08/29/2026
The Artifact: A Room in the Saginaw County Historical Societyâs Museum, circa 1968
A recent grant from the Mackinaw Trail #562 Questers in Saginaw through the Michigan Questers Preservation and Restoration Fund, is enabling the Castle Museum to properly store its rug collection. As part of this project, we are researching the rugs and carpets and became intrigued by this circa 1968 photograph of a gallery in the museumâs first home at 1105 S. Jefferson Avenue â an image that features numerous rugs and, more importantly, connects us with our institutionâs history.
While the Castle Building has been the museumâs home since 1979, the Saginaw County Historical Society, now known as the Castle Museum of Saginaw County History, opened its first museum in 1967. Tracing its origins back to the 1930s, the organization struggled for years to secure a permanent home for its collections and exhibits. However, in October 1966, the society took the bold and brave step of purchasing the Henry and Catherine Preuszol Passolt residence at 1105 South Jefferson Avenue. Within a few months of acquisition, a member wrote, âI am a member of the Saginaw Historical Society and for years we have been trying to find a home for the many artifacts in our possession and the many promised as soon as we had home. The search is over. We have a home, one of the fine ancestral dwellings on S. Jefferson St. Next time when you drive on south on Jefferson and reach the 1100 block, slow down your car, look to the right, and observe the lovely, old dignified building sitting at 1105. Better still, if you can spare the time, turn in the driveway, park your car for a few minutes, go to the front door and ring the bell. The museum is not yet ready for public opening, but I am sure someone will let you in and show you our simple, beautiful home.â (Letter to the editor from Stanley D. Schubert, The Saginaw News, December 18, 1966.)
This photograph captures the north parlor of the Passolt home â I mean museum â within a year or two of opening. Although we have greatly refined our collecting and exhibit practices, objects exhibited in this display remain cornerstones of our collection. Today, the early twentieth-century Steinway piano, originally owned by Miss Winfred Holland and donated by the Tuesday Musicale, resides in the Castle Museumâs lobby. It is frequently used during performances at the Museum. And the rugs covering the parlor floor of the Passolt house often still provide a âfoundationâ for our exhibits.
Statements made by Gertrude Decker, the museumâs first director, still ring true today: ââWe are not interested,â she says, âin just being a castoff depot. What weâd like would be things with genuine historical significance'â(The Saginaw News, April 2, 1967.) And we still preserve things to preserve Saginawâs stories.
The rugs in this photograph and many, many more are being rehoused thanks to the Questersâ grant, which allowed us to purchase an antique rug storage roller unit. They will continue to be a resource connecting us with the history of our community and the Castle Museum of Saginaw Countyâs own story.
More About the Questers:
Founded in 1944, the purpose of The Questers is to enable the preservation and restoration of historic places. The Questers chapters raise and donate funds for the preservation and restoration of historic buildings, sites, landmarks, and artifacts for the benefit of our communities.
Many Questers also collect antiques and often share their extensive collections with universities, at chapter meetings, and at public events. There are 34 chapters in Michigan.
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