Rediscover small-town Michigan life in the late 1800’s and beyond.
Historic White Pine Village is enjoyed by tens of thousands of visitors each year who, upon leaving, comment about the nostalgia, serenity, and beauty of the village, truly a village "Where History Lives".
Historic White Pine Village, opened in 1976, is a community of over twenty-nine historic buildings located on a peninsula close to the beautiful Lake Michigan shoreline. The buildings contain thousands of artifacts that help interpret their setting in the history of the area. The history interpreted includes lumbering, music, farming, small rural villages, maritime, sports, and the development of business and industry.
Historic White Pine Village features the Rose Hawley Museum, a blacksmith shop, fire hall featuring a 1928 Boyer Fire Apparatus mounted on a Graham Brothers chassis, general store, old fashioned ice cream parlor, trapper's cabin, the first county courthouse, doctor's office, one room school house, a music gallery, lumbering exhibits in original lumber camp buildings, sawmill shed, a restored 1880 farmhouse as part of a farmstead, a local Sports Hall of Fame museum, Car Museum and a maritime museum which focuses on the rich maritime history of Mason County. The farmstead includes a Farm Tool Skills Learning Center, Cooper Shop, and interpretive Agricultural Shed filled with machinery and equipment. Also found on the village grounds is the White Pine Chapel which is frequently rented throughout the season for small weddings by couples from around the country.
This historic village was built around the two-story frame building that was built by the area's first white settler, Burr Caswell, in 1849. In 1855, Caswell converted the first floor of the house into a courtroom, and the basement into a jail after the state legislature organized Mason County and Mr. Caswell became the first Probate Judge. The Caswell house sits on its original location and is a State Historic Site.
Historic White Pine Village is also the home of the Ludington Mariners Old Time Base Ball team, interpreting and playing matches by 1860 rules in period uniforms on the village grounds. The first Ludington Mariners were a part of Mason County history from 1912 to 1926, then a part of the Minor League Baseball system and playing games in Culver Park in downtown Ludington.
Special annual events usually include: Pancake Supper, Children's Days, Fish Fry, Down on the Farm, Clown Band Concert & Corn Roast, Logging Days, Lumberjack Brunch, Autumn Days, Old Time Base Ball Matches, and more.
Rediscover small-town Michigan life in the late 1800's to mid 1900's. There are things to see, things to learn, things to do--things that make Historic White Pine Village an exciting and educational experience for the entire family.
Contact Information
Historic White Pine Village: 231-843-4808
www.historicwhitepinevillage.org
