Racine Heritage Museum

Racine Heritage Museum We invite you to join the over 30,000 annual visitors to Racine Heritage Museum, and take advantage

Part two of the two-fer: Hoy's documentation and preservation of birds led him to collecting and preserving this, now ex...
05/22/2026

Part two of the two-fer: Hoy's documentation and preservation of birds led him to collecting and preserving this, now extinct, passenger pigeon. Passenger pigeons were named after passenger trains. A single flock could be made up of millions of birds. They were so loud when they flew overhead they sounded like a train’s engine. Humans hunted them so excessively they went extinct in 1899. The extinction of the passenger pigeon led to the passing of wildlife preservation laws.

Part One of a Two-fer: Meet Philo Hoy. Ohio-born Philo Romayne Hoy moved to Racine in 1846 with his wife and infant son...
05/22/2026

Part One of a Two-fer: Meet Philo Hoy. Ohio-born Philo Romayne Hoy moved to Racine in 1846 with his wife and infant son. He was a doctor whose interests included botany, ornithology, and geology. He collected and wrote about local birds and their migration patterns, so much so that the local Audubon society is named in honor of him. In addition to his love of the natural world, he had a great respect for Native Americans. He advocated for the preservation of the effigy mounds in Mound Cemetery and helped plan areas of the city to preserve its natural landscape.

The familiar “Frank’s” brand canned sauerkraut, still found in grocery stores throughout the country, originated in Raci...
05/21/2026

The familiar “Frank’s” brand canned sauerkraut, still found in grocery stores throughout the country, originated in Racine County - in Franksville! Organized in 1907 by the Frank brothers, Franks Pure Food Company became one of the nation’s largest producers of sauerkraut for nearly 80 years. The company was sold to Fremont Foods in 1977 and local production ceased in 1985.

Racine High School, built in 1853 on the site now occupied by the Racine County Courthouse, was the first free, public H...
05/20/2026

Racine High School, built in 1853 on the site now occupied by the Racine County Courthouse, was the first free, public High School in the state of Wisconsin. The first classes were held on December 12 of that year with six area students - 5 female and 1 male - enrolled.

Clarence “Ginger” Beaumont (1876-1956), born in Rochester, WI, holds a unique distinction in Major League Baseball histo...
05/19/2026

Clarence “Ginger” Beaumont (1876-1956), born in Rochester, WI, holds a unique distinction in Major League Baseball history. In 1903, as the leadoff hitter for the Pittsburg Pirates, Beaumont became the first batter in the first World Series, batting against the legendary Cy Young of the Boston Red Sox. During his rookie season, Beaumont became the first player in the league to score more than 5 runs in a single game. After 11 seasons with the Pirates, Boston Doves and finally the Chicago Cubs, Beaumont retired from baseball with a .311 batting average and appearances in two World Series games. After his retirement he returned to the Rochester area, working his family farm in nearby Honey Creek. Beaumont is a Charter Inductee in Racine Heritage Museum’s Racine County Sports Hall of Fame.

The founders of the Racine Rotary Club included W. R. Gittings, A.J. Horlick, H.F. Johnson, W.H. Walker, and G.H. Wheary...
05/16/2026

The founders of the Racine Rotary Club included W. R. Gittings, A.J. Horlick, H.F. Johnson, W.H. Walker, and G.H. Wheary. Those of you who have been keeping up with will recognize those names! Racine's rotary club eventually outgrew what it could handle in terms of membership so in 1968 a second club was established; Rotary Club of West Racine (Rotary West). To avoid conflict, members of the West club were required to live or work west of the Chicago-Northwestern Railroad Tracks. In recent years, membership declined to the point where Rotary West dissolved in 2011 leaving Racine with only one Rotary Club once again.

On February 23rd, 1905, Harris and three of his business friends started a club that would become known as Rotary (so na...
05/15/2026

On February 23rd, 1905, Harris and three of his business friends started a club that would become known as Rotary (so named because the meetings rotated between the business of the members). The original logo was a wagon wheel but as you can see it has since become a gear. The club quickly expanded to other cities including Racine in 1917. In 1910, clubs were established in Canada and Great Britain, making Rotary an international organization. Rotary International's motto is "Service Above Self". One of the biggest causes Rotary supported was working with the World Health Organization and UNICEF to eradicate Polio.

Come see us tonight at the Red Apple School for their STEAM fair! We have artifacts from Racine inventors, check them ou...
05/14/2026

Come see us tonight at the Red Apple School for their STEAM fair! We have artifacts from Racine inventors, check them out and learn more about the legendary inventors and businesspeople who made Racine great!

Paul P. Harris was born in Racine in 1868, but he only spent the first three years of his life here. After that, he was...
05/14/2026

Paul P. Harris was born in Racine in 1868, but he only spent the first three years of his life here. After that, he was sent to live with his grandparents in Vermont. Despite his success in his later adult life, he actually had a hard time making it through higher education. After attending multiple schools, he finally graduated from Princeton in 1890. He then went to law school at the University of Iowa. Following his school years, he spent 5 years traveling and working odd jobs before settling down in Chicago. Perhaps this experience is what inspired him to start a club that would eventually become Rotary International.

In 1929 Otis Hulett (1897-1989), a reporter with the Journal Times office in Burlington, published a concocted story abo...
05/13/2026

In 1929 Otis Hulett (1897-1989), a reporter with the Journal Times office in Burlington, published a concocted story about a “Liars’ Club” consisting of members of the local Police and Fire Departments who would gather annually to swap tall tales. Despite the fact that the story in itself was a lie, the Burlington Liars’ Club was established. Within a few years, the Club, which recognizes the best lie submitted each year, had grown to a national phenomenon. Nearly 100 years later, the Club continues, with submissions pouring in from all around the world.

The young Armenian families that settled in Racine moved into the danish neighborhoods surrounding State Street. By the...
05/12/2026

The young Armenian families that settled in Racine moved into the danish neighborhoods surrounding State Street. By then, the Danish families had moved out to West Racine. Here they began to establish a community that put an emphasis on maintaining their culture and heritage. The first Armenian church established in Racine in 1922 was St. Mesrob Armenian Apostolic Church (pictured here) where services were conducted in Armenian. In the 1930s a second church was established, St. Hagop. Over the past century, a lot of the efforts to maintain Armenian history and culture comes from these congregations.

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Address

701 Main Street
Racine, WI
53403

Opening Hours

Tuesday 10am - 5pm
Wednesday 10am - 5pm
Thursday 10am - 5pm
Friday 10am - 5pm
Saturday 10am - 3pm
Sunday 12pm - 4pm

Telephone

+12626363926

Website

http://www.RCSportshall.org/

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