Step Back in Time with Oconomowoc’s AR Tour
A new augmented reality experience is offering residents and visitors of Oconomowoc a unique opportunity to witness the city’s transformation over the past 150 years. Blending historical preservation with cutting-edge digital tools, this interactive tour allows users to explore the bygone era of horse-drawn carriages and lakeside landmarks via their smartphones.
The initiative is a collaborative effort between Visit Oconomowoc, the Oconomowoc Historical Society, and Milwaukee-based creative agency Hoffman York. This project was launched to commemorate the city’s sesquicentennial milestone and draws inspiration from Hoffman York’s earlier “Augmented History” programme in Milwaukee’s Third Ward.
Accessible on mobile devices, the AR tour turns everyday streets and corners into a window into the past. Participants are able to digitally visualise what the city once looked like, complete with detailed renderings of historic buildings, events, and locations that no longer exist. These scenes are anchored in real locations, allowing users to “walk through history” as they move around the city centre.
With 29 interactive stops across the tour, the experience includes many iconic sites. Among them is The Strand Theater, a key venue in the town’s cinematic past, best known for hosting the 1939 premiere of The Wizard of Oz. Visitors can also view a digital reconstruction of the Oconomowoc mailboat, a floating service that once delivered letters, groceries, and even ice across the lakes surrounding the city.
One stop recreates the once-prominent Oconomowoc sign that used to stand proudly at the Lake Road Dam. Another digitally revives the historic Main Street Depot, recalling the daily arrival of trains that once brought goods and travellers into the heart of the community. Through these immersive snapshots, participants get a visceral sense of Oconomowoc’s evolution, one image at a time.
The scenes presented through the AR experience were developed with the support of the Oconomowoc Historical Society. Their resources, archival photographs, original blueprints, and historic paint references, provided the foundation for highly accurate digital reconstructions. The results are precise and engaging, enabling users to experience long-lost landmarks in the very locations they once stood.
One particularly nostalgic stop brings back the Majestic Hotel, which formerly occupied the site where the Village Green is now found. Every tour point features a virtual placard that offers historical background and contextual information, ensuring the experience is not just visually compelling but also educational.
This project seeks to bridge generations, making the city’s past more tangible to younger audiences while offering long-time residents a chance to reconnect with memories of an earlier Oconomowoc. It aims to celebrate the people, places, and moments that have shaped the community’s identity.
By merging history with innovation, the AR tour turns Oconomowoc into a living museum. The initiative doesn’t simply aim to showcase the past; it reimagines it in a format that invites engagement and curiosity from all who walk the city’s streets.
