Perhaps this third floor room could more accurately be called Sauk County’s Attic. It’s the repository of the Society’s collection of clothing, and other artifacts of all kinds. As you can see, it is filled almost to capacity. The Sauk County Historical Society has been collecting the history of the county for 100 years, and space in the museum has become extremely limited. Thus, storage of much of the Society’s collection has been relegated to the third floor.
When the Van Orden family occupied the mansion, this large ballroom was the gathering place for the elite and monied of the community. Fancy balls were held here well into the wee hours of the night. One can only imagine the difficulty encountered by attendees who had to navigate the narrow, winding staircase which ascended from the second floor. Fancy ladies dressed in their finest, being escorted by gentlemen gathered in the topmost floor of the mansion to dance and discuss the issues of the early 20th Century.
This floor is closed because of its crowded nature, but primarily, it is closed because there is only one exit, and therefore fire codes dictate that it cannot be open to the public.
