The Princeton Historical Society
630-632 West Water Street PO Box 71 Princeton, WI 54968
Phone: 920-295-9008 Email: PrincetonHistSociety@gmail.com
Step into the past and experience the richness of our local history, preserved through artifacts, photographs, documents, and engaging stories.
Join Us
All are welcome at our membership meetings, which take place on the third Monday of each month at 6pm, May - October. We meet at the Folklore Museum, 630 W. Water St. Princeton.
We are funded entirely by donations, fundraisers, and membership dues. Please consider becoming a member and/or making a donation!
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Help us preserve history:
become or remain a
Historical Society member!
Use the safe online payment portal to the left or send a check for your
membership dues to
Princeton Historical Society
P.O. Box 71, Princeton WI 54968.
Please include your contact info.
Thank you!
Dues
Annual Student $2 (high school)
Annual Adult $10
Annual Family $15
Lifetime Adult $100
Lifetime Family $250
Charter Member $500
Donor Member $1,000
Patron Member $5,000
Founder Member $10,000
Members are invited to participate in occasional outings and organized events like our annual banquet. This photo shows members on a boat tour of Green Lake, led by local historian and yacht captain Mike Lehner.
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Click the "Follow" button on the right, and make sure to "like" and share our posts to help us reach more local history lovers.
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Volunteer
Please call us at 920-295-9008 to see how you can help!
Help a great cause AND have a great time!
We need you!
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Our organization is
entirely run by volunteers.
We need people with a wide variety of skills.​
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Are you good at
home repairs?
Could you scan in photos?
Do you want to serve
on our board?
Are you good at doing research, or cleaning?
Do you love planning fundraisers or social events?
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Whatever your talent is, we'd love to have you!
You could run a game at our Halloween street party!
We can always use
some handy help.
Serve fun and food at one of our concessions events.
Projects we're currently working on, and could use help with, include:
- Scanning old Fire Department meeting minutes from the early 1900s- many in German!
- Scanning photos and writing content for our museum's display screens
- Editing scans of the Fox River Patriot magazine
- Preparing for Trick or Treat on Water Street and Christmas in Princeton
- Staff the museum on Saturdays; no history knowledge required!
Please call us at 920-295-9008 to see how you can help!
Upcoming
Events
Christmas in Princeton
Celebrate Christmas in Princeton with us and the Chamber of Commerce!
On Friday, Nov. 28th, Visit Santa at the Museum!
On Saturday Nov. 29th, come and get a great meal at Mrs. Claus's Kitchen during the Holiday Bounty Craft Fair, held at Princeton School District.
Meetings
& History Presentations
All are welcome at our short-and-sweet membership meetings, which take place on the third Monday of each month at 6pm,
May - October. Monthly meetings are now held in our expanded space at the Folklore Museum at 630 W. Water St.
​Above: On Sept. 15th, Karl Stewart gave a presentation on his newest book, "The Green Light" about the Green Berets. This was the first meeting in our newly expanded Folklore Museum!
After each meeting, we have guest speakers give talks about local history topics.​
News
Halloween Hilarity!
On Friday October 31st from 3:30-5pm, West Water Street was closed off so that all of the little ghouls and goblins and go trick-or-treating at local businesses. We held our usual mini street carnival with games and prizes for families.
Thank you to all our volunteers, especially the National Honor Society kids!
The Grand Opening was GRAND!
On September 13th and 14th, we welcomed hundreds of guests into our newly expanded Folklore Museum during our grand reopening. Princeton area residents responded with amazement and gratitude, donating $1,300 over the course of the weekend, not including new and renewed memberships.
We received enormously positive feedback from everyone, and we would like to share one visitor's particularly kind letter:
To: Jim and Chris Frasier, Vicki Wielgosh, Mike and Christ Goulet, Laura
Skalitzky, and all the persons who were a part of this project;
You all deserve a mountain of praise for what you achieved during the
last couple of years that culminated in the weekend's celebration! The
reception was much appreciated and the exhibits reflected your great
organization and creative skills. The museum is something that Princeton
will be proud to show off for years to come. I do believe that it will
inspire other communities as well.
Above all, I was personally affected by the respect and appreciation
shown toward myself and the donations that I handed over to Jim in
June. I did not expect that you would have time to incorporate so many
of the items into your exhibits. Seeing my dad's uniform in the
military display along with the article about the four brothers serving
in WWII drove me to tears...tears of pride in my dad and his brothers,
but also tears of thanks that you would honor our father and others who
served.
