BAYFIELD HERITAGE ASSOCIATION
EXHIBITS
Our exhibits, both in-person and virtual, truly bring history to life! Not able to make it to our Bayfield museum? We have captured the highlights here!
NEW!
Traditional Anishinabe Birchbark Canoe
wiigwaasi-jiimaan
BRINGING HISTORY TO LIFE!
NOW SHOWING
LOST FORMATIONS OF THE APOSTLE ISLANDS (Virtual Exhibit)
This virtual exhibit features postcard images of brownstone formations in the Apostle Islands circa 1900 that have since been lost to the waves of time. These postcards are not on display in the museum and can only be viewed here. Click ‘Learn More’ to see the exhibit video along with two bonus videos and additional reading material about Sam Fifield.
Traditional Anishinaabe Birchbark Canoe - wiigwaasi-jiimaan
This beautiful canoe was created by Red Cliff Elder, Marvin Defoe, using thousand-year old methods from his Anishinaabe ancestors.
OLD BAYFIELD CITY JAIL
Bayfield’s historic city jail is a 25’ x 25’ stone building located on Washington Avenue next to the Iron Bridge. It offers a glimpse of the old days and of the rascals who made amends in the “hoosegow!”
BAYFIELD MODEL RAILROAD
The Bayfield Model Railroad exhibit in our lower level depicts early Bayfield when the “Omaha” train line first arrived in Bayfield, through the mid-1920’s. This exhibit was generously donated by Larry Reiten.
RAY CAHILL BARBER SHOP
This true-to-life installation celebrates small-town barber shops as a center of activity, and the 53-year history of barber Ray Cahill in Bayfield. After Ray’s death in the 1980’s, his family donated the entire contents of the shop to the Bayfield Heritage Association.
BAYFIELD FLOOD OF 1942
The Bayfield Flood of ‘42 Exhibit depicts – through the lens of the camera, front page newspaper accounts, and personal accounts given over the years – the largest and most devastating flood event in Bayfield’s history.
HISTORY OF BAYFIELD
In this exhibit, the people of the Bayfield region welcome you to their past as you are part of their present and perhaps, part of their future.
COMMERCIAL FISHING
For 175 years, fishing in the Apostle Islands and Chequamegon Bay provided both subsistence and income. This exhibit provides a glimpse of what that life may have been like.
TIMBER AND AGRICULTURE
The first people living in this region used the virgin forests for fuel, to construct shelters, and make tools. Small-scale logging began soon after white settlers arrived in the 1830’s at La Pointe on Madeline Island. This exhibit tells that story through images as well as some of the tools of the trade.
SAND ISLAND
This exhibit presents scenes evocative of life on Sand Island, a documentary in the words and photographs of Sand Islanders, and a reference library of their diaries and stories. Life on Sand Island is lived without electricity or running water in the 21st century just as it was when Frank Shaw settled there in 1870.
BAYFIELD HERITAGE ASSOCIATION
2023 Museum Hours
Our museum is closed for the season. We will see you again in the summer of 2024!
If you would like to visit by appointment:
Call (715) 779-5958