Permanent Exhibits
Victorian Rooms
Get a glimpse of Tri-Cities life during the late 1800s as you wander through a parlor, kitchen, dining room and bedroom decorated with period-correct furniture and wallpaper. You’ll explore the formality of dining in this period, the different roles men and women played in society, and the ways people entertained themselves before the Internet, television, or even radio.
Pioneer Cabin
Step inside our cabin for a journey to the Michigan frontier and a time when people had to provide nearly everything for themselves. Building a home, hunting for food, making necessities such as soap and blankets … they were all a routine part of life for Tri-Cities pioneers.
Logging Camp
The Michigan logging industry was so massive that by the 1880s our state was producing as much lumber as the next three states combined. Lumber workers often toiled 14 hours a day and lived in on-site bunkhouses that lodged up to 100 men. Visit our replica bunkhouse to find out how lumber companies were able to keep their workers happy—and how Tri-Cities trees made it from the forest to the sawmill.
Fur Trader’s Post
The fur trade was the first major industry in Michigan. Our replica fur trader’s cabin gives you a look into the dangerous life of a voyageur, and the ins and outs of this lucrative business. Inside the cabin you’ll find tools, clothing, and trade goods that were used during this period as well as information on important traders – such as Grand Haven founding father Rix Robinson.
Wigwam
The Odawa (Ottawa), Ojibwa (Chippewa), and Potawatomie tribes were the first inhabitants of what is now the Grand Haven area. Enter our full-size wigwam to see how tribal life changed after contact with European traders and settlers. Next to the wigwam is an authentic birch bark canoe that was built during The Feast of the Strawberry Moon Festival in 2006. Ronald Paquin, a Chippewa tribal member, led this project.
Agriculture Barn
Life on the farm isn’t easy today, imagine what it was like in days gone by. Success required farmers to possess a wide variety of skills—everything from carpentry to blacksmithing to cow-milking. Our replica barn contains an assortment of tools essential to a farmer’s daily chores. Some of them look a little bizarre; can you figure out what they do?
Industry Exhibit
This is a rotating exhibit space showcasing key companies from the Tri-Cities area. Johnson Boiler is the subject of the current exhibit, which explores how this 150-year-old company has thrived through two World Wars and into the present day as a prominent Ferrysburg business. You’ll learn how Johnson Boiler has embraced change—and how you come into contact with its products.
Ekken's Grocery Store
Before the days of “big box” stores, small grocery stores were where most people acquired food to feed their families. The Ekkens Grocery Store on the main floor of the Akeley building is a model of one such store. Run by the Ekkens family from 1881 to 1953, the Ekkens Grocery Store was an important establishment in the Tri-Cities. Step inside the store and learn about other historic Tri-Cities stores, how food prices from 1895 compare to today’s prices, and how Gerrit Ekkens earned the nickname “Cheese King.”
Medical Exhibit
Take a look at over 100 years of medical tools, medications, and the history of medical practice in the Tri-Cities.
Bastian and Blessing Soda Fountain
This beautiful, Art-Deco inspired soda fountain captures the era of hot rods, sock hops, and going steady. During that era, local manufacturer Bastian and Blessing was a leader in building these fountains, employing Tri-Cities men and women to create their iconic work.
Other Attractions
Pere Marquette 1223 Locomotive
One of two surviving Michigan steam locomotives, the Pere Marquette 1223 sits in the former terminal yard of the Detroit, Grand Haven, and Milwaukee Railway. It’s open to the public once a year, in conjunction with our annual August Ice Cream Social.
Lake Forest Cemetery
Numerous individuals connected to the rich history of the Tri-Cities are buried here. Our Lake Forest Cemetery Website provides information about the site.
Outreach Exhibits
Being present throughout the community in Tri-Cities is important to us. We have established outreach exhibits throughout Grand Haven, Spring Lake, and Ferrysburg in order to be more accessible to our supporters. Our outreach exhibits can be seen at the following locations:
- Loutit District Library
- Spring Lake Public Library
- Ottawa County Courthouse
- Ferrysburg City Hall
- Grand Haven Township Hall
- Ottawa County Sherriff Department
- Grand Haven City Hall
- Spring Lake Village Hall
- Panels along the boardwalk as well as throughout the community
Special Exhibits
Icebound: The Ordeal of the SS Michigan
Coming Soon - January 11 - September 2019
The new exhibit Icebound will be coming to the Tri-Cities Historical Museum early in 2019. The exhibit comes to us from the Historic Ottawa Beach Society which is located near the ships final resting place.
In 1885, during one of the most brutal winters then recorded, a large steamship, the S.S. Michigan, became trapped in the pack ice on Lake Michigan. The Michigan had been sent on a rescue mission, during which it was attempting to reach another trapped ship and tow it to shore. After a 39-day battle with the frozen lake, the ship began taking on water and finally sank somewhere just off Holland, Michigan. The captain and all 25 crewmen were saved because of the heroics of one young man: George Sheldon, the ship’s porter.
A portion of the exhibit was designed by Valerie van Heest, and is based on her children’s book Icebound: The Adventures of Young George Sheldon and the S.S. Michigan. Valerie also illustrated the book and her drawings are used within the exhibit to help tell the story. She digitally created the illustrations by combining layers of historic and staged photographs, which she then enhanced, colorized and, in some cases, drew additional features.
Within the exhibit museum goers will be able to follow these artist’s chronological renderings, traveling back in time to learn about the adventures of young George Sheldon and the SS Michigan that took place just a few miles from Holland. One will be able to then journey underwater through pictures to see the actual steamship as it rests today on the bottom of Lake Michigan 18 miles off shore.
Artifacts from the museum’s own collection will augment the story of the S.S. Michigan. The exhibit will also explore other various Lake Michigan shipwrecks. Join us to learn how divers and archaeologists analyze wrecks searching for clues on what may have happened in the past. Come delve into the waters and discover the interesting history of the wreckage of the depths.
Icebound will be on display through the summer.
Tri-Cities A-Z
The Tri-Cities Historical Museum has spent the last 60 years collecting artifacts and preserving the history of Grand Haven, Spring Lake, and Ferrysburg.
With over 65,000 pieces in the collection and new stories discovered and shared with us each passing year, there is just never enough time and space to share everything we would like to. The exhibit Tri-Cities A to Z is designed to remedy just this problem. With twenty six letters in the alphabet, allowing us twenty six themes, we will have the opportunity to share artifacts and stories that have not had their time in the spotlight in years, or maybe ever!
From lumber barons like H.C. Akeley to zany and unexpected happenings of the Tri-Cities – like an airplane crashing into a house – we look forward to sharing local history with you.
