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Welcome
to the Laird Township Historical Society
Houghton County, Michigan
Who
we are:
We're an infomal group of volunteers who operate a small museum
dedicated to the preservation and display of items relating to the history
of Laird Township.
Where we're located:
Our museum is located on Alston Avenue,
1/4 mile north of Highway M-38 in Alston, Michigan. Park in the lot
just beyond the town hall, which will be on the left side of the road if
you're heading north. The museum is accessed by a short gravel trail
from the parking lot.
Museum hours:
Since we're a small volunteer group, we
usually don't have set hours of operation. However, to tour the museum,
or to find out more about it, you may contact:
Phil Faucher (906) 334-2918
Pat Spencer (906) 338-2771
Doug Welker (906) 338-2680 or dwelker@up.net
Here are some photos of the museum:
Trail
leading to the museum, museum in background
The museum was once the Maronen School, a
one-room schoolhouse which was then located several miles from its current
home. It later served as a hunting camp, was moved to the Louko farm
on North Laird Road, and was finally moved to town. It was donated
to the historical society in 1988 by Elna Louko in memory of Eddie Louko.
Here's
a view of the interior of the old schoolhouse when it was still on the
Louko farm.
Here
we are moving the old schoolhouse onto a concrete slab in Alston.
Interior
of the museum, after renovation but before displays were added
More photos will be added at a later date.
History
of Laird Township
This section will be under construction for a
while.
Much of the township's history prior to 1987 has been chronicled in
the book A View of the Century Past: Laird Township Centennial, 1887-1987,
which was published for the Laird Twp. centennial celebration. This
book is now out of print, but it can be viewed in our museum, at the Houghton
County Historical Society Museum in Lake Linden, at the J.R. Van Pelt Library
at Michigan Technological University, and in several other places.
Some information from that book will appear here at a later date.
Laird
Township
Lots of info on Laird Township will appear here
at a later date, including maps, photos of places and things within the
township, etc.
Top of page
Doug Welker's
home page
Last edited: March 31, 1999