The Hoard Historical Museum has announce that it will be hosting a historical bike tour in conjunction with the Fort Farmers Market.
The tour will be held Saturday.
Merrilee Lee, Hoard Historical Museum director, will be conducting the tour, will begin at 9 a.m. at “Market Square,” the location of the Fort Farmers Market, 19 E. Milwaukee Ave. The tour will conclude at the same location.
Participants should be prepared to bike between 1 and 2 miles over paved surfaces, according to information released by the museum.
“Fort Atkinson is very fortunate to have a vibrant Farmer’s Market and the connection between the market and our history is important. In fact, much of our town’s early history is near the farmers market location,” Lee was quoted as saying in the release.
Additionally, she said: “There are also inspiring, heartwarming and occasionally tragic stories behind the people who built, lived, and worked in the buildings and homes. This biking tour will highlight the stories of people who helped build Fort Atkinson.”
Foster House, water tower tours
Additionally, according to the release, the Dwight and Almira Foster House and the Historical 1901 Water Tower will be open to the public for the final time in 2023 on Saturday, Oct. 7.
Tours of both facilities will be offered between 10 a.m. and noon. Museum volunteers will serve as docents during the tour.
The Foster House is located at the rear of the Hoard Historical Museum at 414 Foster Street.
Lee noted within the release: “The Fosters were some of the first Yankee settlers to our area and helped to found the current city of Fort Atkinson. Their house, built in 1841, is one of the oldest houses in Fort Atkinson and the only house of its era open to the public.”
Further, museum staff will be sharing different methods for preserving food prior to the invention of pressure canning.
Citing some history, the release stated that the historical water tower was the first municipal water source for the city of Fort Atkinson. Constructed in 1901, it was in use as a water tower until 1989, and was later opened to the public for tours.
Touring the tower, in the 300 block of South Fourth Street, East, comes with some limitations, the release noted, such as handicap-inaccessibility, and children, under 8 years old, or individuals under 48 inches are not able to climb the interior steps.
Tours may be cancelled due to inclement weather, according to the release.
The final tour of the day will begin at 11:45 a.m.
Tours of both facilities are free and open to the public.
The Hoard Historical Museum and National Dairy Shrine Museum, 401 Whitewater Ave., Fort Atkinson, are open Tuesdays through Saturdays from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. They are closed on Sundays and Mondays.
For more information, about the museums or their programming, call: 920-397-9914 or visit their website: www.hoardmuseum.org,
The Fort Farmer’s Market is held each Saturday from 8 a.m. to noon, May through October. For more information about the market, visit its website: www.fortfarmersmarket.com.
Fort Atkinson’s historical 1901-built water tower. File photo.
The Dwight and Almira Foster House, file photo/courtesy of the Hoard Historical Museum.
Hoard Historical Museum Director Merrilee Lee waits for bike tour participants during a previously held Fort Farmers Market. She will be leading a tour, featuring historical places, on Saturday. File photo/contributed.
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