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Thursday 1pm - 4pm Friday 1pm - 4pm Saturday 1pm - 4pm

Pentwater Historical Society Museum

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Pentwater Historical Society Museum

Historical Museum & Society for the Pentwater Area. We have plenty of artifacts, stories and pictures from the history of the area.

11/11/2025

Looking for wintertime opportunities? Maybe we can get together!

We're looking for volunteers to help us with some light museum tasks that are best done when we're not all trying to host family and friends over the summer. No heavy lifting involved over the winter.

We are planning to keep the museum building open (and heated!) two days per week so we can get some of that work done.

Respond to the post or PM us to let us know if you could volunteer, once, once weekly, etc., Let us know what day of the week works best for you.

We're assuming that Monday and Tuesday will be the best two consecutive days for us to do our work and to keep the building heated. If you have other days when you could volunteer regularly, and a number of you have the same idea, then we can make a switch if needed.

11/03/2025

Thanks to all who visited our museum in 2025! We had very robust attendance. Our doors open again soon after Memorial Day, 2026.

10/26/2025

MUSEUM CLOSEUP: "COMPANY K"

During the Civil War, the Union Army needed to recruit a regiment of sharpshooters, but couldn’t find enough good shots among the general U.S. population. Since the Native Americans were skilled hunters, one company was recruited from among Michigan tribes. They reportedly did so to protect their tribes' interests. Those who joined “Company K" are listed on the top chart displayed in our museum.

Company K included 23 Native Americans from Pentwater. Their names are among the names shown on the top list, but also appear separately in a Pentwater Historical Society listing that's displayed underneath).

In the summer of 1863, these 23 local Native Americans marched to Pentwater Lake from their nearby settlement. Their friends and families marched alongside, and watched as the recruits boarded a steamer to fight for the North in the Civil War. As the chart shows, only about half of them survived.

10/20/2025

MUSEUM CLOSEU: LOOKOUT TOWER

Doesn't that tower next to the Snug Harbor Marina's gas pumps look like the old U.S. Lifesaving Service/U.S. Coast Guard Station's lookout tower that sat on the channel's north pier -- about where the "turnaround" is today -- for many years, until the USCG closed the station in the 1950's?

It does because IT IS the old lookout tower! Does anyone know the story of how it ended up here? If so, post in comments below.

10/16/2025

Steve Bass presented the design ideas for the museum expansion at the Pentwater Service Club today. They had a good crowd on hand, 34 members and guests, to hear about the plans, and what comes next. Thank you for the great community support! See our website to learn more about what's in store for the museum, and how you can contribute!
https://pentwaterhistoricalsociety.org/index.php/donations/

10/14/2025

MUSEUM CLOSEUP: LEPRECHAUN SHOP

In 1974, where Goodstuffs is located today was the home of the Leprechaun Shop, owned by Al Ringquist. He and his wife Alice moved to Pentwater the previous year. Al sold handmade, custom furniture and cabinetry ... and small wood toys like those shown here.

At about the same time, he had the idea that Pentwater hold an "Intergalactic Sandcastle Contest." It's soon after became the Sand Sculpture Contest that's held on the Friday of Homecoming Week. Al ended his working career as Finance Director for the Village of Pentwater.

He was diagnosed with diabetes when he was 9, and dealt with it for the next 63 years. Al lived a marvelous life nonetheless. When you visit our museum, you will see some of his toys in the entryway, and his handmade store sign hangs over the left side of the stage.

10/08/2025

MUSEUM CLOSEUP: PENTWATER BEDSTEAD FACTORY

Walk along the north pier to the east, or to where Bridge Street deadends at the channel, and you'll come to the site of the Pentwater Bedstead factory. In the early 1880s, the Pentwater Furniture Company bought Charles Mears’ boarding house site here for $300 in cash, plus $2,000 in stock. Furniture from Pentwater became popular and was shipped all over the U.S. The company employed between 50 and 100.

The factory was sold in 1886 to the Sands and Maxwell Lumber Company, which renamed the furniture business the Pentwater Bedstead Company, and it expanded. On display in our museum is one of its washstands. Twelve years later, the boiler exploded, killing three workers and injuring several more. The damaged section was rebuilt, but two years later, around 1900, another fire swept through the factory (the photo below) -- and it was never rebuilt. This pretty much ending all furniture manufacturing here.

10/05/2025

MUSEUM CLOSEUP: PENTWATER DRIVING PARK ASSOCIATION

Yup, there was a horse racing track in Pentwater for some 35 years, beginning in 1874. Horses were used for transportation and heavy work, but some were fast and their owners liked to race them, pulling carriages. The “Pentwater Driving Park Association” was formed. Check out the very large, 1876 map of Oceana County that's on display in the museum. Look near the “number 53” label – and you’ll see exactly where in the Village the oval race course was located.

09/26/2025

MUSEUM CLOSEUP: FUNERAL BUSINESSES

Entering 3-4- # after dialing 231.720.0291 on one's phone is where one can learn about the Village's early funeral businesses. One was curiously named "Peter W. Lagesen Furniture and Undertaking." Peter's business was located in a wood frame storefront that was just north of a garage/gas station structure that's the home of Cosmic Candy today. Young Peter is shown in the lower left corner of the photo of Professor Dodge's Embalming Class of 1897 (the school was in Grand Rapids). His wood frame structure was destroyed by a fire, and eventually replaced by the brick building that's now home to Sun & Beach.

09/20/2025

MUSEUM CLOSEUP: George C**n, PHS Class of 1947

There's a story behind every PHS graduate who's shown on the one of the class posters displayed in our museum. George C**n's story is indeed interesting.

Born in 1929; one of 8 children in a Pentwater family of very modest means. The family lived in a one bedroom home for a time. George went on to earn a doctorate degree and become a college professor. Around the age of 80, he wrote a book called "Bert's Boy, Growing Up During the Great Depression and World War II." The paperback is available on Amazon for about $20. A great winter read. The story is about the C**n family in Pentwater during those years. Bert was George's dad. Dr. C**n passed away in 2021 at the age of 92. Here's his obit: https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/rochester-mi/george-coon-10187795

09/18/2025

Have you done the tour?
Today and next Thursday (weather permitting) are your last chances this year to take the Pentwater tour.

09/17/2025

The Yacht Club was packed on Sept 16 with interested members and their guests turning out to hear local resident and designer Steve Bass share plans to transform the museum. To learn more, view this this 10 minute video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIz-GbDkufc

Address

85 South Rutledge
Pentwater, MI
49449

Opening Hours

Thursday	1pm - 4pm
Friday	1pm - 4pm
Saturday	1pm - 4pm

Website

https://pentwaterhistoricalsociety.org/ways_to_help.html

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