Willie’s Cornerstone Foundation

Starting in the 1850s, groups of Belgians left the economic hardship of their homeland and ventured to northeast Wisconsin for better opportunities. Here, they faced the hardships of creating a new home in a harsh woodland. The Belgian Heritage Center aims to share the legacy of those more than 15,000 immigrants and their descendants who greatly influenced the culture of rural Door, Kewaunee, and Brown Counties with a farming landscape and customs which included the Walloon language, unique architecture, ethnic Belgian foods, and more.

Located in the heart of a rural district that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Belgian Heritage Center offers programs, festivals, events, tours, traditional and interactive exhibits, as well as a resource for genealogical and historical research. Oral history videos preserve stories in English and Walloon from Belgian descendants who have kept the language alive in Northeastern Wisconsin for more than 150 years.