Racine's Southside Historic District has an impressive collection of more than 14 blocks of homes and buildings on the National Register of Historic Places. The district contains many architectural styles, including Tudor, Victorian, Federal, Italianate, and Queen Anne. Of special interest are the English Gothic-style buildings at the DeKoven Center Retreat/Conference Center. The Henrietta Benstead Hall, built in the Colonial Revival style, incorporates the classical details of the Queen Anne style, and features Tiffany windows and quality furnishings. Across the street is the Italianate style Masonic Temple, built circa 1856. The mansion contains two operable theaters and features a unique Egyptian motif in the style of the 1920s. Both structures are lavishly lighted and decorated during the Christmas season and are open for tours.
A favorite local site for picnic outings and observation of more than 200 resident animals is the 32-acre Racine Zoological Society, located on the shores of Lake Michigan. One of the few free zoos in the country, it is home to popular exhibits such as the recently remodeled primate and large cat building. Each summer, the zoo's amphitheater hosts nationally known jazz musicians and weekly concerts by the Racine Concert Band. The Firehouse 3 Museum, in an authentic fire house, features antique fire fighting equipment including an 1882 steamer, a 1930 pumper, a working Gamewell Telegraphic Alarm System, and a hand-drawn hose cart. A theater shows films and videos on fire prevention. The Modine-Benstead Observatory is open to the public to examine the skies when visibility allows; its facilities include two dome observatories and a main building that houses a telescope, an observation deck, library, and meeting room.
The beautiful grounds of the S.C. Johnson Wax Company, one of the city's largest employers, house the Golden Rondelle Theater, the center for the company's guest relations and public tour program. Originally designed by Lippincott and Margulies as the S.C. Johnson Pavilion at the 1964 World's Fair, it featured the film To be Alive!, which summarized the joys of living through sight and sound. After the fair, the theater was relocated to Racine, where the structure was redesigned to complement the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Administration Building and Research Tower, which is open for tours. The theater, which is also open to the public, features films on flight, ecology, and U.S. history.
West of Racine are rural communities, including Union Grove, Wind Lake, Caledonia, Burlington, and Waterford. These western Racine County towns and cities offer a wide variety of interests including antique shops, plenty of parks for picnicking, plenty of lakes and rivers for watersports, and farmers markets.
For more than 60 years, the Racine Theatre Guild has produced comedies, suspense thrillers, musicals, and dramas in an 8-play season. The Malt House Theater, in nearby Burlington, is home of the Haylofters, Wisconsin's oldest community theater group. The group presents three productions and a children's play each year in the renovated malt house.
Founded in 1932, the Racine Symphony Orchestra is the only orchestra in the state to perform year-round. The Orchestra performs three distinct concert series annually in addition to a summer Lakeside Pops series. The Racine Choral Arts Society, founded in 1987, performs a varied repertoire ranging from medieval chant to African American gospel. The Chorus schedules solo performances and performs with the Racine and Milwaukee symphony orchestras.
Racine's Charles A. Wustum Museum of Fine Arts has, for more than 60 years, provided changing exhibits, classes, tours, and lectures. It features one of the top-10 craft collections in the country and houses a shop with artist-made gifts. The museum is located in a historic Italianate mansion on 13 acres of land, complete with a formal garden. The Racine County Historical Museum, a registered historic landmark, is devoted to the preservation of county artifacts and archives through its exhibits, events, and other educational programs.
May's Lakefront Artist Fair features original art and handi-crafts by more than 100 artists, and is the Racine Montessori School's major fundraiser. In September the Racine Antiques Fair at the County Fairgrounds offers one of the Midwest's finest collections of antiques, while later that month Preservation Racine's annual Tour of Historic Homes features tours of houses of historical interest. For more than 16 years, November's Festival of Trees at the Racine on the Lake Festival Hall displays more than 100 professionally decorated Christmas trees, wreaths, and gingerbread houses. Thousands are drawn to May's two-day Chocolate City Festival in nearby Burlington, which features outdoor music, a city bike ride, parade, and many chocolate exhibits—with tasting encouraged.
