04/16/2026
We have some sad news to share. The Cranberry Discovery Center is now permanently closed. The building housing the museum has been sold and the owner has plans to use the entire building for his new venture.
But before we shut down this page, we wanted to thank everyone who supported the museum, especially over the past three years as we created virtually all new exhibits.
The museum traces its beginnings to the Cranberry Expo, a museum and gift shop, opened in 1989 by the Clinton and Ellen Potter family on their cranberry marsh east of Warrens. The museum was managed by daughter Peggy Anderson.
After hosting visitors on their marsh for 12 years, the Potter family donated the contents of the museum to the Wisconsin State Cranberry Growers Association hoping that the organization could grow the museum to the next level. The museum’s board of directors began searching for a new location.
In 2004 the museum moved into the former George Warren Company wood planing mill in downtown Warrens and opened its doors as the Wisconsin Cranberry Discovery Center.
The Wisconsin Cranberry Discovery Center welcomed visitors from across the U.S. and several foreign countries for 18 years. But the museum struggled to recover from the impacts of COVID 19 and overall economic conditions. In 2022 the museum board voted to close the museum.
The bulk of the museum’s collection was donated to the Wisconsin Historical Society. A few items also went to the Monroe County Local History Room, Tomah Area Historical Society and the Millston Area Museum.
But Kevin & Traci Peterson, former owners of the Cranberry Country Cafe, felt Warrens – as the Cranberry Capital of Wisconsin – still needed to have a cranberry museum.
A steering committee comprised of Jenny Walworth, co-director of the Millston Area Museum; Phil Brown, past president of the South Wood County Historical Corporation, and Lorry Erickson, former director of the Wisconsin Cranberry Discovery Center, led the effort to create new displays in 2023.
In our 2nd post we’ll list the individuals, businesses and museums who provided items for display or helped us with information.
{Pictured left to right are Phil Brown, Lorry Erickson, Jenny Walworth and Peggy Anderson.)
