Iron County (Wisconsin) Historical Museum

Except for a big wine vat, a back bar, and a few other items, Hurley's rough, raw past seems remote and subdued here. Three floors of museum displays fill this splendid 1893 Richardsonian Romanesque courthouse—a real landmark, with its tall tower and illuminated clock. The courtroom is a visitor highlight.
With so much space, this has definitely become a museum well suited to explorers and rainy days. There's a logging room, a religion room, a mining room with an oversize display on the Montreal Mine, a uniform room, the old back bar, antique clothing, a barbershop, a schoolroom—and that's just the top floor!

Most volunteers have deep local roots and can tell some good stories to visitors who ask questions. On a visit awhile ago, volunteers disavowed firsthand experience with Hurley when it was a wide-open town. "We're just transplants," said one. But it turned out she had been here since 1937 and had baby-sat for prostitutes' kids. (They were quite well behaved.) Her husband remembered "how [the prostitutes] used to roll lumberjacks and take all their money after they got them drunk."

Visitors can see old-fashioned rag rugs woven on four large looms. They sell the rugs made here, and will even weave your own old clothes into rugs.

The first-floor photo gallery displays many photographs of landscapes and everyday life by Emma Sackett, a remarkable photographer active just after 1900. Many people know her work in the Wisconsin story presented in the state historical museum in Madison.

The Iron County Museum is largely supported by sales of rag rugs, a folk craft especially associated with thrifty Finns. Iron County has lots of Finlanders. This is a recycling operation on a large scale. Visitors can see rag rugs woven here on four large, handcrafted looms. Rugs are for sale, or they can be ordered, specifying color, end stripes, etc. You can even have your own old clothes woven into rugs, achieving a functional memento and exercising maximum artistic control. One widow had her late husband's clothes turned into rugs for their children. The mother of a groom gave her daughter-in-law a rug made of her new husband's boyhood clothes, saying, "I've washed them for years; now you can wash them!" Pay by the inch. A corduroy rug on a 27" loom, 48" long, is $28.80. A 27" denim rug that's 50" long is $30. A polyester 24" runner, 60" long, is $33. They are very nice for bedroom or bath. Placemats, 15", are about $7. Look online for details: http//Xironcountymuseum.org.

303 Iron at Third Ave. Iron intersects U.S. 2 two blocks south of W-77 on the south side of downtown. (715) 561-2244. Open year-round, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Mon, Wed, Fri & Sat, except for holidays. Donations appreciated. $25 motorcoach fee includes a guided tour. Wheelchair access: call. By arrangement, chairs can come in the back door and see the first floor.

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