Alger County Historical Society and Heritage Center

12/03/2025

Come join the Historic Society for our Christmas Open House!

05/31/2017

09/02/2016

We are officially OPEN!!!! Our hours of operation are 11-4 Tuesday through Saturday. Please come by and visit us!

After several months of renovations to the Heritage Center, we are excited for the public to stop in and see how beautiful it looks!

Our "Grand Opening" will be on September 11th. We will have demonstrations in the black smith shop during the grand opening as well.

03/10/2016

HERITAGE CENTER UPDATE!

Sorry for the absence everyone. We have been very busy refurbishing the Heritage Center. As you can see in the pictures, we have refinished all the wood floors, painted, and installed new entry doors. We are also installing new carpet, tile, and windows!

All of this is possible because of an extremely generous donation from the late Helvi Walkonen. We are honored and humbled that she thought of us and we already have plans to use more of her donation in the future towards a new roof and furnaces.

Since we moved into old Washington School in 1993, the building hadn't been refurbished and was badly in need of it.

We can't wait to reopen and show off what we've been up to!

Updates on our reopening and an open house will be posted soon.

06/25/2015

From the UP Land Conservancy:

Monday, June 29, 7pm at the Heritage Center

The public is cordially invited to attend and participate in a presentation by Dr. Chris Burnett, Executive Director of the UP Land Conservancy. Learn about the lands already protected by UPLC in Alger County & how you can protect your land.
The Upper Peninsula Land Conservancy is a not-for-profit, community based organization dedicated to permanently protecting the conservation values of natural areas, working farms and forests, and recreational lands in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. UPLC performs this work for the benefit of the public by holding conservation easements on private lands, establishing conservation preserves on UPLC-owned lands, and by conducting educational programs.

Light refreshments will be provided.

For more information:
Call: 906-225-8067
Email: [email protected]
Website: http://uplandconservancy.org

If you simply enjoy the environment of the Upper Peninsula and believe in our aims of permanent stewardship, you can become a member of UPLC or contribute in other ways

06/24/2015

We are saddened to let everyone know that due to ongoing building work and other unforeseen circumstances the Heritage Center will be closed until further notice. We hope to open again to the public in the fall.

If you need anything or have a question email us at [email protected] or call 906-387-4308 and leave a message. We will get back with you as soon as we can.

Don't forget to be on the lookout for your summer issue of Footprints!

06/13/2015

This weekend is Pictured Rocks Days down at Bayshore Park in Munising! We are one of the 70+ vendors. Stop by the park and visit our booth. Author Jon C. Stott will be at our booth signing copies of his book 'Paul Bunyan in Michigan: Yooper Logging, Lore & Legends". Also, from Noon-5pm at the Heritage Center we will be having a "garage sale". We are selling vintage hats, ladies clothing, and accessories. All sales are by donation and all proceeds will go towards our collection and archive fund.

06/11/2015

Our Blacksmith, Don Snitgen, is in today until 3pm. Stop on by and see him at work!

06/09/2015

The Alger County Historical Society would like to announce the receipt of a $2,500 grant from the Alger Regional Community Foundation. The funds for this grant were made possible through the PHLAG and Rotary Youth Endowment Funds. This generous grant will be put towards a collections management improvement program: purchasing environmental monitoring equipment and software for the Heritage Center and improved collection storage supplies such as archival quality boxes and garment bags. The Society is still in search of volunteers to aid us with this project and to operate the gift shop and museum during open hours! Please contact us if you are interested in helping preserve Alger County's heritage.

06/04/2015

CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS! We are looking for summer volunteers to help out around the museum. We are looking for Gift Shop Attendants to look after the gift shop during open hours, greet visitors, and be able to help them out as they peruse the museum. We are also looking for Volunteers to aid the Curator in a collections management project - this would involve learning how to properly handle and pack historic objects. No experience necessary, training will be provided. No time commitment needed. Please email us at [email protected] or call (906)387-4308 for more information. This is a fantastic opportunity for teenagers looking for volunteer experience and college-bound folks looking to gain customer-service and/or museum experience for their resumes. Please Share!

06/02/2015

Did you know that our monthly board meetings are open to the public? Meetings are held at the Heritage Center on the first Tuesday of every month at 6:30pm. June's meeting is tonight. Come on by!