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Heg Store, 1920 ca.

Ole Heg Store, once also the home of Elias Strangeland. The original building was of log construction which was later boarded over. View the original source document: WHI 41495

Muskego is located 18 miles southwest of Milwaukee on Lake Muskego in Waukesha County. The Potawatomi tribe hunted and fished off of Muskego’s three lakes, even after ceding the land to the U.S. government in 1833.

English, German, Irish and Norwegian immigrants settled in Muskego. The arrival of the Norwegians made Muskego the fifth Norwegian settlement in the country. Norwegian resident Even Heg’s (1790-1850) home was a temporary staying place for immigrants and was where the first Norwegian newspaper, the Nortyled (Northern Light), was published in 1847. The editor, James Denoon Reymert (1821-1896), became the first Norwegian in the State Legislature, built the Muskego-Waterford Plank Road, and set up a hospital in 1852 to control a cholera outbreak that was spread by new immigrants. The settlers had a hard time getting the settlement off the ground since it was surrounded by trees and swamps, but they remained in Muskego due to its proximity to the Milwaukee markets.

Muskego’s countryside and lakes were so popular with the residents of Milwaukee that a trolley was built connecting the two in 1904. The Muskego Beach Amusement Park opened in 1925, certifying Muskego as a resort town where Milwaukee residents could escape big city life.

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• Muskego, Wisconsin

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Source: WHS Library-Archives Staff, 2009