One of Racine's most popular events is Harbor Fest, held at the Lake Festival Park every June. The festival hosts more than 25 live musical performances on 3 stages, 12 regional restaurants, a children's area, and numerous special events and displays. In July, also along the lakefront, Racine's Salmon-A-Rama is considered the world's largest freshwater fishing event. The nine-day fishing contest, with prizes totaling $100,000, is accompanied by a festival featuring live music, food vendors, and commercial exhibits.
Professional baseball, hockey, soccer, basketball, and football sporting events can be found in Racine and in nearby Kenosha, Milwaukee, and Chicago. The Racine Raiders, part of the Mid-Continental Football League, stir up semi-pro football excitement at historic Horlick Field.
The YWCA Riverbend Nature Center, an 80-acre year-round nature and recreation center, offers hiking, bird watching, demonstrations, nature studies, and canoe rental along Racine's Root River. Quarry Lake Park, a former limestone quarry, is a mecca for scuba divers and a great place for swimmers looking for spring-fed waters. The 40-acre park has an 18-acre lake that varies in depth up to 100 feet and an expansive sandy beach. North Beach provides more than a mile of clean, white sandy beach with lifeguards and picnic areas. Sixteen-acre Racine County Harbor Park, which extends out into Lake Michigan, offers fishing, a modern fish-cleaning station, and an observation deck with spectacular views. Visitors can enjoy a peaceful stroll around the Reefpoint Marina. Racine is host to the world's biggest freshwater fishing contest, Salmon-a-Rama, an annual event that attracts thousands of fishermen to take their shot at landing "the big one."
Racine County is home to a number of 18-hole golf courses and one 27-hole golf course located on rolling green hills. The City of Racine maintains the grounds of more than 85 parks that feature baseball diamonds, boat launches, soccer fields, fishing facilities, picnic areas, and tennis courts. Racine County also offers one of the most complete and varied bicycle trail networks, with a signed 100-mile bicycle route that circles the entire county. Off-road bicycle trails, surfaced with either crushed limestone or blacktop, total 17 miles. Lake Michigan provides opportunities for both boating and game fishing.
The city and county of Racine offer many shops filled with antiques, resale items, and collectibles. A waterfront showplace, downtown Racine, which is linked with the Racine Civic Centre complex and the nearly 1,000-slip Reefpoint Marina, has many beautifully renovated buildings housing fine jewelry shops and unique collections of sportswear, quality clothing, fine furniture, and specialty shops. Porter's of Racine, an 80,000 square-foot fine furniture store, is recognized throughout the region and may be the oldest retail establishment in the Midwest. Milaeger's offers a wide variety of flowering plants in 71 greenhouses; the company specializes in perennials, and has merchandize pertaining to all facets of gardening and outdoor living. The county is also home to The Seven Mile Fair, Wisconsin's largest flea market. Open every weekend, the market features hundreds of vendors selling clothes, toys, tools, jewelry, electronics, luggage, and more. During the summer months a farmers market is also in operation.
No visit to Racine would be complete without sampling the local delicacy, Danish Kringle, a flaky, oval-shaped coffee cake made of traditional Danish pastry and filled with a variety of fruits or nuts. O&H Danish Bakery, founded in 1949, makes them daily using all-natural ingredients. Kewpee Sandwich Shop, known throughout the Midwest, is one of the oldest hamburger restaurants in the area. Mid-priced family restaurants share the local spotlight with ethnic eateries, including Italian and Chinese, as well as places offering meat and potatoes or the catch of day from the Great Lakes.
Visitor Information: Racine County Convention and Visitors Bureau, 14015 Washington Ave., Sturtevant, WI 53177; toll-free (800)C-RACINE