The two of us recently spent several days in Appleton, Wisconsin, a town of 75,000 in the northeastern portion of the state. Appleton enjoys a small-town feel in a region that teems with excellent restaurants, museums, a performing arts center, minor-league baseball, parks and hiking trails. After an early spring of South Georgia heat and humidity, it also offered more comfortable temperatures.

With nearly 200 years of paper-making history and two dozen currently operating pulp and paper mills in the area, this region has been called “paper valley.” Kimberly-Clark was founded in nearby Neenah in 1872. As we discovered during our recent visit, the area’s paper industry proved instrumental in the birth of an excellent museum devoted to glass.

Neenah’s Bergstrom-Mahler Museum of Glass is housed in a Tudor mansion in a neighborhood of magnificent homes constructed in the late 1800s. The mansion served as home to Evangeline and John Nelson Bergstrom, the latter of whom, along with his father, founded Bergstrom Paper Company in 1904. The firm became a leader in paper recycling technology and a producer of high-quality paper used in books, maps and legal papers.

Mr. and Mrs. Bergstrom, who were childless, provided in their wills that the City of Neenah would receive their house plus sufficient funding for establishment of a public art center and museum. Within a year of Mrs. Bergstrom’s 1958 passing (Mr. Bergstrom had died seven years earlier), the museum was opened to the public.

Mrs. Bergstrom, an avid collector and researcher of antique glass paperweights, bequeathed her collection – the majority of which were created by 19th century artisans – to the future museum. The museum’s current collection now numbers almost 4,000 paperweights, some of which are the work of modern-day artists. All the paperweights are beautiful, but several modern pieces are particularly eye-catching.

The Bergstrom-Mahler Museum of Glass is also home to the Mahler collection of Germanic glass. Ernst Mahler, who worked for the Kimberly-Clark Corporation in Neenah, had purchased the collection in Vienna, Austria, around 1930 for his wife, Carol. In the 1950s, Mr. Mahler worked with Mrs. Bergstrom on plans for the museum and was the founding president of the museum’s Board of Directors.

The Mahler collection consists of Northern and Central European glass drinking vessels dated from the 16th to 18th centuries. It includes excellent examples by some of the finest craftsmen of the day and illustrates the progression of decorative styles on glassware.

The museum houses a small collection of art glass by Rene Lalique, L.C. Tiffany and others. Some of the museum’s newest additions are in the contemporary glass sculpture collection. These are outstanding examples of utilizing glass as an art medium by several well-known artists including Harvey Littleton and Dominic Labino.

Special exhibits are hosted throughout the year. Previous exhibitions included neon and plasma sculptures, glass sculptures by Italian artist Lino Tagliapietra and Ricky Bernstein’s comic depictions of everyday life called “Kitchen of Dreams.” The current special exhibit, scheduled until August 20, is “Quantum,” by Jon Clark, Angus Powers and Jesse Daniels. It is an installation of 3,500 blown glass blades of grass and trees, light and sound, which “results in a contemporary, captivating and immersive sensory experience.”

Entrance to the museum is free and visitors can tour the facility at their own pace. The artist and date is noted on each glass piece and volunteers are generally available to answer questions about the museum and its collection. We were part of a larger group and enjoyed a guided tour led by knowledgeable volunteer Diane Jones. Diane commented that she had been volunteering at the museum for 21 years and loved every minute of it. Note that guided museum tours are only available to groups of 10 or more, and then only with a reservation.

A noteworthy feature of the Bergstrom-Mahler Museum of Glass is a basement glass studio with classes for children and adults taught by professional artists. It was here where the two of us created glass pieces only our parents would have treasured.

Location: The Bergstrom-Mahler Museum of Glass is located at 165 N. Park Avenue, Neenah, Wisconsin. Neenah is about 7 miles south of Appleton, Wisconsin.

Cost: No admission is charged. Guided tours are available for groups of 10 or more at $6 per person when reservations are made at least two weeks in advance.

Times: Tuesday – Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Sundays, 1 to 4:30 p.m. The museum is closed for some holidays. Visit www.BMMGlass.com or call 920-751-4658.

Special events: The annual Bergstrom-Mahler Museum of Glass Festival takes place the third Saturday in July in the park across the street from the museum. The festival includes fine arts and crafts, children’s activities, music, food and a beer garden.