After 30 years in the business world, a Delafield man opens a free Civil War museum
After more than 30 years in the business world, Robert Brown retired in 2016 and decided to rent a Delafield office space to spread out his Civil War collection.
Brown, 71, collected maps and books while visiting more than 50 Civil War battlefields around the U.S. over the past 12 years.
"Somebody said that I should really open this up to the public," Brown said. "And I said, 'You know what? I totally should."
Now, he's opening the doors to his museum; he is planning a grand opening for 6:30 to 8 p.m. March 15.
"It turned out to be a labor of love, because I'm a Civil War fanatic," he said. He's received help in setting up the museum from Dick Niles, who holds bachelor's and master's degrees in history.
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The Civil War Museum of Delafield, 528 Wells St., Suite F, next to the Wheel & Sprocket, features military strategies, tactics and leaders of the war.
Along with a painted map of the major battles of the Civil War, the museum also has interactive tables with miniature soldiers to show how battles were fought and who attacked and retreated in battles like Bull Run, Shiloh, Antietam, Gettysburg and others.
"Delafield is a tourist kind of town. People come and eat lunch and shop," Brown said. "The museum is designed to attract the bored husbands into a 45-minute tour of the Civil War."
The museum is funded completely by Brown and Niles, and they aren't charging anything for admission. Brown said he hasn't decided on the museum's permanent hours, "because we don't know what the appetite is going to be yet."
"I don't know anyone who's opened a museum (in their spare time)," Brown said. When he showed the museum to friends and family, "we got unanimous feedback that this is really interesting and that we should open it up. So we're here. We're ready and going to open our doors."
To learn more about the museum, visit www.civilwarmuseumdelafield.com or call 262-303-4133.
Contact Alex Groth at agroth@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @grothalexandria.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Delafield retiree opens Civil War museum