The museum reflects Princeton as a whole community, but also the
families and individuals who have made it their home.
Many thanks,
Joan Petruske Guckenberger
Daughter of John 'Pat' Petruske
FUNdraising Success
On August 2nd and 9th, we sold delicious lunches at the flea market food booth. Thank you to everyone who volunteered to cook, serve, and sell 50/50 raffle tickets! We made a total of $4,014.75 gross (before expenses).
Thank you to everyone who volunteered to cook, serve, and sell raffle tickets!
From left to right: Jim Frasier, Vickie Wielgosh, Chris Frasier, Mike Spakowicz, Susan Gorr,Carla Konen, Mike Goulet, Chris Goulet, Barb Bednarek, Mary Swed, Mimi Hayashi, Dave Golz.
Not pictured: John Hayashi, Carol Siddall, Paul Doro, Sandy Arendt
Radio Broadcast
On August 21st, PHS President Mike Goulet and Vickie Wielgosh had a blast talking to the folks over at The Wave 91.3FM radio station about our upcoming Folklore Museum reopening.
Listen to the broadcast- click the Play button (black triangle) below.
Museum Facelifts
We've been putting the finishing touches on the Folkelore Museum expansion, but also giving our good old Stone House a little TLC.
Thank you to Nick Sina (Sina Painting) for power washing the old stains off!
Thank you also to Alex Zobel for plastering a wall for us in the Folklore Museum, Mike and Jim Frasier for tree trimming and powerwashing, Jim and Chris Frasier for sidewalk maintenance, Carla Konen and Susan Gorr for their painting expertise, and bunches more thank-yous to many, many more dedicated volunteers.
We are so close to our grand (re)opening, and we couldn't do it without you!
PHS on Parade
Did you see our float in the 4th of July parade? We handed out lots of announcements about the upcoming grand opening in September.
Thank you to the parade organizers!
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Pictured here: Mike Goulet, Historical Society President, and his son-in-law Jake Stumpf.
PHS In the News
Some excellent articles were published this summer about the grand (re)opening of our Folklore Museum! Check out the Green Laker and Fox Cities Worth the Drive.
Read Worth the Drive
Dimensions for the wall where we would like the mural are:
Top: 80 feet long
North side wall: 16'6"
South side wall: 14'6"
The surface is cement block.
Mural Project- Artists Wanted!
We are working with the Princeton Art Collective - (PARC) to hire an artist to paint a mural on the side of our Folklore Museum.
The mural should feel like the best blend of Princeton’s past and future, with a fresh, bold, contemporary design.
To apply, email a pdf with your design, sample work, budget, and two references to hello@theparcdepartment.org.
We allocated $10,000 for this project. Budgets should include the cost of materials. PARC will provide lodging and any scaffolding or lifts.
Applications are open and will remain open until we find the right design.
Breaking news: The Oberreich Foundation has awarded us a $5,000 grant for this project!
Videos
Each year, we ask a variety of engaging guest speakers to give talks about local history. We record these so you can watch from home.
Formerly, presentations happened after our membership meetings, but due to popular demand, we have been offering them even when we are not holding meetings.
Members as well as guests are welcome at these free presentations!
Presentations and meetings have recently moved back into the Folk Museum.
See you there!
Below: On September 20th, Wesley Hunting Jr. talked about his family, his art, and his working life.
Presentations and meetings have been taking place at the Princeton Library while we continue renovating the Folklore Museum.
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Above: On April 21st, 2025, author Steve Rogstad's of the Sheboygan County Historical Research Center gave a talk about President Lincoln's ties to Wisconsin. He wrote the book, "Lincoln Aming the Badgers: Rediscovering Sites Associated with Abraham and Mary Lincoln in Wisconsin."
Below: On September 15th, Karl Stewart gave a great presentation on the Green Berets and his book about them, "The Green Light."
Part 1
Part 2
To see all of our videos, click HERE
to be taken to our YouTube page.
Below: On August 18th, 2025, retired pastor John Dolan
gave a talk about the early history of St. John's Lutheran Church in Princeton.
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Below: On July 21st, 2025, retired teacher Paul Doro talked about the teachers, administrators, and support staff at Princeton's school over the decades. He quizzed the audience and had many retired teachers in the audience laughing.
Below: On June 16th, 2025, Pat Grahn gave a presentation about her aunt, Ella Grahn Millbauer
(stage name Ella Mills). Aunt Ella was one of the last circus "fat ladies,"
and Pat wrote a book about her, “586 Pounds of Feminine Charm."
