We hope that next year COVID will be under control and we can return to a full program of activities.
Our goal is to understand and interpret the lives and material culture of the early French-Swiss inhabitants. We pay special attention to early trades, domestic arts, early gardening methods and foodways in Switzerland County, Indiana.
Living History Events
Venoge holds three regular events each year. A 4th of July Celebration the weekend before the holiday commemorates the Swiss settler’s celebrating the American holiday with an Ox-roast and speeches. In October we celebrate the fall harvest jointly with the Thiebaud Farmstead and in December we again partner with them and celebrate Christmas the second Saturday of December.
Visit us! The site is always available for tours.
Classes and Programs
Classes in various period decorative arts are offered, usually during the summer. We have had classes in vinegar graining, beginning spinning and fraktur painting.
Follow us to learn about our upcoming classes.
Education
School classes and home school groups are encouraged to leave the classroom behind and learn about early Indiana history first hand in a house that has seen it all.
Contact us to learn how we can contribute to your curriculum.
Exhibits
Our new ‘barn’ or more formally Program and Exhibit Center, will be open to the public this July. It will look like a typical barn of the period fitting into a farmstead setting, but inside there will be a multiuse space for programs and classes, a small shop and more important of all, exhibits that tell briefly the history of the property, the story of the Swiss immigration and special exhibits of artifacts.
Publications
We publish an on-line newsletter, La Gazette Helvetique,with period related articles.