deke slayton memorial space & bicycle museum

During our Staycation in Monroe County, we stopped by the Deke Slayton Space Museum. This small- basically one room museum consists of a combination of the two things that Sparta is most proud of - hometown hero astronaut Donald "Deke" Slayton and a history of Bikes- Sparta is the self- titled Bike capital of the world. The outside of the room is a large display of the bikes. Wandering around, you will find the bike of your youth. The center of the room are full of cases of artifacts on the life of Deke Slayton. Mr. Slayton was critical for the original Apollo space program. The displays are pretty basic but are informative. Nice place to stop for an hour or less. $3.00 admission per person per adult.

My husband is a bike fanatic and has wanted to visit this museum for years. Everything worked out this year and we were able to make the trip. The price of admission is extremely reasonable. We had the place to ourselves and spent just over an hour looking at everything. Located in the Masonic Temple, you must climb a flight of stairs to get to the museum (The Monroe County Historical Society is on the main floor). We didn't look for an elevator, but didn't see one either. This was a nice way to spend an hour in a quaint Wisconsin city.

Wonderful place for families to go and learn more about Monroe County, Space, and Bikes. Hands on activities for the kids and wonderful displays for everyone.

Bicycles and space history so well done, many hands on items for children. I disliked it is closed on Sundays.

We arrived a half hour before closing time, but the gentleman manning the museum that day was very gracious and even allowed us a few minutes extra. He gave us a brief tour of the Deke Slayton exhibits, lots of antidotes on Deke and some of the unusual bikes and artifacts, including an official moon rock. We really enjoyed the bike collection and had fun looking for the bikes we owned as kids. There is also a scale where, if you are brave enough or thin enough you can step on to see how much you weigh on earth, the moon and one other planet I can't recall. The moon weight rocks! Fun museum, nominal fee.

After finding it (it is not well marked at all from the main road), we enjoyed our stop. The staff there are fantastic. At the County museum on the bottom floor, we explored the local history. The kids were handed a seek and find checklist to search for. Unfortunately for my kids, they were not in the mood. Upstairs has an area dedicated to a children's play area giving us a chance to look around at the bicycle history. My husband enjoyed the first day cover selection especially.

If you're a "bike geek" (in the most loving sense of the word) like me, the critical mass of bicycles in one room is enough to bring you in to the museum. The biggest surprise was the number of Astronauts that have come from Wisconsin. Makes you proud to be from the Badger state!

There is a variety of displays on bikes and a history of Deke Slayton. They also sponsor events like an Irish Tea with entertainment and other events. Very interesting place to visit.

The history of bicycles brought back memories and some new history I did not know. The Deke Slayton Space information was a proud history for Sparta and Wisconsin State. The manager was very helpful and friendly.

I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was actually 3 museums in one, the County historical museum, the Deke Slayton museum and the bicycle museum. If you're into cycling (and if you're in Sparta, you are) then this is definitely worth the $3 and hour or so to wander through. A must see in Sparta!!

Wow, if you like bicycles you have to check out this gem of a Museum. They have a whole range of bicycles starting with vintage bikes, a shaft driven bike, racers, and some really weird ones I never say before. Deke Slayton was one of the first Mercury 7 astronauts and he was born right in Sparta, if you are into astronauts you have to check that out too. Oh, and they have a quarter scale model of the Wright flyer, too. And all of the people I ran into in Sparta were really nice and helpful.

Este es un lugar super interesante, mis tres hijas les facino y estaban sorprendidas por la informacion que obtuvieron, sirvio para varias horas de conversacion