Museum Hours

Mid-May to Mid September: Monday thru Saturday 12-4 PM
Winter Hours: Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday 12-4 PM
Or by appointment. Call (608) 637-7396

The Vernon County Museum located at 410 S. Center Avenue in Viroqua was built during 1918 and 1919 as a training school for teachers. The Teachers College or "County Normal School" as it was called, was under the jurisdiction of the County Board of Supervisors.

The total graduates over the years number nearly 2,000. A one-year program was in effect until 1937 when it was changed to a two-year course. The laboratory (Model) School was also here for future teachers to work with actual students until 1965. In 1972 only degree teachers were being licensed and that required four years of college. Therefore the teachers college was closed and no permanent use was made of the building until 1989 when it was purchased by the Vernon County Historical Society to be used as a museum.

Today the Historical Society office and genealogy room is on the first floor. Obituaries, census, grave stone inscriptions, ancestor charts, maps, and area family and history books are just a few of the items accessible for genealogical research.

The second and third floors house various exhibits of Vernon County History including the Tobacco exhibit, an important agricultural product in Vernon County for many years and the Astronaut Mark Lee Space exhibit.