Rediscover small-town Michigan life in the late 1800’s and beyond.
Historic White Pine Village is enjoyed by tens of thousands of visitors each year who, upon leaving, comment about the beauty and nostalgia of the village.
Historic White Pine Village, opened in 1976, is a community of over twenty-five historic buildings located on a 23-acre bluff overlooking the beautiful Lake Michigan shoreline. The buildings contain thousands of artifacts that help interpret their setting in the history of the area. The history interpreted includes lumbering, music, farming, small rural villages, maritime, sports, and the development of business and industry.
White Pine Village features the Rose Hawley Museum, a blacksmith shop, general store, old fashioned ice cream parlor, trapper's cabin, the first county courthouse, doctor's office, one room school house, a music gallery, lumbering exhibits, a restored 1880 farmhouse, a local Sports Hall of Fame museum and a maritime museum which focuses on the rich maritime history of Mason County. Also among these buildings is the White Pine Chapel which is frequently rented throughout the season for small weddings by couples from around the country.
This historic village centers around the two-story frame building that was built by the area’s first white settler, Burr Caswell, in 1849. In 1855 Caswell converted the first floor of the house into a courtroom, and the basement into a jail after the state legislature organized Mason County. The Caswell house sits only a few yards from its original location.
Historic White Pine Village is also the home of the Ludington Mariners Old Time Base Ball Club, interpreting and playing matches by 1860 rules in period uniforms on the village grounds.
Special annual events usually include: Children’s Days, Lumberjack Brunch, Logging & Harvest Days, Down on the Farm, Autumn Days, Old Time Base Ball Matches, Clown Band Concert & Corn Roast and more.
Rediscover small-town Michigan life in the late 1800’s and beyond. There are things to see, things to learn, things to do—things that make Historic White Pine Village an exciting and educational experience for the entire family.
Contact Information
Historic White Pine Village: 231-843-4808
www.historicwhitepinevillage.org
The Good Ole Days
On 23 acres of the Buttersville Peninsula across from downtown Ludington, Historic White Pine Village is a window to the area’s history. Take a walk into the 1800’s including a tour of the one-room schoolhouse, the doctor’s cottage, the post office, and museums of music, time, cars, and lumbering. Top it off with an ice cream in the good, old-fashioned ice cream parlor.
Events at the Village bring history to life for all ages and interests. Full details are at historicwhitepinevillage.org.
June 21 – Unveiling of inductees to the Mason County Sports Hall of Fame, followed by old-time baseball: Ludington Mariners host vintage teams from Grand Rapids and Lowell.
July 11-12 – “Quilts in the Pines” Country Quilters’ Guild Show
July 14-20 – Blacksmith Bill Jenkins will be heating things up, literally!
July 15 – Village Fish Fry
July 17 – Children’s Day #1
