Click to download attached PDF
New Saturday Programs Attract Visitors
To Experience Historic East Troy
History buffs, shoppers and train lovers will not want to miss Saturday afternoons in East Troy this summer. The Experience Historic East Troy initiative packages the East Troy Marketplace, sponsored by the East Troy Area Chamber of Commerce, with the East Troy Electric Railroad and the newly opened Kubicki Museum and Heritage Center.
The East Troy Marketplace will be open on Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on East Troy’s historic village square from May 22 through Sept. 25, except during the Woman’s Club Arts & Crafts Fair on June 12 and the East Troy Bluegrass Festival on Sept. 11.
Every Saturday throughout the season, East Troy Ambassadors will staff booths at the railroad depot and on the square to provide visitors with attraction maps and lead people between the historic sites. The Museum and Heritage Center, on the east side of the square, will be open and staffed with knowledgeable volunteers from the East Troy Area Historical Society.
The Chamber will coordinate Marketplace booths for the sale of local farm and horticultural products, locally-produced specialty foods, local arts and handicrafts and other local sales and services.
“Based on the great response we’ve had to the Marketplace so far, we’re expecting a variety of vendors each week, making each trip to the Marketplace a new experience,” Chamber Executive Director Katie Matteson said. She said booths are still available for $15 per week or $150 for the season for Chamber members and $25 per week or $250 for the season for non-members. Please click on the link above for a downloadable vendor application form.
Specials events will take place on the square during a number of Marketplace days, including the grand opening of the Museum and Heritage Center on May 22, the Chamber’s Corn & Brat Roast on May 29, the Knights of Columbus Corn & Brat Roast on July 31 and the Chamber’s East Troy Oktoberfest on Sept. 25. Matteson said plans for additional attractions, displays and entertainment are still in the works. She suggested checking the Chamber’s website for updates.
The railroad, which operates a varied schedule throughout its season, also has special events on Saturdays, including Walworth County Days on July 17 and Grandparent’s Weekend on August 21. For more schedule and event information, visit www.easttroyrr.org.
The Museum and Heritage Center provides a showcase for local history in which the public is invited to view artifacts, books, maps, documents, photographs and other historical material in the collection. The historical society is also developing a walking tour of historic buildings around the square and an architectural tour of area residences. For more information, visit www.etahs.org.
Area residents interested in volunteering as ambassadors are invited to call the Chamber office at (262) 642-3770 and are free to define their individual level of time commitment.
Community History
The East Troy area was settled in 1836, when a man known as H. Roberts began construction of a saw mill on the shores
of Honey Creek. The area quickly grew and
in the span of only four years, there was
also a hotel, general store, blacksmith, chapel, school (held in the chapel), post office, doctor, lawyer and justice of the
peace.
Originally the entire territory was known as Troy, named after Troy, New York, an area from which many of the settlers originated. In 1843, it was determined that Troy was too large an area for one township and the state legislature split the territory. The western part was named Meacham, after an early settler, Jesse Meacham, and the eastern part retained the name of Troy.
The arrangement was not suitable with the "westerners," including Meacham, who set out for the state capitol to reclaim the name of Troy. As legend has it, Jacob Burgit, another early settler and representative of the eastern territory, heard of Meacham's trip and he too set out in his wagon to the capitol to argue his case for keeping the name of Troy for the east. However, he was too late as Meacham was successful in keeping the name of Troy for the western part of the territory and the eastern part was named East Troy.
In 1847 when the village was officially platted, all the land south of the main street belonged to Burgit, who had purchased Roberts' claim in 1837, built the saw mill and later a grist mill, developing a flourishing business as the surrounding countryside began to settle and build. Austin McCracken owned all the land north of the Main Street, as he came to East Troy in 1836 and built the first public inn in Walworth County. It was a log building on the site where the East Troy House now stands.
In order to encourage growth of the community, Burgit and McCracken offered a lot free to anyone who would build upon it. They also set aside land for the churches. The public square was deeded in perpetuity to the village and the park was divided into quarters on the straight and on the diagonals with Main Street encircling it so that no one would benefit more than any other.
Later a wooden bandstand was built on the square and served East Troy until the 1930s when a new brick bandstand was constructed as a WPA project during the Great Depression.
Today, the village square continues to serve as the centerpiece for the community and hosts festivals and band concerts, as well as the residents and visitors who stop to enjoy
its historic charm.
