North Berrien Historical Museum

North Berrien Historical Museum Located on Red Arrow Highway in Coloma, MI, the North Berrien Historical Museum exhibits local history and hosts programs throughout the year.

The North Berrien Historical Society preserves and distributes information regarding the history of northern Berrien County in Southwest Michigan, encompassing the communities of Hagar, Coloma, Watervliet, and Bainbridge. There is no cost for general admission and most events.

From the collection at the North Berrien Historical Museum:Ribbon Cutting Ceremony for new paving job on N. Paw Paw Stre...
06/01/2026

From the collection at the North Berrien Historical Museum:

Ribbon Cutting Ceremony for new paving job on N. Paw Paw Street on June 7, 1968.

Mabel Stark in the center with scissors, Mayor Gust Anton to the right holding the ribbon. Others in the photo are Alton Howard, city engineer; Commissioners Ervin LaGrow (second front left in plaid shirt) and Howard Brewer; Jack Kinney of Consumers Asphalt Paving Co. (far right), and Jerry Cook, street department engineer.

In 1923, Lawrence A. Blahnik purchased an acre of ground from Robert Rattray of the Rattray Paw Paw Inn Resort. He soon ...
05/29/2026

In 1923, Lawrence A. Blahnik purchased an acre of ground from Robert Rattray of the Rattray Paw Paw Inn Resort. He soon began improving it with shade and fruit trees. In successive years, Mr. Blahnik added cottages until he had a total of five cottages. He named the venture “Rose Cottages.”

Rose Cottage was very popular with vacationers. Many visitors escaped from the heat of Chicago and spent pleasant vacations there. Al Capone is rumored to have arrived at the Watervliet Depot on the 3:00 a.m. train and taken a taxi to Rose Cottages.

In 1939, Mr. Blahnik purchased additional plots of land across the street from Rose Cottages, leading to the channels of Curtis Island, giving his guests access to Paw Paw Lake. Rustic bridges extended across the channel to new docking facilities for the boats, which he furnished for those who rented his cottages. The amenities included new tennis courts and horseshoe courts, along with other accommodations for the Rose Cottage guests, and all the recreational activities at the lake.

The Blahnik family and Rose Cottages seem to have weathered the Depression years, likely because Mr. Blahnik was also a pharmacist working for Scott’s Drug Store. The cottages were rented by the month during the off-season as early as 1937. The monthly rent in 1939 was $16 for a furnished cottage, including gas and electricity.

Mr. Blahnik passed away in 1948. His widow, Rose, continued running Rose Cottages, advertising in appealing ways: “Ideal Honeymoon and vacation spot, Blahnik’s Rose Cottages and apartments.”

In April 1958, Lotan R. McCrea and his wife, Elsie, opened the Rose Inn Restaurant. It is unclear if the McCreas purchased the cottages around this time or earlier. What is clear is the brisk business the Rose Inn did. The Rose Inn hosted many banquets, weddings, anniversaries, club meetings, and parties.

In March 1962, newlyweds Gary Lull and Joan DeLong purchased the Rose Inn, continuing the tradition of great food and service. However, the McCreas continued ownership of Rose Cottages. In 1968, Sam Mirabelli of Chicago bought the Rose Inn building from the Lulls and opened the A-Bella Beauty Salon (currently Hair Innovations and Day Spa). In 1974, L. R. McCrea sold the cottage property to Frank and Clara Hardy.

By 1996, the resort was referred to as “a cottage complex formerly Rose Cottages.” Fire destroyed the interior of a vacant cottage at the main entrance of the complex. Today, a real estate firm appears to own the property.

If your postal address is in the Coloma, Hartford, or Watervliet area, keep an eye out for the “Welcome to Summer” issue...
05/28/2026

If your postal address is in the Coloma, Hartford, or Watervliet area, keep an eye out for the “Welcome to Summer” issue of the Tri-City Record. Page 11 includes details about the NBHM Summer Social on Saturday, July 11, and the back page introduces our updated flyer for the event!

WHO AM I?The North Berrien Historical Museum is always looking to improve the information in our collection. Do you know...
05/27/2026

WHO AM I?

The North Berrien Historical Museum is always looking to improve the information in our collection. Do you know the identity of any of the people in this series of photos?

Please use the comments section for each image to identify anyone you recognize.

We appreciate your help!

Memorial Day was first known as Decoration Day, an annual commemoration. The holiday originated in the former Confederat...
05/25/2026

Memorial Day was first known as Decoration Day, an annual commemoration. The holiday originated in the former Confederate States in 1866 and was adopted by the United States in 1868. It is a holiday in which the nation honors its military dead. Traditionally, citizens place flowers on the graves of those who have been killed in battle.

General John A. Logan, who headed the largest Union veterans’ fraternity at that time—the Grand Army of the Republic—is usually credited as the originator of the holiday. After World War I, it came to be observed in honor of those who had died in all U.S. wars, and its name changed to Memorial Day.

The North Berrien region has long honored those who have fought and fallen defending the United States of America with parades, floral tributes, and picnics.

