Manistee County Historical Museum

The Manistee County Historical Museum is located at 425 River Street, only 1/2 block from the Municipal Marina.

We found the museum to be extremely interesting. Hopefully the photos in this blog can capture the atmosphere of the place.

There are a wide variety of exhibits. One of our favorites was a table full of old books. Unlike at other museums, visitors can browse through these books.

One that we found interesting was “Book #3 – Miscellaneous Boats”. Here’s an excerpt about the Onekama Sailing Club:

The book went on to talk about the trouble that this club had keeping a cook. As the book says, the good ones quit and the bad ones were fired (some things never change). One left after seeing “swamp angels”. They eventually got “Mother Monaghan” to come on board. Her first lunch was Corned Beef and Cabbage. For dinner she made Corned Beef and Cabbage. For breakfast the next day, she made, you guessed it, Corned Beef and Cabbage. When the crew started to rebel, she told them “ ‘Tis better that what you’re getting’ at home. You’ll eat this and like it!” That’s a real cook for you! (Phil hears those same words pretty frequently - and, as difficult as this is to admit, they are usually true!)

Much of the museum was devoted to nautical items, such as models of old sailing ships and freighters on Lake Michigan.

For you antique powerboat fans, they had a really nice example of an old Century boat – located high up on the ceiling.

But there’s more to the history of Manistee than boats. The second floor of the museum shows “slices of life” from the 1800s. Here’s a room showing the typical “office” at a lumber company.

There is much more to the museum than we are showing here. It only costs a $3 donation per adult (or $5 per couple) to tour the museum.