Octagon House Museum & America's First Kindergarten

Octagon House Museum & America's First Kindergarten The Octagon House Museum will reopen for its 87th tour season on Saturday, May 2, 2026. Richards arrived in Watertown in the spring of 1837. and 2 p.m.

The Octagon House, five floors of solid brick construction completed in 1854, was designed and built by John Richards, an early Watertown settler. The house is one of Wisconsin's largest single family residences built prior to the Civil War. Once here he became the first lawyer in Jefferson County, as well as the owner of several mills. In 1849, he married his sweetheart, the former Eliza Forbes.

He promised to build her the finest home in the Wisconsin Territory if she would marry him. The home's construction includes central heating, running water and ventilation systems. In addition to those "modern conveniences," the house features a central spiral staircase which rises from the first floor to the tower room. The Richards family and their descendants lived in the home until 1937, when grandson William Thomas passed away. At that time the remaining family members were faced with what to do with the family home, which had become one of Watertown's most recognizable landmarks. The Richards family offered to sell it to the city for $1, but opposition from the city council and several citizens prevented that from happening. The fledgling Watertown Historical Society then came forward and arranged to purchase the home from the Richards family on the condition that it always be used as a public museum. Since 1939 the Octagon House has been open to the public. The museum is open from May through October. Fully guided tours in the air conditioned museum are given on the hour at Noon, 1 p.m. Admission also includes a self-guided tour of the First Kindergarten in America building and the pioneer barn.

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MUSEUM HOURS

May - open Saturday and Sunday 12-3 p.m., weekdays by appointment

Memorial Day through Labor Day - open 12-3 p.m. daily (closed Tues.) September & October - open Saturday and Sunday, 12-3 p.m., weekdays by appointment. ADMISSION
$10.00 for adults
$9.00 for senior citizens and AAA members
$5.00 for children 6 to 17 years of age

School and tour groups welcome!

Celebrate mom by bringing her in for a free tour! Our gift shop is open 12-3pm. Guided tours are at noon, 1:00pm, and 2:...
05/05/2026

Celebrate mom by bringing her in for a free tour! Our gift shop is open 12-3pm. Guided tours are at noon, 1:00pm, and 2:00pm.
Note…the house is not handicapped accessible.

05/05/2026

If you don’t follow 3barn, you should! The best people you’d ever meet!

05/01/2026

This weekend we will open for our 87th season! You need to add the Octagon House and America’s First Kindergarten to your summer bucket list!
For the month of May, we will be open on weekends with guided tours at noon, 1pm, and 2pm. Stop by! You’ll be glad you did!

Happy Earth Day! Thank you to Luther Prep students for helping with our yard! After all of the storms lately, it was so ...
04/22/2026

Happy Earth Day!
Thank you to Luther Prep students for helping with our yard! After all of the storms lately, it was so wonderful to have them helping clean up.

03/01/2026

Jodi and Darlene had fun putting together the sewing room!

02/12/2026
An interesting post about octagon houses!
01/09/2026

An interesting post about octagon houses!

We’re so happy to have Jodi as part of our team!Thank you to Ed Zagorski of the Watertown Daily Times for highlighting J...
12/18/2025

We’re so happy to have Jodi as part of our team!

Thank you to Ed Zagorski of the Watertown Daily Times for highlighting Jodi’s first year as manager of the Octagon House Museum.

From admirer to manager; Octagon House's Newman enjoying the living history

http://dlvr.it/TPt6qn Local journalism.

An amazing weekend at the museum! Despite 15” of snow, we had over 225 guests attend the play performed by Watertown Pla...
11/30/2025

An amazing weekend at the museum! Despite 15” of snow, we had over 225 guests attend the play performed by Watertown Players, Inc.. Our youngest guest was just 2 weeks old! I didn’t take enough pictures. We are so grateful for everyone who attended, everyone who performed, and all of the incredible volunteers who made all of this happen!
We’ll see you next year!

11/30/2025

Despite today’s weather, over 100 guests braved the snow to enjoy Watertown Players, Inc. performance! Tomorrow will be just as amazing. We look forward to seeing you!

11/23/2025

We hope to see you this weekend Nov 29th and 30th for our annual Christmas play performed by Watertown Players, Inc. the play is titled ‘A Little Women Christmas’
Shows start at 11:00am and run every half hour with the final performance at 2:30pm. Adults $8 and children under 12 $4.
We will have cookies and an ornament craft (while supplies last) for attendees.
Guests must be able to navigate stairs and stand for up to 1/2 hour.

Address

919 Charles Street
Watertown, WI
53094

Telephone

+19202612796

Website

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