Visitors to Historical Park can always tour the grounds and read the information signs attached to most buildings. The park is located in the Prospect Hill Settlement District that includes the former Freewill Baptist Church building, the Alice Weston Memorial Garden, and the Weston Antique Orchard. Images of both the buildings and information signs are shown below.
Aerial view of the Prospect Hill Settlement District includes the Freewill Baptist Church building at the lower left and the Weston Antique Orchard on the right side of National Avenue. Historical Park with its six buildings and gazebo are across the road. The museum building lies just beyond the upper right of the picture.
From the east the visitor's first view is the 1859 Freewill Baptist church building. Historical Park is just across the street.
Alice Westin Memorial Garden
WESTON BARN and ORCHARD HISTORY
This bank barn was built in 1906 by George Koeffler. The two foot thick basement walls are constructed of field stone and mortar. The upper frame is mortise and tenon beam construction. Evidence suggests livestock was housed below, and hay and grain stored in the upper level.
Mr. Koeffler also built the farm house. Emma Korn owned the firm until 1917. The farm of only 10 acres passed through several hands between 1917 and 1927, when Otto and Minnie Hertel acquired it.
In 1928, the Marckwardt/Weston family moved to the farm. William Marckwardt bought the farm in 1931. His daughter, Alice Weston, inherited the farm from his estate in 1949.
The main use of the barn's basement by the Marckwardt/Weston family was as an aluminum/brass foundry. The company produced barrel stands and was named "Waukesha Metal Products Co." with William Marckwardt's brother, Henry, as President and Harvey Weston as Vice President. After several years, the company dissolved and the barn was used as storage.
As the apple orchards planted by the Marckwardt family began to produce in 1944, the barn's basement became an apple cooler and the main floor of the barn was used to store orchard machinery. The barn remains in active use today for the orchard operation and occasional barn dance. The Weston's donated the property to the City of New Berlin in 2004, but they retain the right to operate the orchard. They grow over 150 varieties of heirloom apples and other fruits. Visitors are welcome.
The Tower as it appeared on the Franciscan Sisters Ozanam Home at 2240 S. Moorland Road who used it from 1955 to 1989. The building was originally built as the Milwaukee Children's Hospital Annex and used from 1930 to 1955. Moved in 1992. More information can be found at https://ww.w.newberlin.org/539/Cupola-Tower
This building was constructed in the 1950s to house a Jeep and later Studebaker dealership. The city of New Berlin purchased the building for use as a fire station in the 1960s and added the bay on the right. The New Berlin Historical Society has occupied the building since 2010. The mural was commisioned in 2013.
