Schroeder Saddletree Factory Museum

If you love unique aspects of history, this might be a perfect place for you to go. My mother and I, for example, are really into history, especially things that are unique and make you say «hmm.»
Walking in, it is an immediate step backwards through time. We happened to be the only ones there at the time, so it was nice to be able to have the place to ourselves. The tour guide was an older fellow, whom I believe (if I remember correctly) was a friend of the Schrader family who had owned and worked the factory for years prior.
The tour begins by watching a short film about what exactly a saddle tree is. Being that my mother and I didn’t know beforehand, this video was actually very interesting and needed. A saddle tree is actually the wooden (or now plastic) base of a saddle used when you ride a horse. This factory, of course, dealt solely with the wooden variety. The Schrader family also branched off into smaller wooden goods such as clothes-​pins as well.
After the video, you are taken through the complex on a short tour. Most of the machines are still in working condition, and everything has been kept in it’s exact (or as close to it) location as to up the realism of the place. Part of one of the buildings even burnt, and the ceiling reflects that fact.
For two «city» girls, most of the tools looked alike, but it was nice to have little plates telling you what they were. Also, since the tour guide was so knowledgeable, he was able to give presentations as to how the machines worked, and even let us see how a clothes-​pin was made back in the «old days.»
Like I said before, the factory is a trip that only the most die-​hard of history fans would probably be interested in at first. I have to admit that I wasn’t too thrilled going into the experience, but afterward, I was glad that I had taken the trip in. For just a few dollars, you can experience a 45 minute trip back through time to the days immediately prior to the industrial revolution happenings in Madison. It really lets you see how life was for the people back then, and I do highly recommend it as a «must-​see» spot.