For decades, a mural graced the east side of the museum.  Murals such as this were a common sight in rural America advertising a variety of products.  Though faded, research found the original mural advertising Cream of Wheat Flour.  Dedicated in 2009, this lead to the Wall Dogs coming to Plymouth in 2011, designing and painting 21 murals on various buildings throughout the community.

Union cemetery was established in the 1850's and here you will find many of Plymouth's earliest settlers.  Nestled in a park-like setting, many of the monuments are works of art.  Through society research, we are able to offer self guided tours to enjoy at your leisure.  A new walk is being planned for 2021.  

Band concerts in city park have been a decades long tradition.  Long lasting memories are made visiting with friends or making new, enjoying a variety of  music, but more importantly, the iconic cake & concession stand.  Held June, July & August, we offer brats, hamburgers, potato salad and beans, at one or two of the concerts.  And save room for those home-made cakes!  Food is available at 5 p.m. with music beginning at 7 p.m.  The forested park is located on Grove street on the north side of Plymouth.  Take outs available.

A decades long event, once known as Sidewalk Sale,  our downtown is filled with vendors galore, from one end of Mill street  to the other, selling all kinds of goods.  Stop by for a grilled cheese sammitch and check out the museum.  We also offer a variety of reasonably priced publications and Plymouth mugs.  It's usually hot and the museum is air conditioned!

A long standing fund raising event.  Beautifully decorated tables, fine linens & china, afternoon tea, tea breads and sweets, with good  company and conversation.  Past programs have included presidential first ladies such as, Dolly Madison, Mary Lincoln, Eleanor Roosevelt,  as well as Laura Ingalls Wilder, and others.  An entertaining and educational event for young and old alike.  

The museum is beautifully decorated and open Thanksgiving weekend for our annual Christmas cookie sale. A variety of homemade, one pound assortments, as well as a variety of raffle baskets, await your arrival.  The city's night-time Christmas parade begins at 7:00 p.m. Friday with the arrival of Santa Claus.

  Brief business meeting & election of officers followed by our program – And Then it Rained Fire; The Peshtigo Fire 1871. Home to the country’s largest woodenware factory, sawmill’s, sash and door factories, swollen by the influx of laborers. A landscape stuffed with debris from logging, a village built of wood, weather abnormalities, a prolonged drought and the arrival of a dry cold front all combined to form a recipe for disaster. 

Music!  Music!  Music!

An Afternoon with so much entertainment your toes will be sore from tapping!  Family friendly event.  Located at the Stayer Park pavilion, in the heart of the downtown, along the banks of the Mullet river.  3 to 9 p.m.

Food & refreshments! 

  2nd Saturday's Program - History of Plymouth Hospital with Dan Buckman    The dream of Rev. Martin Schmidt of St. John Lutheran Church, the Plymouth Hospital opened in 1917 in a former cow pasture at the south end of Selma Street, three years after Rev. Schmidt began marshaling community support for the project. After additions in 1927 and 1956, continued growth and demand led to construction of an all-new hospital to the south, connected to the original hospital by an underground passage, which opened in 1970. The facility is no longer a hospital, but still serves as an acute care center and outpatient clinic.   2nd Saturday’s is sponsored by the Sheboygan County Historical Research Center and is held at the Plymouth Art’s Center.  Program begins at 9:30 a.m. – free & open to the public 

While downtown shops will be selling their wares, the Historical Society will be holding a book sale and offering grilled cheese sandwiches!  A large variety of books for your reading pleasure are priced to sell.  Stop by!  We are air-conditioned!  This is a great fund raising event for the society.

The society will be hosting the concession stand  in forested City Park.  Brats & hamburgers, Sheboygan hard-rolls, homemade German potato salad, and baked beans.  And don't forget to save room for those homemade cakes!  We begin serving at 5 pm.  Eat in the park - take-outs available.  

Jenny Appleseed, fictional sister of Johnny Appleseed, takes you on a journey through American Folklore. Relive stories you heard as a child. Learn stories and legends that perhaps you missed. Along the way  meet such memorable characters as Rip Van Winkle, Pecos Bill, Paul Bunyan and John Chapman. 

-Stay tuned for ticket information-

Thanksgiving weekend Friday - Saturday.  

One pound boxes of assorted homemade delectable cookies $7.00

Fri. 11:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. 

