historic interpreters, wearing period-style clothing, populate the park during summer operations.

History

The Wade house was restored in 1950–1953 by the Kohler Foundation and then turned over to the state to be operated as a state park.
The Wesley W. Jung Carriage Museum was constructed and opened to the public in 1968. The museum features a collection of horse-drawn and hand-drawn vehicles, including carriages, sleighs, wagons, fire wagons and more.
The Robinson-Herrling sawmill site and 97 acres of property were purchased in 1960. was reconstructed on its original site from 1999 to 2001.
A new visitor center and carriage museum was opened in 2013.

List of structures

Three of the site's structures are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Structure namelocationImageBuiltConstruction/style/notes
Sylvanus Wade House1849Greek Revival
Listed on the NRHP in 1971
Charles Robinson House1855Greek Revival
Listed on the NRHP in 1984
Also known as the Butternut House; was residences of Sylvanus Wade's oldest daughter and her husband.
Robinson Carriage House
Butternut Cafe1950Astylistic Utilitarian Building
Robinson-Herrling Sawmill Farmhouse1847Timber frame
Listed on the NRHP in 1984
Rebuilt at original site 1999–2001
Dockstader Blacksmith Shop1970s
Smokehouse
Interpretation Building1950sThis building was previously used as the visitors center but was re-purposed after construction of the new visitors center building in 2013.
Visitor Center2013
Wesley W. Jung Carriage Museum2013Over 70 horse-drawn and hand-drawn vehicles, including carriages, sleighs, wagons, fire wagons and more.
Carriage Pavilion1967–1968This building was previously used as the carriage museum but was re-purposed after construction of the new visitors center building in 2013.
Chicken Coop
Sheep Pen
Stable
Maintenance Building