St Clair Historical Museum - St. Clair, MI
N 42° 49.385 W 082° 29.332
17T E 378296 N 4742243
St Clair Historical Museum is located in the former First Baptist Church in St. Clair, Michigan.
Waymark Code: WM16DBZ
Location: Michigan, United States
Date Posted: 07/06/2022
Views: 1
The St. Clair Historical Museum and Research Center, operated by the St. Clair Historical Commission, is located inside the former First Baptist Church. The Romanesque-inspired building was built in 1873, replacing a wooden church which burned three years earlier. Residents purchased the vacant church in 1974, donating it to the city for community and Museum use. The Museum’s interactive and audio-visual displays highlight the city’s history dating to 1764. A 2019 remodel features the Belle Reve Room displaying hand-carved English oak paneling and ornate fireplace.
The Museum was formally opened in May 1976 with a series of displays in the upper level Main Room. The Historical Committee (designated a City Commission in 1980) has since added a model of Fort Sinclair and six specialty rooms in the former Sunday School addition. The rooms depict Diamond Crystal Salt Company history and processing, tools used in St. Clair businesses, a 1920s-era shoe shop, a pre-electric kitchen, a Maritime Room focusing on St. Clair’s wooden and steel shipbuilding history, and the Donald J. Blain Library for Great Lakes Maritime Research.
In 2018-19, the Museum’s Main Room was entirely remodeled to include the Belle Reve Room and more coherent and interactive presentations of St. Clair stories and artifacts. The Belle Reve Room features exquisite hand-carved, one-inch thick English Oak paneling and a massive fireplace brought to St. Clair in 1910 but that’s another story.
The museum is free to enter but donations are aprreciated. -
Building History.