Downtown Historic Courthouse Square

The beautiful and historic courthouse square is Monroe’s focal point and home to the semi-​annual Cheese Days. When planning a week in Monroe, I love spending an afternoon window-​shopping the various clothing boutiques, thrift shops, the high-​quality pet supply shop, and sampling the various restaurants.
In recent years the business genres have begun to balance out a bit, with a better ratio now between shopping and dining. They also have a summer Concert on the Square series every Friday night, bringing in some really decent local bands like Wheel House.
Oh! And they recently started featuring a rotating art exhibit (look for the funky sculptures along the sidewalk), plus there’s a children’s learning garden on the southeast side across from the movie theatre, with fun art and edible gardens.

We discovered downtown Monroe last summer after making the 2+ hr journey up from Illinois. Needless to say, we have been back 3 – 4 times since. I’m not much of a ‘shopper’ but the square has a little bit to offer just about everyone. We’ve also enjoyed their farmer’s market and festivities. With Minhas Brewery located on the periphery and a handful of good restaurants within the square itself, we’ll keep coming back.
Cheers.

Monroe, Wisconsin is an adorable town in Middle America with a quaint small town feel, and a wonderful town square. The historic courthouse sits in the middle of the square and reminds me of a castle in a fairy tale. It is composed of red brick with white brick accents and looks like it belongs in the movie It’s A Wonderful Life. The Limburger Rebellion was actually fought on the steps of the courthouse which apparently blazed the trail towards notoriety in the cheese industry. I kid you not.
There is a vibrant shopping area surrounding the square with a variety of local businesses. There are a number of artsy statues surrounding the square that are just plain fun. There is plenty of open space with plenty of room to hold community events such as concerts, farmers’ markets, chili cookoffs and other festivals.
Every other year (held in even years) there is a large celebration called the Green County Cheesedays Celebration which takes place in the town square.
If you’re anywhere in the area, this is a fun place to visit, full of small town charm and good clean fun!