The National Railroad Museum in Green Bay had long tailored its exhibits to people who love railroads. It seemed like an obvious choice, but several years ago, the museum’s curators discovered that only a small percentage of its visitors were diehard railroad enthusiasts.
“We realized that two-thirds of the people coming to the museum were children, and their mothers or grandmothers were our members,” Museum Director Jacqueline Frank recently told WPR’s “Wisconsin Today.” “At that time, we started changing things around, doing a lot more with education.”
That shift in programming paid off as the museum nearly doubled the number of visitors from 65,000 in 2010 to over 100,000 in 2015. And this year, the museum completed a major expansion as it continues to focus on education and railroad history, particularly for children…