Official site for tourism information for the Grayling, Michigan area
The Santa Train will be making a stop at the Grayling Depot/Crawford County Historical Museum!
Saturday, December 11, 2021 from 9:00-10:30am.
More details will be available at https://graylingchamber.com/event/santa-train/
Watch a video of the Santa Train here Lake State Railway Santa Train Video
About the Crawford County Historical Museum
Located at the end of our Main Street, the historical museum is situated next to the train tracks which have played an integral role in the growth of our community. From logs to letters, the railway has moved both wood and information in and out of Crawford County for generations!
The Crawford County Historical Society and Museum is a non-governmental, 501c3 non-profit corporation, dedicated to “Collecting, Preserving and Interpreting Documents and Artifacts that illustrate the history of Crawford County, Michigan”.
We collect documents and artifacts mostly through donations from the descendents of the early area pioneers. Items range from the Native American cultures through the lumbering industry and early railroads on through the family histories of the first settlers. Most of the items collected require some sort of preservation that may range from simply being placed in a protected showcase to being kept in a climate controlled environment. For instance, early documents and photographs need to be mounted under acid-free matting behind UV filtered glass.
These activities require both time and funding.
We are fortunate to have the old Railway Depot to house our collection but it’s expensive to pay for the electric bill, gas bill, phone service and general building and grounds maintenance. Archival preservation supplies are also costly. In addition it does no good to the community to simply store the “stuff” away where no one can see or read about those early days. Exhibits need to be assembled that tell a story.