Cedarburg
Consistently ranked as a favorite small town getaway by visitors, Cedarburg’s natural beauty provides the perfect setting for a day of antiquing and shopping. Fascinating specialty stores, charming restaurants, cozy taverns, gracious historic inns and a full calendar of festivals, entertainment and special events combine to make Cedarburg irresistible!
And it’s only 20 minutes north of Milwaukee.
Visiting Cedarburg is like journeying back 150 years, for many of the limestone and cream city brick buildings from that era remain unchanged.
Landmark preservation has become a commitment of the entire community and is a point of pride for newcomers as well as founding families. From its birth as a village in the 1840s, the source of Cedarburg’s vigor was Cedar Creek, along which German and Irish immigrants built five dams and mills.
Two local quarries provided the Niagara limestone used to construct many of the churches, homes and mills that survive today.
The first settlers lived in log shanties and the main street, Washington Avenue, was just a dirt road.
The coming of the railroad in 1870 accelerated growth and prosperity. Cedarburg’s downtown Washington Avenue area is listed in the National Register of Historic Places, with over 100 buildings considered historically significant.
The adjacent Columbia Road Historic District is listed on the National and State Registers of Historic Places and includes nearly 130 significant structures.
Cedarburg Festivals
Winter Festival The Festival year in Historic Cedarburg, Wisconsin, kicks off the first weekend of February with the Winter Festival. Events include the infamous Bed Races on Ice, barrel racing for kids, an ice sculpture contest, pancake breakfast, sock hop and lots more! When you’re not watching the events, stroll through Cedarburg for great shopping, wine tasting or a meal in one of our fine restaurants.
Strawberry Festival Next up on the festival agenda is Cedarburg’s Strawberry Festival held the fourth weekend of June. Of course the strawberry is the guest of honor during this summer event, turning up in all sorts of places. Aside from delicious locally grown strawberries available by the pint, quart or gallon, there are strawberry shortcakes, sundaes and slushes. There are lots of contests for the kids, and even a pet fashion show. Art lovers will enjoy the Cultural Center’s art show and a great Country Craft show.
Wine and Harvest Festival The Festival that started it all is the annual Wine and Harvest Festival the third weekend in September. Just as Summer is giving way to a luscious Wisconsin Autumn, thousands of folks come to Cedarburg to celebrate the grape and the harvest. Among the many activities is the grape stomping contest at Cedar Creek Settlement where contestants vie for the best costumes and the most juice. Lots of live entertainment, apple bobbing, Wisconsin’s famous brats and of course Wisconsin’s best wine make Cedarburg the place to be during this fantastic Fall weekend!
Web: City of Cedarburg |
Map
Cedar Creek Settlement & Winery
Shop in these history-filled stone buildings and let your imagination take you back 150 years to the days when German and Irish settlers were building the little community which is now Cedarburg.
Constructed in 1864 to manufacture woolen goods for the Union Army during the civil war, the solid stone structure is supported on the inside by durable tamarack posts and beams hauled by horse drawn wagons halfway across Wisconsin.
The mill operated until 1969 before it was abandoned, to be purchased a few years later and restored to house shops and a winery, giving the old building a rebirth and a new way of life. It was awarded a place on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.
Today Cedar Creek Settlement encompasses 5 buildings housing 30 shops and restaurants which anchor the Washington Avenue Historic District
Cedar Creek Winery
Visit one of America’s most noted small regional wineries – Cedar Creek Winery, in Historic Cedarburg – 17 miles north of downtown Milwaukee. There, discover the art of fine winemaking.
The Cedar Creek Winery is nestled in the wonderful old-world ambiance of the Cedar Creek Settlement, a restored 1860’s woolen mill that was once the largest west of the Alleghenies.
The mill was powered by the rushing waters of Cedar Creek, which were channeled down the mill race and through an open-flume water wheel. The 50-horsepower water wheel generated electricity and ran the mill’s 21 looms and knitting machines, which converted heavy Wisconsin wool into yarns, blankets, flannels and even socks for the old Chicago White Sox!
N70 W6340 Bridge Road
Cedarburg, Wisconsin 53012
