Fiddling has been in Portage County since at least the 1860s and still lives on today! Check out these historic and current local bands.

Take a step back in time to see how bluegrass music has evolved since 1945.

A little cold and snowy weather never stopped Portage County residents from their work or play. Grab a warm drink and enjoy these photos of our distant and recent winters past. Photos from the Stevens Point Journal. Caption from 08/12/1937. NYA fences ready for winter’s blizzards. With the temperature hovering near the 90-degree mark much of the time, thoughts of winter blizzards are far removed from the minds of most persons. But, winter is “just around the corner” to these

“Rock on, Heffron!” was the rallying cry of Jamfest, held annually at the Heffron Tavern, right on the county line between Portage and Waushara counties. Jamfest was a rural music event that attracted local, state, and national acts between 1991 and 2005.  Mark Nowak wasn’t new to planning shows when he started Jamfest, later known as Rock On Heffron. He had traveled with local band Unit One for a decade, helping with lights and production, before he purchased his parents’ ta

From the original planning of the Stevens Point Country Club all the way to 2025, women have had a strong role in forming SPCC into the...

This week, the Portage County Historical Society and District 1 Brewing Company raised a glass to one of Central Wisconsin’s most beloved...

Introduction Stevens Point has been flattened, paved, and developed beyond recognition for those who saw the land 185 years ago. A main...

The Portage County Cultural Festival (PCCF) is celebrating their 34th year in 2025. Started in 1992, PCCF has multiplied the vendors and...

To read part 1: https://www.pchswi.org/post/the-engford-family-circus-part-1 To read part 2: https://www.pchswi.org/post/the-engford-fami...

To read part 1: https://www.pchswi.org/post/the-engford-family-circus-part-1 Family Tree Robert Engford : June 8, 1883 - February 17,...

Advertisements for magic lanterns show up in the earliest Portage County newspapers. These lanterns were already popular in Europe before...

Pre-1800s History of Firefighting The first recorded instances of organized firefighters comes from ancient Rome, when bands of vigiles...

Snuggle up with a cup of hot cocoa and enjoy these photos of winter from Portage County's past. A crowd gathers to watch tobogganers at...

It was winter of 1999 and in Park Ridge two small log cabins were up on pallets, ready to be moved or demolished.  A member of the...

Between 1890 and 1925, industry was booming in Stevens Point. Businessmen flocked to Portage County for the clean water, fresh air, and...

Discover the story of the Polish Brewing Company, a 1900s brewery that shaped Portage County’s heritage.

The were once many small grocers in Portage County. This is the story of one of them - Pierce's Grocery Store in Plover.

Jules Iverson's name looms large in the Stevens Point area for the park that is named after him, but there is much more to learn about him.

Although I am a fifth-generation resident of Portage County and have been a public employee here throughout my entire teaching career,...

John Bukolt invented the automatic rocking cradle, and many other devices..