Vintage 4th of July Exhibit On Museum’s Front Lawn

Stroll the the Leelanau Historical Society Museum’s grounds along the Leland River at 203 East Cedar Street to check out the newest temporary exhibits. Starting today, staff will add an open-air curated experience with yard signs featuring historic images of the 4th of July in Leelanau County. Among them, this foot race captured on the 4th, in Cedar, Michigan, circa 1910.

This augments the “window-shopping—style” exhibits that have been on rotation since this spring in the museum’s back windows. Curatorial assistant Elizabeth Adams says the current window exhibit is “a combination of our mapping exhibit and ‘Land of Delight’ exhibit, highlighting how settlers and tourists arrived on the Leelanau Peninsula, starting with steamships, railroads, and later the development of roads including M-22.”

While the museum remains closed to the public, staff members are working to aid researchers remotely as well as spending extra time cataloging the collection. Says Adams, “We are still developing a phased reopening plan in collaboration with our board and staff. As we plan for the rest of the year, we have some exciting outdoor programs that we will be announcing soon.”

Until then, take a walk through the outdoor exhibit and see how Leelanau’s residents and guests spent the summer holiday 100 years ago.

Photo from the Leelanau Historical Society Museum Collection.