The Eileen Area Historical Society Is Born and Thrives
The Eileen Area Historical Society (EAHS) arose from the commonality of interests following the town’s 2004 gala Centennial celebration held at the Northern Great Lakes Visitor Center. Highlighting the celebration was an original historical musical production, And A Township Shall Be There, with a cast of 27 townspeople dramatizing the origin of the township and how it got its name, Eileen. This extravagant production by a town’s resident, David Hnath, prompted an interest from town residents to keep the ball rolling on preserving the history of the town for generations to come.
Despite the fact that our organization possesses no tangible space to display artifacts and memorabilia, members of our group strive and are challenged to search out, preserve, and convey life’s past in other ways. Our start and focus was on identifying and gathering family histories in creating our first publication, Family Histories of the Town Residents, Past and Present in 175 pages with accompanying family photos.
Our latest book, The Barns of Eileen, captures the essence of what barns were and stood for on the once ubiquitous family farm. An eclectic mixture of color photos of barns still standing, some barns that are no longer, and soon-to-be-gone barns, this book with accompanying histories of barn ownership and detailed narratives of what barns were used for, showcases these barns which once dotted our landscape as icons of our past, each being, in some way, a field of someone’s dreams. This publication is currently available for purchase for $15 plus $5 for postage if mailed. Contact the Hnaths (hnathfarm@yahoo.com or 715-746-2572) or the Setzkes (setzgk@centurytel.net or 715- 682-5767) if you are interested.
We have also been working on our third volume, The Veterans of Eileen, in which we memorialize our Eileen area veterans who have served our country so valiantly in our Armed Forces. We salute them with individual photos and accompanying military history that we have available.
In addition, our Eileen Area Historical Society has been much involved in the preservation of the Highland Area Veterans Memorial site on Highland Road. This site was once the location of the area’s one-room Highland School and has since been set aside as a memorial site currently honoring three Highland KIA veterans and those others who have served our country. A sign marking the site has been designed, erected, and funded by our society and is a peaceful spot available for quiet reflection.
Original File – Eileen Wisconsin Historical Society – Introduction
See original document Eileen Wisconsin Historical Society – Family Histories
See original document – Eileen Wisconsin Historical Society – Barns of Eileen
EAHS documents and books are designed by Paul Hnath