Bear Lake Area Historical Society Inc. & Museum

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Bear Lake Area Historical Society Inc. & Museum

Contact information, map and directions, contact form, opening hours, services, ratings, photos, videos and announcements from Bear Lake Area Historical Society Inc. & Museum, Community Organization, P. O. Box 7, Bear Lake, MI.

08/30/2025

The magic show was awesome! As Fred May and Susan Hejl commented: “I haven’t laughed so much in a very long time!!” Jeff Hobson was entertaining with loads of comedy and amazing tricks! Special thanks to Wayne and Shiela for bringing such wonderful magic to Bear Lake—of course Jeff sometimes referred to us as “Bare Lake”—he had fun with that! A great evening!

08/13/2025

This area is very lucky to have Wayne Wissner in our fold! His friend, Jeff Hobson is putting on a show the last Friday of August. Jeff Hobson is one of the most in-demand magicians in the world! This will be an amazing, entertaining, clever comedy and magic show.
MARK YOUR CALENDARS, BRING YOUR CHAIR, THE ADMISSION IS ONLY $5.00–BUT DIG DEEP IN YOUR POCKETS as all proceeds will benefit the Bear Lake Museum! Wayne and Sheila Wissner have always been loyal supporters of our Museum—so let’s Thank them by attending this awesome magic show! Let’s FILL the barn and show our support!

03/12/2025

Winter 2024-25 is finally fading away into Spring 2025. Shoveling was part of every day this winter—sometimes 3 times a day if you really wanted to make sure it didn’t accumulate too much! Some folks complained about the snow and some saw the beauty in it falling in big fat flakes❄️. Since we, at the Bear Lake Museum, like to look back in time—let’s see some statistics! Looking back 100 years in Michigan: Detroit reported in 1924/25 a total of 66 inches while Traverse City had only 54.5 inches total! Manistee County didn’t begin tracking snowfall until 1951/52 when 142 inches were recorded.

The lowest snowfall in Manistee County was recorded in 1982/83 when only 50.5 inches fell! 75 years ago in 1954/55 only 84.5 inches fell. In the State of Michigan 1913 took the record when 395 inches fell in the Upper Peninsula and was named the Great White Hurricane! This phenomenon also caused many ships to sink in the Great Lakes—mainly Lake Michigan and Lake Superior. The record of highest snowfall in Manistee County was set in 2013/14 at 212 inches!

This year—so far—172.5 inches has been recorded for Manistee County. We might just get a bit more, you never know.

Now, let’s look at temperatures in Traverse City in 1925: January 41*; February 52*; March 75*.

When we’re talking about snowfall, the end of last Fall everyone was so concerned about the lake water level. Well, I’ve seen Bear Lake level far lower than last year and it’s always come back higher than ever. I’ll see if I can dig up a photo to prove it! The spring bulbs are beginning to sprout and the temperatures this week are promised to be approaching 70*!

09/01/2024

FIRST LIBRARY BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE IN BEAR LAKE
From the records preserved by the Bear Lake Township Board and gifted to our museum we know securing books for pioneer school children in the community was a priority. In a ledger that begins with the minutes of school board meetings in 1868, we find a complete catalog of books purchased and circulated initially from the township hall but later given to country schools of the area. Most books cost between $1.25 and $3.00.
What did the children have to read in the 1870’s? Here is a partial list: Bancroft’s History of the US, Wright’s Poetry Book, Child’s Book of Nature, Aboriginal America, Discovery of America, Southern and Northern Colonies, General Washington. It is obvious that a firm understanding of America’s past was instrumental in establishing a student's first library collection!
There was fiction, too, but in much less quantity. Popular author Rosa Abbott had a whole series of stories to ignite and intrigue young readers’ minds. Two examples: Tommy Hickup or the Pair of Black Eyes; and Young Detective; or Which One Won. Readers today can search Amazon Books online to secure some of the titles in this old (1870’s) series!

08/25/2024

FAMILY HISTORY IN BEAR LAKE TOWNSHIP RECORDS
Did your relatives come to the Bear Lake area soon after the Civil War? If your ancestors took out applications for homesteads in the late 1860’s and the 1870’s the historical records of Bear Lake Township may give you a wealth of information about your family. Recently our historical society was delighted to obtain, organize and clean many, many ledgers of early township records [tax, election,, government minutes, cemetery, health records, etc.] that the township officials are no longer required by law to keep. We are pleased they have entrusted these historical papers to our museum for safe keeping for researchers in future years. These early documents are now in the museum on open shelves where you can easily access them. The earliest records be in the 1870’s.

We have very complete records for the 1900’s up to 1950. We thank the Bear Lake Township officials for allowing our historical society to preserve these important ledgers that document our community’s past. Come learn more about your family’s history by examining these documents. We are open on Saturdays through October, 1-4 p.m.

08/19/2024

SPEAKER SERIES THIS SATURDAY: SANDRA BAIR
The Bear Lake Area Historical Society will present a special program this Saturday, August 24 at 10 a.m. at the museum. Mrs. Sandra (Johnson) Bair will discuss the history of the Bear Lake Methodist Church. Sandra has been a member of this historic Bear Lake church since birth, and she has lived in Bear Lake nearly her whole life, so she has great knowledge and insight into the church’s place in our community. You perhaps know the church has recently transitioned into the Bear Lake Community Church. Following the program guests are welcome to tour the museum. The program is free, but donations are always appreciated.

08/18/2024

PLEASANTION TOWNSHIP CEMETERY TOUR AUGUST 18TH 3 P.M SEE YOU THERE!

08/04/2024

TOUR OF PLEASANTON TOWNSHIP CEMETERY
Sunday, August 18, 3 p.m.
Presented by the Bear Lake Area Historical Society

Everyone is welcome! Join us for this free tour to
learn about the pioneers and to honor our military men and women interred in this historic cemetery.

Tour begins at the pump house.

07/28/2024

75th BLHS All School Class Reunion
Tonight's alumni reunion at the VFW Hall in Kaleva was fun! Everyone enjoyed seeing old classmates and making new friends. The BLHS Class of 1974 was well represented (photo). This was the 75th all school reunion. The first was held in Hopkins Park in 1949. Robin Mathieu Ludwig did a great job in organizing this annual event!

07/21/2024

Treasures from Lake Michigan:
These items were once parts of the Hopkins railroad. They ended up in Lake Michigan off of Pierport. Guess how they operated! We hope to offer a future lecture by the donor! Bear Lake Days brought new treasures to our Museum. Thanks!

07/20/2024

FUN AT THE MUSEUM: BEAR LAKE DAYS
We had a crowd: the young, the old, the inquisitive, from near and far! Please visit again on any Saturday afternoon this summer from 1-4 p.m.

Address

P. O. Box 7
Bear Lake, MI
49614

Telephone

(773) 396-6269

Website

http://www.bearlakeareahistory.org/

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