The History Museum at the Castle
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The History Museum at the Castle is located in downtown Appleton, Wisconsin across College Avenue from Lawrence University. Owned and operated by the Outagamie County Historical Society (OCHS), The History Museum has previously operated under the names The Outagamie Museum and The Houdini Historic Center.
The building in which the museum is housed was formerly a Masonic temple, built in 1923, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Appleton's Masonic Lodge sold the building to the OCHS in 1985.
The museum's collections focus on the history of the Fox River Valley, containing artifacts from the 1840s on. The History Museum at the Castle also has a large collection of original Harry Houdini performance paraphanlia and personal documents, including a broad selection of his picks, locks, keys, and handcuffs. The museum also holds a collection of artifacts from the life of Senator Joe McCarthy, who was born, lived near, and is buried in the Appleton area. The museum also owns 35,000 photographs dating back as far as 1857, including ones of Houdini, McCarthy, Edna Ferber, and Appleton native John Bradley, one of the six men who took part in raising the flag on Iwo Jima.
The OCHS also owns and operates the Gringon Mansion in Kaukauna, WI.
- The History Museum at the Castle
- AKA Houdini virtual tour page, winner of American Association of State and Local History award of merit
- Joseph McCarthy, A Modern Tragedy virtual tour page, winner of the American Association of Museums' award for excellence in exhibition.
- Call to Duty: Outagamie County in World War II virtual tour page, including information on John Bradley
