Old World Wisconsin offers drive-thru experience

EAGLE, Wis. - If you’re looking for something fun to do with the whole family, all you have to do is hop in the car and go for a drive. Old World Wisconsin is educating with a family-friendly drive-thru.

It's often said that a car can take you to a lot of places, but only the folks at Old World Wisconsin can take you back in time.

"Old World Wisconsin is a 600-acre outdoor attraction that includes more than 60 historic structures that have been disassembled and moved from other areas of Wisconsin and brought to this one location," Dan Freas said.

Dan Freas

Located in Eagle, the massive property is slowly re-opening its doors to visitors by letting you drive on through.

"That’s our goal, to really provide immersive environments so that people aren’t just reading about how people lived, but they can actually step into those homes. They can step into those gardens," Freas said.

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Pre-pandemic, big walking tours were held, but safety precautions put a pause to that for the time being. However, the drive-through adventures are still a fun way to learn about the past and talk with the people who helped make it.

Old World Wisconsin

"But what we found is also an important way of accessing the site for people that are maybe challenged in terms of mobility," he said. "I think the thing that I get most excited about are the children, in providing an environment where children can become inspired by and become curious about the history of our state and about life in the past." 

From life on the farm to taking a trip downtown to visit the blacksmith, staff at Old World Wisconsin say the past is here.

Old World Wisconsin

"And hopefully, this will inspire them to want to read books and explore history in other ways – maybe even their own families' stories," he said.