The foundation will offer half-price admission from noon to 4 p.m. Sunday, allowing guests to tour the Historical Museum, Cornish Pumping Engine and Mining Museum, and World War II Glider and Military Museum for just $10. Children ages 5 and younger will be admitted free.

The event is intended to encourage local residents who may have never visited the museums — or who have not been back in years — to discover the collections and exhibits that tell the story of the region’s rich heritage.

“How many people have lived here 10, 20, 30 years and never visited the local museums, especially the new historical building that’s only a couple of years old?” said Keith Huotari, president and historian of the Menominee Range Historical Foundation. “This is the perfect opportunity to check out the museums at a very reasonable price.”

Huotari believes many residents overlook the priceless historical landmarks and artifacts in their own community.

One of the Native American displays in the Menominee Range Historical Museum. This fall, the Menominee Range Historical Foundation will host the new Smithsonian Museum on Main Street exhibit, “Americans,” from Sept. 12 through Oct. 24. (Terri Castelaz/Daily News photo)

“It’s almost like we take it for granted that they’re here — we have pretty rare pieces like the glider or the Cornish Pump — that you just don’t get the opportunity to have those types of exhibits,” he said.

Visitors who have toured the museums in the past will also find new displays and updates throughout the complex.

“There’s things that we’ve tried to upgrade, to up the game a little bit, kind of come more into the 21st century to make things more fun and educational,” Huotari said. “We try to do those kinds of things without compromising the importance of the artifacts or displays.”

Several exhibits have been enhanced with interactive features designed to engage visitors of all ages while preserving the historical significance of the collections.

“There’s things that we’ve tried to upgrade, to up the game a little bit, kind of come more into the 21st century to make things more fun and educational,” Huotari said.

The Menominee Range Historical Foundation has added several interactive features at its complex of three museums. Keith Huotari, foundation president and historian, shows a jail cell where visitors can take photos right inside the cell and tag the museum on social media pages. (Terri Castelaz/Daily News photo)

The Cornish Pumping Engine and Mining Museum and the World War II Glider and Military Museum, at 300 Kent St., officially opened for the 2026 season Tuesday. Hours are from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.

The Historical Museum, housed in the former Dry building, will be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday.

The first museum was built around the largest steam-driven pumping engine ever built in the U.S. The 725-ton steeple compound condensing engine, which stands 54 feet tall and features a 40-foot flywheel weighing 160 tons, once removed thousands of gallons of water per minute from the depths of the Chapin Mine. The engine began operation in January 1893 at D Shaft of the Chapin Mine on South Stephenson Avenue just east of the Chapin Pit.

The Cornish Pumping Engine is a Michigan Historic Site (1958), a National Historic Site (1981), a Michigan Historic Civil Engineering Landmark (1984) and a National Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark (1987).

Among the museum’s interactive attractions is a working scale model built by Clyde Unger. Visitors can push a button to activate the model and watch the engine’s flywheel and pumping mechanism operate.

Several local musicians are featured in a special case in the Menominee Range Historical Museum that now includes an interactive feature that plays music, including tunes of Lucy Reed, Arthur D, Hap Hogan, Alfred Barkle and The Cotterill Sisters. (Terri Castelaz/Daily News photo)

The museum’s extensive collection includes mining equipment, ore cars, drilling tools, photographs and artifacts documenting the history of the Menominee Iron Range. A logging and lumbering exhibit added in recent years highlights the area’s timber industry and the role of companies such as the Von Platen-Fox Lumber Co.

The World War II Glider and Military Museum features one of only seven restored WACO CG-4A combat gliders in the world. The glider serves as a reminder of the role the Ford Motor Co. plant in Kingsford played during World War II, producing 4,190 gliders between 1942 and 1945 — more than any other manufacturer in the nation.

Other highlights include a fully restored Clark CA1 Airborne Bulldozer, a 1942 Ford Army Jeep, a World War II Harley-Davidson military motorcycle, historic aircraft and displays covering American military history from the Civil War through Desert Storm. Historic photographs, military uniforms and artifacts help tell the stories of local men and women who served their country.

Surrounding an early Sinclair gas station are restored Ford vehicles, including a 1924 Model T Coupe, a 1928 Ford AA Fire Engine used at the local Ford Plant, a 1930 Ford Model A Tudor Sedan, a 1930 Ford Model AA Dump Truck, a 1939 V-8 De Luxe “Woodie” Station Wagon and a rare 1946 Sportsman “Woodie” Convertible Sedan.

“New this season is a Kingsford Charcoal exhibit assembled by Guy Forstrom, who donated his collection for public display,” Huotari said.

The Menominee Range Historical Foundation will have a special season-opening event Sunday with discounted admission to all three of its museum attractions: the Historical Museum (shown here), Cornish Pumping Engine and Mining Museum, and World War II Glider and Military Museum. (Terri Castelaz/Daily News photo)

The Historical Museum features more than 100 exhibits depicting life on the Menominee Iron Range from the late 1800s through the early 1900s.

Among the exhibits are a turn-of-the-century country store, Native American artifacts, a trapper’s cabin, Victorian parlor, schoolroom, barber shop, doctor’s office and pharmacy.

Visitors can also see a dugout canoe dating from between 1650 and 1756 and a birch bark canoe crafted by Menominee Indians in the early 1900s, he added.

Huotari noted that the museum will host the new Smithsonian Museum on Main Street exhibit, “Americans,” from Sept. 12 through Oct. 24.

The “Americans” highlights the ways in which Native Americans have been part of the nation’s identity since before the country began and offers a new way of understanding.

The Menominee Range Historical Foundation will have a special season-opening event Sunday with discounted admission to all three of its museum attractions: the Historical Museum, plus the Cornish Pumping Engine and Mining Museum, and World War II Glider and Military Museum, shown here. (Terri Castelaz/Daily News photo)

“I have been working on a rotating display to feature artifacts, newspaper articles and photographs of the area’s first native Americans like Thomas ‘Wildcat’ King, Menominee Joe and Jerome Dakota,” he said. “I discovered a lot of fascinating information.”

The Menominee Range Historical Museum was one of six museums in Michigan selected to host the display.

One of the museum’s newest additions is the Hulst School bell, recently relocated to the classroom exhibit.

“We recently relocated the Hulst School bell to be on display in the classroom exhibit in the historical museum,” Huotari said.

All three museums are wheelchair accessible.

The Foundation hopes community members take advantage of the special admission on Sunday. “We hope something stirs up some memories and jogs their history bone a little bit and get them excited about what we have here,” he said.

Huotari added that the Foundation welcomes all inquiries about donation of local artifacts.

The Menominee Range Historical Foundation receives no tax support from local, state or federal governments and operates through admission fees, memberships and donations.

The organization is also seeking volunteers to assist at the museums during the season.

Those interested in volunteering, making a donation or have historical items at the museums can contact Manager Dianne Castelaz-Chiapusio at 906-828-1822.

For more information about the museums, go to the website at https://menomineemuseum.com.

———

Terri Castelaz can be reached at 906-774-2772, ext. 85241, or tcastelaz@ironmountaindailynews.com.