Welcome to the Iron County Historical Museum Online

Visit us realtime in the Old County Courthouse
303 Iron Street
Hurley, Wisconsin 54534
715/561-2244

Museum Hours
Open year-round: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays & Saturdays
except holidays
Admission is Free
Bus Tours: $25

 

The Iron County Historical Museum draws people from far and wide. Above, Gov. Jim Doyle signs the guest register when he visited in 2003. The reason people come back to visit us again and again is the quality of the exhibits. Few museums can boast such an extensive collection as the one you'll discover in Hurley.
 
 
Discover a gallery of photographs taken by the pioneering Emma A. Sackett. She captured some of the best known images of life and development in the pioneering days of the Gogebic and Penokee Ranges.
 

 
While the museum boasts a collection of hundreds of old photos, there's a lot more to see than just pictures. Room after room, covering three full floors, features artifacts from our heritage.

The region that now makes up Iron County came into being when commercially viable Iron Ore was discovered. Unlike most northern Wisconsin communities, minerals prompted the early settlment. Right on the heels of prospecting came the lumberjacks, both to build our community and to provide timber to build Chicago, Milwaukee and points south. For a sampling of our mining and lumber exhibits, visit out the Mines and Woods Page.

Home life was sometimes a challenge. And at other times it was very stylish. And it was always rowdy in Hurley. To see some samples of what we can show you about everyday life in the old days, visit Life on the Range.