Corrine and Ron Bloomfield, curators of the Bay County Historical Museum, prepare to enter the new 3700 square foot gallery they helped complete. Historical Museum Completes 10 Years of Improvements Worth $1.25 Million
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Improvements to the Bay County Historical Museum building and exhibits that took 10-years and cost about $1.25 million are complete.
A new 3,700 square feet exhibit opened recently and is drawing scores of interested visitors both locally and from other areas, according to museum officials.
Ten major interest points are highlighted in the new main "Bay County . . . Trails Through Time" gallery of the museum, 321 Washington Avenue.
Interest points are:
Anishinabe: Native Americans, their history, culture and spirituality, from the past through the present and looking into the future;
Fur Trade: How Bay County was a major player during this pivotal time when Michigan's first economy was developing;
"El Dorado of the North," how the pursuit of "green gold" made Bay County one of the most active lumbering centers in the country;
Abolitionists, Presidential Candidates and Civil War heroes: How three generations of the James G. Birney family left their mark on Bay County;
Aladdin's "Built In A Day:" The rise of the ready-cut home industry and how Bay City became a world leader in this industry;
Votes For Women: How Michigan Woman's Hall of Fame inductee May Stocking Knaggs fought for women's suffrage from her home in Bay City;
The Boys From Bay City: World War I and the 128th Ambulance Corps;
Remember The Maine! Bay City and the Spanish American War;
The Wenonah: Bay City's "Grande Dame" of hotels;
Cedar Point of the North: Bay County's Amusement Park, Wenona Beach.
Gay McInerney, director, said the new gallery was designed by Hallberg Design Studio and Space Studios of Midland and constructed by Donahue Contracting Services of Midland. The exhibit was a two year project from concept discussions to completion, according to museum curators Ron and Corrine Bloomfield.
The museum's second floor houses a 2,500 square foot Kantzler Maritime Gallery featuring the exhibit "Bay City: Seaport to the World" that opened in 2001 and "period rooms" focusing on the rise of consumerism in the U.S. during the 1920s and 1930s.
Originally built in 1910 as a National Guard Armory, the building had one of the largest open assembly areas in the state because of its arched roof and open interior. As a major exhibition hall it was the site of the 1912 state Republican convention.
The building became a historical site in its own right when the forces of William Howard Taft were challenged by those of Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt for the Republican Presidential nomination. A fight between the Taft and Roosevelt factions resulted inthe state militia being called to Bay City to quell the disturbance.
Later clashes at the national convention in Chicago led to a Roosevelt-Taft split that allowed Democrat Woodrow Wilson to win the Presidency in the 1912 election. The Michigan delegation headed by Frank Knox was first to join the "Bull Moose" party that backed Roosevelt in a losing cause.
For more information contact the Bay County Historical Museum, 893-5733 or bchsco@mindspring.com ###
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