Yes, it’s true, we’re famous! Well, a little famous. We got our fifteen minutes of fame on in June 2022 when we were featured on WBAY Channel 2’s “Small Towns” segment. Host Jeff Alexander roams Wisconsin’s rural areas, bringing wholesome and funny stories to TV audiences across the state. He focused on our Folklore Museum’s mission to preserve the stories of individuals in our community, and the many people who have helped us in that endeavor.
Watch the video by clicking on this link:
https://www.wbay.com/2022/06/23/small-towns-princetons-history-comes-alive-through-folklore-museum/
Resources
The effort to digitize our newspapers took over a year to complete, and cost about seventeen thousand dollars.
98,563 individual microfilm images had to be scanned, cleaned up, coded, uploaded to a library system server, and made searchable.
This process involved the technical efforts of the Princeton Public Library staff, the Crowley Company of Frederick, Maryland, NMT Partners of Onalaska, Wisconsin, DC Johnson of Ripon, Wisconsin, and Keetra Baker of the Winnefox Library System. Winnefox hosts the database for us at no charge.
The digitization was made possible with contributions from the Princeton Historical Society, the Princeton Public Library, the Caestecker (Green Lake) Library's Tom Gnewuch Memorial Fund, the Wisconsin Humanities Endowment, and the Winnefox Library System.
Historic Newspapers Online
The Princeton Historical Society and the Princeton Public Library collaborated to digitize over 150 years of our city's newspapers.
Read and Search them Here!
Princeton had six newspapers over the years:
– Green Lake County Democrat 1879-1885
– Princeton Republic 1867-1937
– Princeton Republic-Star 1905-1906
– Princeton Star 1902-1905
– Princeton Times 1935-1937
– Princeton Times-Republic 1937-1993
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Princeton also hosted "The Fox River Patriot,"
an alternative tabloid/newspaper published by Dennis Kitchen and
Mike Jacobi from 1976 - 1980. The full series can be read at the museum.
We are hoping to digitize at least some of the Patriot's Princeton-related articles.
Note: we are in search of copies of "The Reformer,"
a very early and ephemeral newspaper first published in 1898.
Newsletters
Learn what we've been doing, read articles about local history, and- check out our newsletters!
Click on the links below to see printable PDF files.
Summer 2025 - Latest edition
Spring 2025
Winter 2024/2025
Fall 2022
Spring 2022
Fall 2021
Spring 2021
Winter 2020
Fall 2020
Summer 2020
Spring 2020
Click on any of the pages above to be taken to the newsletters in which they were published.
Princeton Yearbooks
We have a nearly-complete set of Princeton High School yearbooks - come and browse them in the Folklore Museum! We would love to get these digitized. Volunteers and/or donations for this endeavor would be greatly appreciated.
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Recommended Reading
Many excellent books, genealogies, and pamphlets have been written about the Princeton area and its residents.
These are available at the Princeton Public Library, although not all can be checked out due to their rarity.
"Small Potatoes: Vignettes from the Life of Emma Ellinger Mathews," by Emma Ellinger Mathews
"Come Back in Time" Volumes 1, 2, and 3 by Elaine Reetz
"Quas Qui Centennial" (Princeton's 125th anniversary book)
"Where Yesterday Meets Tomorrow" (Princeton's 175th anniversary book)
"St. John the Baptist Catholic Church, Princeton, Wisconsin : the 120th anniversary of dedication 1888 - 2008 : a Testament of Polish Immigrant Faith" by Roger Krentz
"Sister School: School Sisters of St. Francis in Princeton, WI" by Roger Krentz
"Faithful Servants: Pastors of St. John the Baptist Catholic Church, Princeton Wisconsin" by Roger Krentz
"The Canadian Club" by Joan Petruske Guckenberger
Service Record Book of Men & Women of Princeton, Wisconsin and Community
"Endless Echoes: From the Days of My Life" by Elmer V. Krueger
"Timeless Treasures" by Elmer V. Krueger
"Victor Mashuda: A Reflection of Nine Decades" by Victor Mashuda
"Bartel's History of Princeton Volume 1: From the New World to the New Deal" by Roger Bartel
"In Search of St. Marie & the Legend of the Cross" by Roger Bartel
"Petrusky Family History: The First Three Generations in the U.S." by Michael and Catherine Petrusky
"My Grandparent's Farm" by Edward J. Kuehn
"Brief Autobiography of Daniel G. Priske" by Dan & Carol Priske
"A Day in the Life of Princeton, Wisconsin" by Brian Swanson and Ryan Brzozowski
"Steamboats on the Fox River: A pictorial History" by D.C. Mitchell
"Princeton 150 Years 1848-1998" By Brad Brzozowski, Jenny Otto, Michelle Hoffman, Paul Soda, Shannon Grffin, and Andy Pulvermacher.
