Beaver Island Historical Society Welcomes You to Our Past
The Beaver Island Historical Society was founded in 1957 to collect and share the fascinating history of Beaver Island. A remote island in Lake Michigan, it has witnessed many interesting and unique historical events, and has been home to various groups including Native Americans, a Mormon branch known as the Strangites, Irish immigrants, fisherman, lumberjacks, and many more.
King Strang
The Historical Society currently operates two museums on the Island, the Print Shop Museum and the Marine Museum, as well as two additional historical sites: Heritage Park and the Protar Home. We offer several resources and services to our visitors, including genealogical research, copies of archival photos, and a series of historical journals and other books for purchase. Additionally, we host many events throughout the year to promote the Island’s history.
Explore our history, find out about the king, fishing, shipwrecks, island life, natural history, our Irish heritage, and much more.
For an overview of Beaver Island History please visit: http://www.beaverisland.net/beaver-island-history
Museum Hours
Closed for the season and will reopen May 2019. Please call 231.448.2254 for more information.
From Our Facebook Page
Some of the beautiful work that Dick Burris has done around the island.BIHS is developing new webpages about Island People in its online History section. Dick Burris will be the first featured. We continue to collect pictures, stories and locations of the beautiful stone and brick work done by Dick Burris over the past 50 years.
Dick’s wife Amy tended for him on stone and masonry projects over the past 20 plus years. Prior to that, Dave Gladdish, Perry Fortier, Ross Henderson, Mariam Sawim, Amy Munger, Karl Bartels and many others worked with Dick to create the lasting art we see all over Beaver Island today.
Amy has been invaluable in recalling sites, details and stories about some of the most amazing work.
If you - or someone you know – has stonework done by Dick Burris, we would love to learn about it. Please message the Society or visit our website:
beaverislandhistory.org. We are working to document all of the Burris authentic original stone and related structures and present them on Dick’s new webpage.
Last year, Amy, Dick and Carol got the project started by visiting several of the Burris stonework sites. Very special thanks for the warm receptions we received from so many.
BIHS staff and volunteers will be visiting as many Burris Stonework sites as possible, to get pictures for the web and a possible future publication.
THANK-YOU so much for honoring my father this way!! He was a true craftsman!!
My son is a stone setter by trade. Such an art🍀
Beautiful, love it. I've seen some of it.
Such beautiful work
A true artist!👍💖
Derrick Burris
Maria Thundersmom
Danielle Burris
Dick Burris diving CAYUGA in the shipping channel near Ile Aux Galets. Another ship, HURD, collided with CAYUGA and both vessels sank in approximately 105 feet of water.
"SAVE THE DATE"
Update: November 5, 2018, 7-8 p.m. the Historical Society will have a public meeting about our construction update at the Library. Our architect/board member Vince Ebersoldt will give a presentation and answer questions about BIHS plans for the reconstruction of the kitchen addition as exhibit / education / community space.
Photography by Frank Solle / Stillpoint Photography