One of the earliest local newspaper mentions of Memorial Day was in the Watervliet Record in 1890, when “nearly all the places of business were suitably decorated in honor of the occasion as well as a good many residences.” The article goes on to mention that the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) began arriving in Watervliet and was joined by a delegation of members from the Coloma GAR post. At the command “forward, march,” the parade marched to the beat of a drum to the intersection of Main and St. Joseph streets, where it halted, enabling the pupils of the public school to join in the march to the cemetery.

As was the custom at the time, festoons and flowers were waiting. Pioneer Watervliet resident and community figure Albert N. Woodruff was called upon for a few remarks, after which the graves of the fallen heroes were elaborately decorated with liberal quantities of floral offerings. The audience then dispersed, many of them going to Coloma in the afternoon to assist in similar ceremonies.

For decades, Memorial Day was to be observed on May 30, the date General Logan had selected for the first Decoration Day. But in 1968, Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, which established Memorial Day as the last Monday in May to create a three-day weekend for federal employees.

Before then, when Memorial Day fell on a weekend, Paw Paw Lake and the surrounding countryside saw big crowds visiting the area. In 1908, several extra trains were added to the Pere Marquette schedule to accommodate the weekend visitors.

Today, Americans look forward to what has become “the start of the summer travel season.”

Enjoy Memorial Day and remember to pause and honor our fallen military heroes.

After a lifetime of looking at teeth, Merle Rex Swindell, DDS, came to Watervliet in 1964 to retire. However, Dr. Swinde...
05/22/2026

After a lifetime of looking at teeth, Merle Rex Swindell, DDS, came to Watervliet in 1964 to retire. However, Dr. Swindell continued serving his longtime patients by working from his home east of Watervliet.

Merle was born in Summitville, Madison County, Indiana, on March 11, 1894. He came to Berrien County as a young man in 1912 to work for the Big Four railroad (the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago, and St. Louis Railway) under station agent Roy Coverston. Merle later worked as a telegrapher for the Pere Marquette Railroad in Hartford and at other stations.

Along came the Great War, and Merle put his telegraph skills to use as a navy wireless operator. After separation from the Navy at the end of the war, having survived at least one bout of bronchitis, he briefly returned to Berrien County.

Merle then decided to head off to Northwestern University’s dental school. He worked his way through dental school by working part-time as a postal telegraph operator. Returning to Benton Harbor fresh out of dental school, he set up his office in the Bell block (125 Pipestone) in Benton Harbor, where for nearly 30 years, he maintained his dental practice with his wife, Agnes, a former nurse, at his side as his assistant.

A civic-minded man, Dr. Swindell was a member of the Exchange Club, the National and Tri-County Dental Associations, the American Dental Society, and the Dental Society of Michigan.

Dr. Merle Swindell semi-retired in 1953, moving his dental chair into his home on Columbus Avenue before moving to Watervliet in 1964, where he continued to see patients. In 1973, Dr. and Mrs. Swindell moved from their home east of Watervliet to 135 Pleasant Street in Watervliet. At the time of his death in 1979, he was still practicing for his long-time denture patients.

After the funeral service in Coloma, he was interred at Vinson Cemetery, Summitville, Indiana. After he died in 1985, his wife, Agnes, was interred in Lower Deer Creek Cemetery, Kalona, Iowa, where she was born and grew up.

It was a fascinating and fun week of programs at the North Berrien Historical Museum!On Tuesday evening, 102 visitors ga...
05/21/2026

It was a fascinating and fun week of programs at the North Berrien Historical Museum!

On Tuesday evening, 102 visitors gathered in the Agricultural Building for Brian Carroll’s riveting presentation, “Big Doings All the Time: The House of David’s Amusement Park, 1908–1978.” Carroll used photographs, videos, and research to illustrate that, while it was not the most profitable for the religious commune, the amusement park was by far the House of David’s most high-profile endeavor and largely won over the locals who were initially skeptical of the Israelite faith.

On Thursday morning, a discussion circle formed in the Agricultural Building for the May installment of “I Like My History with Coffee & Cream.” The topic for this month was “Skeletons in the Closet.” People were encouraged to share funny, mysterious, and strange stories, be they personal, family, or other. Everything from military service hijinks to sordid family details was shared among the group of 11.

Please join us on Tuesday, June 16, at Hagar Township Hall for The Great State of Hagar, a 20th-century history of the township presented by NBHM Curator/Programs Director Katie St. Amand.

Following this, on Thursday, June 18, our installment of I Like My History with Coffee & Cream will be a 10:00 a.m. tour in our Agricultural Building by Sam Monte of the museum’s Southwest Michigan Crate Basket & Veneer Machinery Collection.

We hope to see you at both!

From the collection at the North Berrien Historical Museum:The North Berrien Historical Society officers at the 150th Mi...
05/18/2026

From the collection at the North Berrien Historical Museum:

The North Berrien Historical Society officers at the 150th Michigan Birthday Party held January 20, 1987, at Coloma United Methodist Church.

Left to right: Bob Dill (Assistant Treasurer), Roger Carter (Treasurer), Allene Stark (President), Ed Dill (Vice President), and Thyra Jennings.

Address

300 Coloma Avenue
Coloma, MI
49038

Opening Hours

Tuesday 10am - 4pm
Wednesday 10am - 4pm
Thursday 10am - 4pm
Friday 10am - 4pm

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