White Pillars museum in De Pere, June 18, 2025. PC: Fox 11 Online
DE PERE, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — A De Pere museum listed on the National Registry of Historic Buildings, is expanding history with a modern twist.
The De Pere Historical Society held a groundbreaking ceremony for the White Pillars building expansion project Wednesday.
The iconic white building at 403 N. Broadway is getting a $5.3 million upgrade that includes encasing the 1838 structure within another building to protect it from outside elements.
The addition also includes a new 700 square-foot state-of-the-art archival storage room with 12-foot ceilings and expandable storage shelving. The main level will offer an open concept space that allows for more transformative and interactive display options. It will also offer an upper mezzanine that overlooks Voyageur Park and the Fox River that can accommodate small events.
White Pillars is the oldest commercial building in De Pere. It originally served as the headquarters of the Fox River Hydraulic Company. After that it became a church, a barber shop, an antique shop, and a private school. In 1913, local building contractor Alfred Fleck purchased the building and it was Fleck who removed the squared timbers that supported the porch roof, and replaced them with four “White Pillars” in the early twentieth-century.
In early 1973, the De Pere Historical Society acquired the White Pillars Building from the heirs of Miss Elizabeth Goffard, who lived in the building until her death in 1972. With $25,000 donated by the Fort Howard Paper Foundation, White Pillars Museum officially opened in September of 1973.
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