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Main Museum
Step Inside...and experience our
history!
Constructed
and given to the City of Port Huron in 1904 by
Pittsburgh-based steel magnate and philanthropist Andrew
Carnegie for $40,000, what is now the Port
 Huron
Museum's Main Museum was originally the Port Huron
Public Library. To the right is a postcard of the Main
Museum as it looked soon after its opening as the
library. After the City Library merged with the St.
Clair County Library, the building was slated for
demolition. Through the dedicated efforts of concerned
volunteers, the Museum of Arts & History opened its
doors on May 3, 1968.
The Port
Huron Museum is home to over 15,000 objects and archival
items relating to the history, pre-history and culture
of the Blue Water Area. While all of our sites have
items from the Port Huron Museum's
 collection, the
majority of our object, document, and photograph
collections are housed at the Main Museum. Since 1904, a
museum, first under the auspices of the Port Huron
Public
Library, has been housed here. Below is a picture of
librarian Miss Barnum, taken in 1915, in what is now the
McMorran-Murphy Room. Many of the objects seen in this
photo exist in the Museum's collection to this day,
reflecting the long-standing commitment of the City of
Port Huron to preserving its heritage.
FIRST FLOOR
North & South Galleries
Our two special exhibition
areas offer over 2,000 square feet of display space. From local
exhibitions to national traveling exhibits, the North
and South galleries will leave you wondering what we
will bring in next!
Stacks Area
When the building was used by the City Library, this area was known as the stacks. The black metal posts still support the Mezzanine above, but the shelving that once held
numerous books has been retired and walls have been installed, increasing gallery space.
MEZZANINE
Local History Gallery
Displays on the glass-floored Mezzanine explore the local history of the Blue Water Area.
Native Americans - The Early Woodland Indians were the first to live in our area. Archaeologists have found several artifacts that have been carbon-dated to prove
that people lived on these shores more than 3,000 years ago.
Sitting Bull's Jacket - Sitting Bull personally presented this to Charles Hall, a former Port
Huron resident.
Mr. Hall later gave it to C.C. Casler, a local pharmacist, who in 1922, gave
the jacket to the Public Library Museum.
Fort St. Joseph - The first fort in this area, it was located by
today's Blue Water Bridges. Built to protect the fur trade, it served mainly as
a trading post. The French explorers, missionaries, and fur traders were among
the first Europeans to come to the Blue Water Area. The most popular item
traded here was the beaver pelt, equal in value to 6 buckskins. One item made
from its pelt was the top hat. Fort St. Joseph was the third French post built in Michigan, after those of
Sault Ste. Marie and St. Ignace.
Fort Gratiot - Built to protect the waterway during the War of 1812, it was used during the Civil War as a recruiting and training station but saw no
battle action. A model of the fort’s layout hangs on the wall. In the display case are
artifacts found at the site which was also located near the Blue Water Bridges.
The flag displayed here, with its 34 stars, was the last flag flown over the
fort when it closed in 1879.
Railroads - The iron tracks of railroads permitted
the expansion of inland transportation and new towns sprang up which were not
dependent on the waterways. The proximity of Port Huron to Sarnia, Ontario, brought the Grand Trunk Railroad to town in 1858. In 1892, Port Huron's value as an international port was confirmed with the building of the St. Clair River Tunnel, the world's first international underwater tunnel ever built.
2ND FLOOR
Music
Room
The Port Huron Museum has an extensive musical
instrument collection, which brings to mind a simpler past when many residents enjoyed listening to area bands perform in the Pine Grove Park Pavilion. Also on display is a 1900s era
musical instrument repair shop.
Marine Gallery
We have all the bells and whistles in our Lee M. Cooper
Marine Gallery! Explore shipwrecks, see what it took to
build a wooden schooner or lumber hooker, or pretend
you are a traveler in one of the elegant passenger boats
like the Tashmoo, South American, or City of Cleveland III. Go ahead, ring the bells,
you're allowed!
Pilot House
Welcome
to the Frank Crevier Pilot House! You are
entering a Great Lakes ship's pilot house and cabin as
they were at the turn of the century. The view from the
wheel is the way it looked to the mariner heading out
into Lake Huron nearly a century ago.
The view on
your left is the Fort Gratiot Lighthouse, the second oldest
lighthouse on
the Great Lakes. On your right or "starboard" side, is the
upper grain elevator of the Grand Trunk Railroad across
the St. Clair River at
Point Edward.
We will soon change course to the "port" between the
lighted gas buoy and the spar, and head out toward the
Huron Lightship that stands sentinel over the dangerous Corsica
Shoals.
BASEMENT
Studio Gallery
The Blue Water
Art Club meets every Tuesday in the Studio Gallery. The
Art Club was one of the many that helped get the Museum
of Arts & History renovated and ready to open in 1968.
In addition to hosting workshops by visiting artists,
the Blue Water Art Club hosts an annual exhibition of
their creations in May on the Main Museum's 1st floor.
Throughout the year, their artwork is on display and
available for purchase in the Studio Gallery.
Kids' Rotunda
Located in the
circular room, the Kids' Rotunda is being developed with
more and more hands-on opportunities. During the World
of Giant Insects exhibit, kids dressed up as beekeepers,
played with Cooties and flipped ants, and used a
computer to learn about bugs. Recognizing that kids
learn in a variety of ways, visit the Museum to let your
kids see, hear, and touch history, art, and science.
Don't forget to see what is on
our grounds!
Log Cabin
In the late 1850s, Conrad Kammer built a log home in
Casco Township to the southwest of Port Huron.
Generations of Kammers lived in this house. Over the
years, many additions and improvements were made to keep
pace with changing times and fashions. The original log
walls with mud daubing had become completely hidden by
two different layers of exterior siding.
 In
1981, Robert Nellis bought the cabin. When he began
to tear down what was then a house, in preparing to
build a new one, he discovered the log cabin under
the siding. Rather than destroy it, Mr. Nellis donated
it to the Port Huron Museum and it was moved to the
Museum grounds. The Museum has restored the historical
structure to approximate its appearance during its early
years as a pioneer home and it is used extensively for
educational programs and special events such as the Be a
Tourist in Your Own Hometown and the annual Michigan
Log Cabin Day that takes place on the last Sunday in June.
Ship Anchors, Capstan and Rudders
Rudder
History
In 1894, the Schooner William H. Shupe
was caught in a storm on Lake Huron. She and her five-man crew were driven ashore near Lakeport, Michigan, and
the
 schooner proceeded to break apart. A valiant effort
was made to save her crew by five local individuals.
Sadly, four of them, tired from their trek from Port
Huron, were overcome by the surf while attempting to
rescue the crew. The lone survivor, James Lynn, went on
to found the Lynn Marine Service, later known as
the J.W. Wescott Company. The crew was finally rescued
by the brave men of the Sand Beach (now Harbor Beach)
Station of the U.S. Lifesaving Service.
The rudder and capstan on our south lawn are some of
the few things that survived the sinking of the Shupe.
Recovered and later donated by the Buel Conger family,
it stands as testament to the brave men who risked their
lives to save the crew of the
 Shupe.
Ship Anchors
The wood stock and iron anchors also on our
south lawn are from the wrecks of the sailing vessels
John Martin and Fontana, which sank in the
St. Clair River near the Blue Water Bridges in 1900.
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