Collecting, Preserving and Sharing the Histories of the Badger Army Ammunition Plant and the Sauk Prairie.

WHAT WE ARE ABOUT

Our mission is to collect, preserve and share the histories of the former Badger Army Ammunition Plant and the Sauk prairie. We help each other learn from the past, engage with the present, and guide our shared future.

Organized in 1998 by a handful of Sauk County residents who were committed to preserving the story of the Badger Army Ammunition Plant, the Badger History Group survives and thrives. We were incorporated in 2007, became our own non-profit organization in 2009, and moved into the current museum space in 2011. Relying on a small group of dedicated volunteers, BHG helped guide the future of the plant in the critical years after its decommissioning, interviewed dozens of former residents and workers, published books, newsletters, articles, and video documentaries; created a major photo exhibition; and built an archive containing thousands of documents, photos, video interviews, and artifacts. BHG also regularly sponsors speakers at the museum and off-site, conducts and welcomes tours for school children and adults, and works with other organizations interested in the story of this land and its people.

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The Land

The Badger land has an especially rich history, intertwined with its plant, animal, and human residents, and with world events.

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Indigenous Communities

Native Americans have lived here since the retreat of the last ice sheet, and the Ho-Chunk Nation continues to thrive on Maa Wákącąk, or Sacred Earth.

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Farm Community

Immigrants from the eastern U.S., Germany, and Switzerland created a vibrant rural community, which was dispersed in 1942. Their history remains on the land and in their stories.

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The Plant

This massive, 7354-acre plant produced propellant for 3 wars and was maintained in readiness between each, playing an important role in national defense and forever changing the regional economy and culture.

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Renewal

The Plant’s closure transformed the land and its human community, as we created a new vision for a place that holds so much of our history and our future.