The Region of Three Oaks Museum

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The Region of Three Oaks Museum

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The Region of Three Oaks Museum is open 12-5 PM, Friday-Sunday, from May through October. K. O.

The Region of Three Oaks Museum collects and displays historical artifacts, papers and records that tell the story of New Buffalo, Chikaming, Weesaw, and Three Oaks Townships. An earlier museum, the Chamberlain Memorial Museum, was founded in 1916 by the E. Warren Foundation (the first foundation chartered in the state of Michigan). The museum contained some 80,000 artifacts, but was dissolved in the 1950's, its collections transferred to Michigan State University. In 2008, a group of local citizens set about creating a new Region of Three Oaks Museum, mounting a capital campaign and building a new building on Featherbone Avenue in Three Oaks. The museum is just to the west of Elm Street-- adjacent to the Acorn Theater, one block from Vickers Theater and two blocks from Dewey Cannon Park. Our exhibits, focusing on area history, change frequently, and we offer programs on historical topics of local interest throughout the year,

Mailing Address: TROTOM, P. Box 121, Three Oaks, MI 49128-0121
Email address: [email protected]

10/18/2026

Looking for something to do on this gorgeous Sunday? How about checking out the museum-- we're open until 5!

10/16/2026

On this day in 1899, President William McKinley stopped briefly in Three Oaks to help dedicate Dewey Cannon Park. Though the cannon itself-- a prize for raising money for a memorial to Spanish-American War casualties-- hadn't arrived, McKinley complimented the town for its patriotism. He stayed only a few minutes, coming and going aboard the presidential train.
If you have a few minutes today or over the weekend, visit the museum-- open 12-5 PM, Friday through Sunday at 5 Featherbone Avenue. We do have a display on the Dewey Cannon and McKinley's visit.

10/15/2026

Museum volunteers were busy this morning! We moved out furniture we don't plan on using at our new facility at 7 South Elm. We took it to the museum to clean it up, and we plan to sell some of it in the next few weeks.
We also took down curtain roads, vacuumed up decades of dust, and used a lot of Murphy's Oil Soap on wood trim and furniture.
And that sailfish? We'd assumed it was a taxidermy trophy brought to the building by a Warren family descendat who lived in Miami. Turns out, it's made of wood.
Thanks to TROTOM volunteers who did the (literally) heavy lifting and dirty work!

10/14/2026

Three Oaks has lost a devoted native son, and our museum family has lost a great friend.
Art Klute became an Eagle Scout, growing up in Three Oaks in the 1950s. That's Art on the left in the photo, meeting renowned photographer Ansel Adams at a scout camp in New Mexico in 1959 (Art was working in the camp darkroom).
Work took him to Kalamazoo, but he remained a steadfast Oaker, visiting his friends here often. A few months ago, he and Anne paid a visit to his childhood pal David Warren, EK Warren's great-grandson, at Warren's Colorado home.
Art was an active museum volunteer. When we expanded our artifact storage space a few years ago, Art was able to get fantastic movable shelving for us (he'd sold shelving before retiring).
More recently, Art had served on the committee overseeing the restoration of the building at 7 South Elm, which will become part of the museum next year.
We'll miss Art's wisdom, humor, good fellowship, and deeply-held love of his hometown. Our condolences go to his wife, Anne Fox Klute (also a Three Oaks HS grad) and the entire Klute family.

10/13/2026

Chikaming Country Club at its original site, on Pier Street. The golf course was still years away.
Museum re-opens Fri-Sun, 12-5. Only a few more weekends left in our 2026 season. Come visit!

10/09/2026

The Featherbone Company made corsets in Three Oaks... but only for a few years. Corset-making operations soon moved to Kalamazoo, though the Three Oaks factory continued to make the corset stiffener Featherbone for decades.
These are shots of the operations in Kzoo.
The museum is open 12-5 tomorrow (Friday) and through the weekend. Come visit us at 5 Featherbone Avenue before we close for the year at the end of this month.

10/05/2026

Atlases published in 1860 and 1873 show a town called Avery Station located east of Three Oaks, where Avery Road is now. The hub of the community was a huge sawmill built by Gilbert Avery and Thomas Love in 1854 (Avery shown here with wife Sarah).
Avery's a ghost town now-- few traces of the community are left. The museum's hoping to put together an exhibit about the lost town of Avery. Anyone have any artifacts or photos from Avery's heyday? Get in touch!-- [email protected]

10/03/2026

The New Buffalo Boys Band plays Three Oaks (the Dewey Cannon is right behind them). Don't know the year-- anyone recognize musicians?
The museum currently has an exhibit about town bands, which were common 100 years ago. March on over and check it out-- we're open 12-5 PM through the weekend.

10/02/2026

Galien's diet doc, George O'Malley, practiced for 40 years, focusing on weight loss-- through diet plans, hypnotism, and amphetamine drugs.
Dr. O'Malley, featured in a museum exhibit on Michiana doctors that's only up for a few more weeks (we close after Nov. 1). Come see it and other great displays on local history-- Friday-Sunday, 12-5 PM at 5 Featherbone Avenue.

10/01/2026

The Three Oaks Acorn reports on the 1922 demolition of the first three-story building ever built in the village-- the Featherbone Whip Company. the whip company had moved away years before.
Our museum will be open again tomorrow-- 12-5 Friday through Sunday. Come for a visit before we close for the winter at the end of the month!

Address

5 Featherbone Avenue
Three Oaks, MI
49128

Telephone

+12693369688

Website

http://regionofthreeoaksmuseum.com/

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