Museum Exhibits
first (Basement) floor Exhibits
The lower level of the museum contains our Jail, Toy Room, Early Farming, Tin Shop, Blacksmith Shop, Early Tools, Kitchen, and Laundry Exhibits.
second (Main) Floor Exhibits
The main floor of the museum houses our Prehistoric Bison Bone Display, Military Room, Pioneer Town, Native American Room, and Logging Room.
third Floor Exhibits
The upper floor of the museum contains the old county courtroom and law library. Other exhibits found on this floor include the Victorian Parlor and Bedroom, Polk County Communities, Ethnic Exhibits, Church and Textiles.
item Donations
If you are interested in donating an item to the museum, please fill out the form below and one of our staff will reach out if we are interested. Please note, items should be relevant to Polk County’s history. If you aren’t sure if the item will fit within the collections, let us know and we’d be happy to help!
NEW! Become a Room Sponsor
The Polk County Historical Society spends a lot of time and volunteer hours keeping our exhibits clean and preserved. We do this in stages. Each winter, we pick one or two exhibits we would like to update and give a deep clean. This winter is no different.
We have recently finished creating a new exhibit space within the small, windowed room across from the jail cell downstairs. This rotating exhibit, “things that could land you in jail” features some artifacts from Polk County’s moonshine days.
We have also returned our courtroom jury box to its original splendor, complete with jury chairs and a view of the room.
Our newest project upstairs involves the relocation of our town history and artifacts from the school room to the courtroom and the conversion of the school room into the evolution of technology and music exhibits
These two projects will take several volunteer hours and will cost money for storage solutions (i.e. acid-free boxes, exhibit displays that won’t damage the items). If you are interested in lending your time (and maybe some strong shoulders) to help us, please reach out to our Director (info@polkcountymuseum.org) or call (715) 485-9269. We’d love your help!
If you’re not able to volunteer your time but still want to help, please consider sponsoring one or both projects. We are incredibly grateful to our donors and plan to thank these room sponsors in the exhibit space once these projects are completed.
Please use the “Sponsor an Exhibit” button on our Membership page to pledge your support for our “road to jail” exhibit and/or our jury box restoration project.
Archives
To protect our fragile collections, we currently do not allow anyone outside of Museum staff to handle archival materials.
If you would like a staff member to search for something on your behalf, the following apply:
Members Only: The first hour is free of charge; the fee for additional time will be prorated based on $30/hour. (See Membership page for information on becoming a member.)
Non-Members: Prorated at $60/hour
If you’re interested in having staff search for information for you, please complete the research request form below: