Little Traverse History Museum

05/31/2026

We’re excited to be part of this great week of educational events all about passenger pigeons!

Petoskey will host a week of free events and unveil a new monument honoring the extinct passenger pigeon June 15-19. See link below ⬇️

📸 Provided by the Petoskey Regional Chamber of Commerce

05/25/2026

On Memorial Day we honor the brave souls who sacrificed everything for our freedom. Remember to pause for a moment of silence in honor of our heroes. In this photo standing near a war memorial: E.A. Dunton; V.A. Baker; F.J. Smith; A.J. Ramsley; Silas Wright Burch; S.S. Puckett

05/21/2026

Listen to this vintage Tigers game from May 21, 1978. At about 21:50 you can hear Ernie Harwell mention visitors from Petoskey!

Sunday, May 21, 1978Start Time: 1:39 p.m. LocalVenue: Tiger StadiumFirst game of doubleheaderhttps://www.patreon.com/supportcbotrhttps://www.paypal.com/donat...

05/17/2026

This is Henry Easton, photographed on this day in 1941. He ran the HA Easton Hardware and was a member of the Methodist Church and the Odd Fellows.

04/23/2026

Today is World Book Day! Harriet Kilborn, the first president of the Historical Society, owned Kilborn's House of Books at 307 Howard Street. Here's an interior shot of the store.

04/21/2026

Charles Beahan was born on April 21, 1839. His great-grandfather was a member of George Washington's military staff during the Revolutionary War. In 1893 he moved to Petoskey, where he partnered with Lou S. Darling in operating Darling & Beahan.

04/18/2026

Celebrating Petoskey stones! We have several in our collection. Did you know that Ella Petoskey, Chief Petoskey’s granddaughter, was present when Governor Milliken officially declared the Petoskey stone the state stone?

The official stone of Michigan, Petoskey stones were formed by glaciers pulling fossilized rugose corals from the bedrock, grinding their surfaces smooth, and depositing them along the shores of Lake Michigan. Rugose, or wrinkled, corals are an extinct type of coral, which were abundant 470 to 252 million years ago. Like many corals today, they lived on the seafloor either individually or in large colonies, and their skeletons were made of calcite. This particular coral species is found only in Michigan’s Gravel Point Formation, mostly around the town of Petoskey in the northwest portion of the lower peninsula.

04/18/2026

It's National Exercise Day! Here's a photo of Virginia McCune riding a bike. Crooked Tree Arts Center was originally named McCune Arts Center in her honor.

04/11/2026

It's National Pet Day! Here's Jean Snyder on a pony at 722 E. Lake Street around 1920. Check out more images in our collection: https://collections.petoskeymuseum.org/

04/10/2026

We're celebrating Sibling's Day with some local sibling stories. Kathleen and Elfrida deJaffa moved to Petoskey in 1952. The sisters donated their collection of letters and photographs from Queen Victoria and her family to the museum. Learn more about them here: https://www.petoskeymuseum.org/the-de-jaffa-collection.html