                  Downtown Christmas Parade 7 p.m.                                                                         Sat. 10 to 4:00 p.m.                                               

Billy Bergin once walked the Sheboygan Marsh and nearby farm fields.  Over the decades he collected Indian arrowheads and artifacts covering a time line of Indian life, from the Early Paleo period of about 10,000 BC, to the Late Woodland people up to 1600 A.D.  We are proud to have his collection on exhibit.

A few of our exhibits are permanent while many others change throughout the year.  

Beginning in 2007, the Historical  Society & City of Plymouth have honored historically significant properties, local landmark status.  Plaques placed on these properties provide details and information.  A walking/driving brochure is available at the museum, Plymouth Chamber of Commerce, and other businesses in the community.

Henry Huson, an early settler, and second mayor, built a home on Collins street.  A water tower, built in 1886, provided fresh water for his home and barns before municipal water was installed.  In 1964, the Huson family donated the tower and land to the city, creating the Henry H. Huson Park. Fire destroyed the tower in 2015.  The historical society and City of Plymouth had an exact replica built with the historical society providing financial support for the windmill. 

Plymouth resident, Hattie Crogan, was an acclaimed artist, whose career began in the late 1800's.  Born in 1871, Hattie attended a boarding school in Beaver Dam and  later studied at the Chicago Art Institute.  In 1893 Hattie and her husband moved to Plymouth and opened an art studio in their home.  Hattie provided lessons while also working at a chair factory in Sheboygan.  Many of her paintings were acquired at auction by a local resident and donated to the historical society.

The C.H. Bade barn dates to the 1850's and is one of the oldest remaining buildings in Plymouth.  It has been relocated to the museum grounds and is undergoing renovations.  Once completed, the barn will offer a carriage and blacksmith shop exhibit.  The 1870's Settler's Club building, a meeting place for Civil War veterans, will be moved to the grounds to compliment the barn. This area is north of the museum on Main street.

The Plank Road was an early wooden road that traversed through the wilderness from Sheboygan to Fond du lac.  Early settlers traveled by foot and carriage on this road as they settled in Sheboygan county and elsewhere.

One of the stores on the Plank Road is a general store.  This was the first store in the area (then called Quic-Qui-Oc), selling goods to early settlers and trading with Indians.   

In 1876 the lower level of the museum housed a summer kitchen and pantry.  On display is an 1880's wood range, 1920' electric range, and 1930's gas stove.  Other early kitchen pieces and utensils, as well as a stocked pantry, make for an fun filled exhibit.

This photo, taken in 1952, was a Kraft Company summer picnic, held in City Park.  Attendees enjoyed brats and hamburgers and an afternoon of Schopskoff (sheepshead - a card game!)  We welcome donations of local vintage photographs for our archives. 

We would rather display artifacts than store them, so there are a few permanent exhibits within the museum. To provide new experiences for our guests, many of exhibits change throughout the year.  You will always find something different and leave knowing something new.    

The society aims to remain fresh and interesting throughout the year.  A variety of activities and entertainment are held for members and non-members alike.

One Sunday afternoon in October of 1946, a 16-year old Plymouth boy sat on a fender of a car and fired at a sparrow perched on the wheel of a contractor’s wagon. That shot hit a wagon and exploded more than 1,000 pounds of nitroglycerin dynamite that Dynamite Bill had stored there.  

The blast shook a half dozen counties and Plymouth streets were awash with shattered glass. One Plymouth resident was just about to sit down to listen to the radio. The davenport rose to meet him. Everyone rushed outside to see what had happened. All that could be seen was a hole in the ground 10 to 12 feet deep and 15 to 20 feet across. The wagon and the sparrow disappeared. 

This photo certainly has a story to tell. Work jackets advertise the name R.H. Hand Lumber Co. and the horse, Keifer & Witkopp Furniture and Undertaking.  Note what the gentlemen are holding.  A saw, hatchet, hammer, level, and two with a mug of beer, one holding a mug and a bottle.  All appear to have arms, legs, fingers and toes intact.

The Hotchkiss-Puhlman Mill bustled with activity and was important in the development of Plymouth.  Farmers arrived from surrounding counties with wheat to have ground into flour.  

In 1966 the mill was torn down and a commercial office building was constructed onto its foundation.

In the early 1900's, Plymouth residents utilized trolley cars for transportation.  The trolley line operated from Sheboygan to points westward with a trolley station right here in Plymouth.  Car 26, at one time a common site, now operates at the Trolley museum in East Troy, Wis.