Gladwin County Historical Society

Call Directions Website Contact the museum

Gladwin County Historical Society Gladwin County Historical Society is a local history membership organization. EIN: 38-2394487

A busy day about 120 years ago in Gladwin ... several of those buildings are still standing.
10/09/2026

A busy day about 120 years ago in Gladwin ... several of those buildings are still standing.

The Gladwin County Historical Society's Historical Village has given a facelift to its 115 year old Depot building - the...
10/09/2026

The Gladwin County Historical Society's Historical Village has given a facelift to its 115 year old Depot building - the work being accomplished by Marshall-Bierlein painting. The colors are the original colors used when the Depot was built in 1912. Ironically, many of the older residents only remembered the color it took on after World War II, when an over-supply of white exterior paint made it the color of choice once the railroads were no longer as concerned about the depot looking dingy from soot deposits. The darker colors masked the soot better in the earlier days.

Very early on the morning of Friday, June 20, 1975, a substantial number of Gladwin people showed up as the sun rose in ...
09/21/2026

Very early on the morning of Friday, June 20, 1975, a substantial number of Gladwin people showed up as the sun rose in the northeast, casting their shadows southwesterly in the middle of Cedar Avenue. Dave Caffrey captured this iconic, historic shot for use by the Gladwin County Centennial celebration that marked the anniversary of Gladwin becoming an independent county. Perhaps you were in this photo, or your grandparents or great grandparents are featured. Check it out.

Historical Memory from Beaverton in 1973 - when Ray Neville was mayor, and Sherm Fassett lead the Beaverton Jaycees - an...
09/07/2026

Historical Memory from Beaverton in 1973 - when Ray Neville was mayor, and Sherm Fassett lead the Beaverton Jaycees - and the best plastic trash bags available were sold as a fund-raiser for the Jaycee's many local projects. (Bear in mind - at that time also had the Lions' Club, still had a Beaverton Masonic Lodge, and almost every man in town belonged to one or more of the service clubs - and virtually ALL of the businesses were locally owned.

Ken Kerswill, as most of the "more experienced" people know, was a major player in Gladwin County Historical society. Hi...
09/06/2026

Ken Kerswill, as most of the "more experienced" people know, was a major player in Gladwin County Historical society. His parents, grandparents and aunts and uncles played major parts in that history. Among Ken's belongings, left to the Gladwin County Historical Society, was a batch of snapshots. The attached image is one of them. Is there anyone still around to who might recognize what store this was, and/or who the woman with the Coke bottle was? It doesn't appear to be the Wheatley Store that once stood on Bard Road. But the four sash windows across the second floor and the projecting overhang supports, as well as the stone porch pillars may provide additional clues. The sign hanging at the very left says "Eggs, Toast & Coffee 25c" - so it might be a restaurant too.

There was a time when the world went mad. (Yes, we are aware that there have been far more such times than one.) But thi...
09/03/2026

There was a time when the world went mad. (Yes, we are aware that there have been far more such times than one.) But this one was in the 1970s when sometimes it seemed like nothing made sense anymore. Streaking became a fad, for some strange reason, and Gladwin fell victim to that fad, as noted in this Gladwin County Record news article publish March 20, 1974.

In an attempt to resurrect the practice of Bruce Guy who, before his untimely passing, regularly posted articles about s...
08/29/2026

In an attempt to resurrect the practice of Bruce Guy who, before his untimely passing, regularly posted articles about some of our Gladwin County service members. We owe a debt of gratitude for these young people who interrupted their lives - and in many cases gave their lives - for the cause of defending the peace of the nation and the world. I clearly understand that "defending the peace" might be a strange way of phrasing it, since many served in times of war. But we must understand that, often, fighting a war is the only way to re-establish peace.
Anyway - Since I just finished restoring a photo of H. Clark Hastings, a young sailor from Grout Township who signed up for the Navy during what we now call World War I. While he was in training, he did fall into an often-deadly reality of over-crowded camps and heavy workloads that helped to spread the world-wide scourge of the time - pneumonia. In fact, the pneumonia often turned out to be the cause of death listed before we learned that the cause of the pneumonia was the Spanish Flu.
The attached transcriptions include notes that were published in the Gladwin County Record, and communications from our service members. The publication date is noted at the end of each article.

Many who have been involved in Gladwin County History or Gladwin Area Friends of the the Theater (GAFT) - or who are old...
08/26/2026

Many who have been involved in Gladwin County History or Gladwin Area Friends of the the Theater (GAFT) - or who are old enough to remember when he was postmaster at Gladwin, will certainly remember Ken Kerswill. He has been gone for 16 years now - but in going through some of the collection of photos he left to the Gladwin County Historical Society, I came across this one from his 1941 graduation from Gladwin High School. I didn't write the caption - it wrote itself, using my fingers on the keyboard.
I trust Ken is resting in peace - and regaling everyone in heaven with the stories of Gladwin's early day he once shared with us here on earth.

Help needed. We have this photo taken in a Geometry class at Beaverton High School (in the building that is now the B.A...
05/23/2026

Help needed. We have this photo taken in a Geometry class at Beaverton High School (in the building that is now the B.A.C.) in January 1951. I am pretty sure the teacher was still teaching at the time I taught more than 20 years later. But I am not coming up with a name. Also, lets hear about the kids diligently taking a Geometry test under their teacher's watchful eye.

TreeTrunk Sculpture. (But wondering who can share information about the sculptor?)
05/12/2026

TreeTrunk Sculpture. (But wondering who can share information about the sculptor?)

Address

221 West Cedar Avenue
Gladwin, MI
48624

Opening Hours

Thursday 10am - 3pm
Friday 10am - 4pm
Saturday 10am - 12am

Telephone

+19894269277

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Gladwin County Historical Society posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Museum

Send a message to Gladwin County Historical Society:

Shortcuts

Share