Tri-Cities Historical Museum Inc

TCHM offers a wide variety of tours, in-classroom programs, and teaching kits for students in grades Pre-K-12, with fully customizable options for educators:

What is a Museum? - Introduces the concept of a museum, museum artifacts, and ways to learn at a museum. For Pre-K and K students.

1st Grade Tour - Introduces Michigan's history through the museum's first floor exhibits and hands-on activities.

2nd Grade Tour - Focuses on different components of Michigan's history as outlined in state curriculum standards, including Native American life, the fur trade, the lumbering era, pioneers, farming, and the Victorian era.

2nd Grade Classroom Visits - A six-week hands-on series featuring deep dives into each of the topics covered in a 2nd Grade tour. Virtual options are available.

3rd Grade Tour - Focuses on a more detailed history of Native Americans, the fur trade, pioneers, and the Erie Canal.

4th-12th Grade - Staff works with educators to customize museum experiences as needed.

Located on a small campus in Grand Haven Township, the Community Archive & Research Center (CARC) and the Collections Warehouse together house TCHM's collection of nearly 70,000 artifacts and archival documents. The buildings provide professional, climate-controlled storage for the museum’s collection as well as a space for community members, students, and researchers to engage with museum staff and access our historical collections to learn more about our area’s history.

Researchers regularly utilize the CARC by contacting staff for historical information, making appointments to do their own on-site research, and by utilizing the museum's database of historical information about its collection.

TCHM also offers tours of the CARC and Collections Warehouse for both K-12 classes and community members, with the goal of sharing our collection with our community.

Periodic workshops are also offered to the public, including the popular "Caring for Your Collections" workshop.

TCHM offers seasonal programming aimed at drawing families to the museum to explore the exhibits and learn about local history in fun, interactive ways. Annually, the following programs are offered:

Ice Cream Socials - Two socials, one at the historic 1223 train engine in downtown Grand Haven and one at the historic DeWitt School House in Spring Lake Township, are held each summer. These free events offer rare access to historic spaces in our community that are normally not open to the public. Free ice cream, games, and music are also provided.

Haunted Halloween - This free event invites families to visit the museum in costume for educational Halloween fun. With "spooky" artifacts on display from the museum's collection and a Halloween-themed scavenger hunt through the museum's exhibits, families can learn while they play.

Holly Jolly Family Day - This free event invites families to celebrate the season and learn about how holiday traditions were celebrated in the past.

TCHM offers a range of programs to engage adults in exploring our local history:

Lectures - We offer both in-person and virtual lectures on a variety of locally-relevant historical topics. Speakers include highly regarded authors, professors, and local historians.

Walking Tours - Our most popular series, our summer walking tours feature subjects such as pub history, downtown Grand Haven architecture, the local cemetery, and Grand Haven in the 1870s.

Workshops - Occasional history skills workshops are offered, including the "Caring for Your Collection" workshop, which teaches participants how to properly store, handle, and display their family heirlooms.