DeForest Area Historical Society

05/28/2026

05/27/2026

Newspaper social columns like these were the social media of the past!

In the next few days, watch for news from Morrisonville and Windsor from 1967.

05/26/2026

Spring is in full bloom at the Hansen-Newell-Bennett House Museum. Thanks to our volunteer gardeners, Mary, Lana, and Connie for using their green thumb skills to make this house look great.

Our first open house will be held on Sunday, June 14 from 1:00 - 4:00 p.m. at the Hansen-Newell-Bennett House Museum AND also at the DeForest Railroad Depot. Our docents will be welcoming visitors at both locations for free tours.

05/25/2026

Printed in the DeForest Times Tribune on May 5, 1967.

05/25/2026

On this Memorial Day, here's some local history related to a special cemetery in our area.

Token Creek’s historic cemetery, located just north of Highway 19 on Portage Road, existed at least as early as 1849.

In 1956, Token Creek was chosen by the Dane County Historical Society to have a historical marker installed, which includes information about the cemetery.

In 2000, the town of Windsor completed a rehabilitation of the cemetery’s gravestones to permanently preserve the area's historic sites.

A large granite memorial lists the names of veterans who rest in the cemetery. Soldiers from the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, the Civil War, World War I, and World War II are buried in the cemetery.

05/24/2026

This photo shows gas station operators, Harry Halverson and Alford Priem, standing proudly in front of Star Service Garage in Morrisonville. The garage was on the west side of Morrison Street. (circa 1920)

05/21/2026

Did you know there was a cheese factory in the Norway Grove area?

Here's a photo and the note that was attached to it.

05/19/2026

The Friends of Token Creek Conservancy invited our Historical Society to their annual meeting to share some history about the Token Creek area. Volunteers Jane and Connie were glad to dig into the history of this fascinating part of Dane County.

Did you know?

--The Token Creek area was originally a Ho-Chunk Winnebago hunting and camping ground.
--During the first half of the 19th century, Token Creek was one of the most important communities in Dane County.
--Token Creek was located at the intersection of two trails which became main travelers’ routes--one from Milwaukee to Prairie du Chien (now Highway 19) and the other from Four Lakes to Fort Winnebago (now Portage Road).
--The Token Creek Watershed covers approximately 27 square miles and supplies nearly half of the base flow for Lake Mendota.

05/18/2026

The Hansen-Newell-Bennett House Museum is unique, but it's also just like our own homes in some ways -- it needs to have yard clean-up done in the spring.

Last week volunteers Connie, Mary, and Lana put on their garden gloves and brought their tools to get the job done. It's a bit to early to see flowers in the yard or even in the flower pots, but they're coming.

The Hansen-Newell-Bennett House is located at 119 East Elm Street in DeForest. The original owner was Julius Hansen, who owned a lumber yard. The house was later owned by Ernest Newell (a business partner of Hansen), and then Dyson and Olga Bennett.

The DeForest Area Historical Society has restored the home to depict early 1900s life, including displays on local school and business history.

Our first open house of the season will be on Sunday, June 14 from 1:00 to 4:00 pm. Watch for more information.

05/16/2026

One of the tools we have in our Historical Society office is a microfilm reader. This machine magnifies text and images from film rolls and projects them onto a screen for viewing. It's great for looking at old newspapers, as volunteer Norm can verify. Norm has been looking up obituaries and high school sports information recently.

But our machine recently stopped working. Did we have to call in a specialized technician from Madison or beyond? Nope! We have a knowledgable volunteer who is trained in a related field.

Thanks to Scott, our machine is up and running again.

05/13/2026

This winter, DeForest Area Historical Society sponsored a contest open to local middle and high school students. Students were invited to be creative, using the DeForest Railroad Depot as the theme.

DeForest Area High School junior, Teyla Haynie, was the winner for her paint on canvas piece titled "Reunited". Teyla received a cash prize of $50. Her art has been framed and will be on display at the Depot.

Teyla and Historical Society volunteer, Amie, are pictured here.

Thank you and congratulations to Teyla!