Clare County Historical Society

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The Clare County Historical Society (CCHS) is a volunteer-led, non-profit organization dedicated to collecting, preserving, and sharing the unique history of Clare County, Michigan.

• Preservation: The society actively archives historical documents, photographs, textiles, and physical artifacts that document the transformation of central Michigan.
• Education: CCHS serves the local community, students, and genealogical researchers by maintaining physical museum collections, historical markers, and public educational programming.
• Community Stewardship: Run entirely by volunteers and funded through memberships, donations, and fundraisers, the society manages a centralized historical complex to keep local heritage accessible.

The center of the society's operations is its historical complex, located at the junction of Eberhart and Dover Roads (just north of Clare and south of Harrison). The complex features several meticulously restored historic structures:

• Artifact Exhibits: Houses an extensive collection of pioneer tools, household items, domestic textiles, and vintage photographs representing everyday 19th- and 20th-century life in Clare County.
• Specialty Collections: Features dedicated historical displays on the local lumbering era, Spikehorn's bear den, WKKM radio station, and regional military veterans.

• Historic Preservation: A fully restored, authentic country schoolhouse originally constructed in the late 1800s to serve rural school children.
• The Pioneer Experience: The interior features original wooden desks, slate blackboards, and turn-of-the-century textbooks, offering a visual window into early Michigan public education.

• Homestead Architecture: A genuine pioneer log cabin, disassembled from its original location and reconstructed on the museum grounds.
• Living History: Staged with authentic, non-electric pioneer furniture, iron woodstoves, and cooking implements to demonstrate the rugged conditions faced by Clare County's earliest settlers.

• Industrial Trade: A working replica blacksmith shop featuring an operational forge, bellows, anvils, and vintage ironworking tools.
• Live Demonstrations: Utilized during seasonal festivals to demonstrate the vital metalworking skills that kept early logging camps and agricultural farms operational.

• Seasonal Operations: The museum complex is traditionally open to the public on a seasonal schedule, typically welcoming visitors on specific days from May through September or October.
• Annual Fall Festival: The society's signature public event, held each autumn, featuring live historical craft demonstrations, old-fashioned kids' games, cider pressings, and special archival tours.
• Genealogical Research: The organization assists families tracing their mid-Michigan ancestry by preserving county directories, regional maps, and cemetery records.

Clare County Historical Complex 7050 S Eberhart Ave Clare, MI 48617

CCHS P.O. Box 723 Harrison, MI 48625

museum@clarecountyhistory.org

Email messages are automatically forwarded to CCHS members for responses.