About Cedarburg
Cedarburg is known throughout the Midwest for its many annual, family-friendly festivals, concert and theatre venues and special events but there is so much more to do in this beautiful setting. Named to the National Register of Historic Places, Cedarburg’s historic district encompasses hundreds of architecturally interesting stone and Victorian buildings, inns, churches and homes, some dating from the 1840’s and many nestled on the banks of scenic Cedar Creek.
Proud of our many distinctions, Cedarburg was named “Best Architecture” and “Best Place to go Shopping” by voters in a Wisconsin Tourism Department contest in 2008 and named one of the top 11 "Prettiest Small Towns in America” by Fortune Magazine in 2011. M Magazine, Milwaukee’s Lifestyle Magazine, named the Cedarburg as one of "Metro Milwaukee’s BEST Neighborhoods" in their August 2011 edition. While in 2013, Bloomberg Business Week named Cedarburg as one of the "Best Places to Raise Kids." In 2014, Cedarburg received two additional distinctions as the 5th "Best Town in the Nation for Trick or Treating" and as Google's "Wisconsin’s eCity."
Fortunate to have a thriving downtown, Cedarburg has more than 70 charming specialty shops, boutiques and galleries, spas as well as unique restaurants, café’s, pubs, the Cedar Creek and Chiselled Grape Wineries and the Silver Creek Brewpub.
Cedarburg is nationally known for its flourishing fine arts community and you will find several museums, including the Wisconsin Museum of Quilts and Fiber Arts, the General Store Museum, Cedarburg Cultural Center, Ozaukee Art Center, Kuhefuss House, Ozaukee County Historical Society in the Historic Interurban Depot, the Cedarburg Art Museum and the last remaining original covered bridge in Wisconsin.
Outdoor activities include developed scenic walking and biking trails, canoeing, snow-shoeing and cross country skiing as well as numerous beautiful and shady parks, including Cedar Creek Park located in the heart of downtown Cedarburg.
Cedarburg prides itself as one of the most beautiful destinations any time of year. Midwest Living Magazine named Cedarburg as one of the "25 Best Places to Celebrate Christmas," featuring an article regaling Cedarburg's holiday season, full of festive Christmas shopping and holiday events, especially the unique and charming Santa's Workshop sponsored by A Cedarburg Christmas.
From a historical perspective, Cedarburg was established by German and Irish immigrants lured to the power-producing potential of Cedar Creek in the early 1840s.
The first recorded settler was Ludwig Groth, who made his home on the banks of the creek in 1842. Two years later, Frederick Hilgen and William Schroeder bought land from Groth and built a grist mill, which remains a prominent sight on the Cedarburg skyline today.
In the years that followed, four more dams and mills were built, and the life of the town flowed along the banks of Cedar Creek. Wittenberg Mill, built in 1864, was the only woolen mill west of Philadelphia to produce worsted yarns. That mill’s buildings remain today, restored in 1970s , to form the historic Shops of Cedar Creek Settlement, featuring one-of-a-kind shops, restaurants, artists’ studios, and a winery.