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Miscelleneous
Princeton Postcards - Some pictures of Princeton in bygone days. Many other postcards exist.
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1902 Pandemic Papers
These fascinating documents from over 100 years ago show how Princeton reacted to the spread of disease in an era before effective medicine.
Come Back In Time: One Room Schoolhouses
Article by Elaine Reetz in the Fox River Patriot, September 1979.
Steamboats & Princeton
Photos of steamboats that visited our city, and a bit of history.
Portage Register steamboats article, 1909
The Rapids and other steamboats which visited Princeton are described here.
History of Steamboats of the Fox River Valley
An article by Millard Newbert published in the Omro Herald, October 2nd 1930.
Museums
The Stone House (632 W. Water St.)
is an immersive historical living experience.
Walk through the parlor, dining room, kitchen, and bedrooms of a home once used by Princeton’s first mayor, and furnished with everything you'd need to live comfortably from about 1900-1930.
Try Victorian 3D technology with our stereoscope, see if you can recognize our early toasters, admire our collection of vintage clothing, see how the primitive stove and washing machine would have worked, and flip through catalogs and magazines of the period.
Many artifacts were donated from local Princeton families, and are labeled with their names. Take this opportunity to reflect on how much our lives have changed over the decades.
The Folklore Museum (630 W. Water St.)
is dedicated to preserving peoples’ lives by saving their stories and sharing them through artifacts, interactive displays, and innovative technology. It has over a dozen permanent exhibits, each one telling a story from Princeton's past.
Glimpse a general store, spy into a saloon, chug past our train tracks and gorgeous transportation mural, wade through a paddle steamer with a wheel that really turns, and see artifacts from every aspect of our history.
Notable objects include Native American stone tools,
uniforms and photos from our veterans (including Civil War memorabilia), the first television set in Princeton, the reconstructed office of local dentist Dr. Drill, and much more!
Along the way, you can pick up any of our crank telephone earpieces to hear an audio tour, or check out our slideshow screens.
Our museums are currently closed except for special events and private tours- call us to schedule one!​​
Our museums are open May-October on Saturday afternoons from about 11am-3pm
and by appointment. Call 920-295-9008 for a tour!
There is no charge for admission, but donations are gratefully accepted to help maintain our buildings and artifacts.
We also have a gift shop with Princeton-themed T-shirts, prints of historic photographs, tumblers, coasters, and more.
Stop at our Little Free Library, stocked with history books and historical fiction!
This bright blue box is open even when our museums are closed.​​
About Us
Our organization was founded June 15th, 1982.
Our logo is a willow tree.
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The willow tree has been the inspiration of folklore and legend because it symbolizes strength, flexibility, power, spirituality, celebration, worship, and death.
The willow’s adaptability allows it to bend and not break. However, if it is broken,a single branch can develop roots and grow into a new tree. Accordingly, all of humanity relies on its past to grow its future.
Then, as now, we have made it our mission to preserve the history of Princeton. That includes the stories of its residents, past and present, as well as the traditions and culture of the area and artifacts relating to these. We have no paid staff, but lots of dedicated volunteers.
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Current Board Members:
Mike Goulet - President
Chris Frasier - Treasurer
Jim Frasier - Vice President & Museum Director
Chris Goulet - Secretary & Grant Writer
Laura Skalitzky - Marketing
Vicki Wielgosh - Phase II Museum Renovations
Officers' terms are two years. All paid-up members are eligible to hold office, make nominations, and vote for board members. Members elected to the board vote amongst themselves for positions. We hold elections at our annual meeting in December or January.
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Officers meet on the second Monday of each month at 3pm. Due to ongoing construction at the Folklore Museum, we are currently meeting at the Library.
Membership meetings take place on the third Monday of each month at 6pm, May - October.
Meetings are held at the Folklore Museum, 630 W. Water St. Princeton
We are a registered 501(c)3 non-profit organization.
Each year, we hold numerous fundraisers, including concession sales at Christmas in Princeton and the famous Princeton flea market, meat raffles, 50/50 raffles, souvenir sales, and a summer dinner lecture. Many individuals and businesses contribute so that we can stay afloat.
