The Old World in the New

Southwestern Dane County was settled by diverse immigrants in the latter half of the 19th century. Irish, Swiss, Scots, Norwegians, Germans, English and Eastern Yankees all took up residence in the rolling hills and glens of the Driftless region. These transplants brought centuries-old material forms of ethnic expression that adapted their European, Old World heritage to their New World homeland.

The pieces in this section are some of the oldest in the Mount Horeb Area Historical Society collection. All were carefully transported from locales across the globe—for reasons both sentimental and practical, decorative and utilitarian—by immigrants preparing for a new American life.