Sauk County Historical Society

The Van Orden Mansion Museum is a 14-room Tudor Revival style mansion built for Baraboo banker Jacob Van Orden in 1902-03. It replaced an earlier 1879 house on the site, also built for Van Orden, which was purchased and moved across town by Otto Schadde in 1902.  Jacob Van Orden moved to Baraboo with his widowed mother, Jane Struthers Van Orden, in 1874 when he was 18 years old.

Van Orden became employed with the First National Bank of Baraboo as a “general utility boy and clerk.” By 1879 he had risen in rank and become cashier of the bank, a position which he filled for more than thirty years. Later he became president of the bank, now known as Baraboo National Bank.

The house was acquired in 1938 by the Sauk County Historical Society and was converted into the Sauk County Historical Museum. The lack of numerous owners over the years has kept the house in remarkably original condition. The exterior has changed little.  The interior is a near time capsule of original woodwork, flooring and wall treatments. Five fireplaces, marble sinks, original light fixtures, pocket doors and original maid and butler pantries can still be seen. Although the house is not entirely set up as a house museum, several pieces of Van Orden furniture are still in the house and little has been done to change the rooms themselves.

The museum contained in the Van Orden mansion is the result of over one hundred years of donations to the society. Thousands of artifacts and memorabilia relating to Sauk County or its inhabitants are displayed in many of the rooms on three floors of the mansion. The building also houses an extensive local history research library. Thousands of files contain pictures, documents and memorabilia relating to Sauk County and its inhabitants. Maps, directories, scrap books and history books are also housed here.

The first floor of the museum is handicapped accessible with off street handicapped parking available behind the mansion via the alley.

Sauk County History Center at 900 2nd Avenue is open to the public (Photo: Sauk County Historical Society)

The Sauk County History Center/Research Facility in the former Island Woolen Mill building was opened in April 2013 following extensive renovation.   Built in 1917, the building is a notable example of the work of the Madison architectural firm of Claude & Starck and is a rare example of the Prairie style applied to an industrial building.