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NEWBERRY
POINTS
OF
INTEREST
Tahquamenon Logging Museum and Nature Study Area. Good displays of local history in the farmhouse, many logging tools, a CCC museum, and a beautiful interpretive nature trail to a scenic Tahquamenon River overlook make this a choice place to stop ...
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Luce County Historical Museum. The museum is in the ornate 1894 sheriff's house and jail. Among the collections of hats and buttons, the old-fashioned kitchen and bedroom displays are maps and a few artifacts from an important archaeological discovery on Whitefish Bay. The jail cell, an ideal photo-op, thrills kids. ...
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Canoeing the Tahquamenon. Rent a canoe at a local livery and take a beautiful, tranquil two-hour trip from the Dollarville Dam to Newberry. There's also good fishing for pike, muskie, walleye, and panfish ...
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Tahquamenon Logging Museum and Nature Study Area
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Unassumingly housed in an old farmstead, this grassroots local museum is a real treasure. The local history displays in the onetime farmhouse are excellent. An interesting interpretive nature trail leads back over boardwalk through a woods and swamp to a scenic Tahquamenon River overlook. Signs give a remarkably clear explanation of northwoods tree species.
The museum grounds includes a restored log house, circa 1880-1900; a building with memorabilia and photos from CCC camps around Newberry (that stands for Civilian Conservation Corps, the famous Depression make-work project that did so much for forests and parks) and a recent bronze statue commemorating a CCC worker; and a stationery sawmill that should be operating by midsummer, 2001.
For some people, seeing displays of logging tools and equipment makes it easy to imagine the process. Ralph McCarry's miniature scene of a lumber camp, now here, was the wood-carving project that got him started making dioramas and eventually creating the Totem Village folk art environment on U.S. 2 just west of the Mackinac Bridge. Fortunately, this museum is one where the volunteers – mostly retirees from some aspect of the logging business –have been part of the story. "They're up on everything," said museum member Gus Walker. If you can see the top-notch logging video done by Wendell Hoover, Hartwick Pines' former logging historian, you'll gain a new appreciation of the social history of logging and the lives of shanty boys.
Events often feature a lumberjack breakfast cooked on an iron stove, old-time music, or both. Breakfasts are held from 7 a.m. to noon. $5.50 for adults, $3 for children 6 to 12, under 6 free. Music starts about noon and lasts until everyone gets tired. 2005 events are: June 25 Lumberjack Breakfast. July 23 and 24: Old-Time Music Jamboree with crafts, flea market, concessions, tours. Breakfast both days. August 6: Antique Car Show. Parade through downtown Newberry at 10 a.m. Dancing at museum. August 27 and 28: Lumberjack Days. Breakfast both days. Fiddle Music. Logging competition Sunday at 1 p.m. September 24: Fiddlers' Jamboree from the Original Michigan Fiddlers' Association, with dancing. Held at the American Legion Post on east side of Main Street/M-123 from 1-10 p.m.
On M-123 at Tahquamenon River, 1 1/2 miles north of Newberry. (906) 293-3700. Open 9-5 daily from Memorial thru Labor Day. $3/adults, $1.50/kids 6-12, 5 and under free. Handicap accessible: museum buildings and the trail up to the river.
Return to Newberry
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