In June 2013, a new museum of horse-powered transportation and a new learning and visitor center opened at the Wade House historic site in Greenbush, 60 years after the dedication of this Wisconsin Historical Society site. Positioned on the south side of State Highway 23—the main east-west artery connecting Sheboygan and Fond du Lac—the 37,800-square-foot project serves as the new portal to the Wade House historic site, replacing an outmoded 1968 museum and an inadequate 1971 visitor center.
The program is divided into two major elements; the Learning and Visitor Center and the Wesley Jung Carriage Museum. As the state’s official carriage museum, the new museum of horse-powered transportation offers exhibition, interpretation, and engagement with Wisconsin’s largest collection of horse-drawn vehicles in a climate controlled environment to help protect these important historic artifacts. The Visitor Center offers a multi-tiered orientation to the historic site and its theme of horse powered transportation. Visitors find expanded and updated amenities for learning and enjoyment including classroom/workshop spaces, a banquet facility, a gift store, an indoor-outdoor café and restrooms.