Constructed and given to the City of Port Huron in 1904 by Pittsburgh-based steel magnate and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie for $40,000, what is now the Port Huron Museum's Carnegie Center was originally the Port Huron Public Library. To the right is a postcard of the Carnegie Center as it looked soon after its opening.

The Port Huron Public Library (now the St. Clair County Library System) operated the building until 1967, when the library moved into a larger structure at 210 McMorran Blvd.

The Port Huron Museum, originally named the Museum of Arts & History, was created in 1967 in part to preserve the endangered structure, which was slated for demolition. It remained the Port Huron Museum's sole structure until 1990, when the HURON Lightship Museum was added. It is now the main site in a current system of four sites, however a fifth, the Fort Gratiot Lighthouse, is to be added sometime in 2007.

In 2004 the building's name was changed to the Carnegie Center to celebrate the building's 100th anniversary, and to honor Andrew Carnegie's role in its construction.

FIRST FLOOR

Museum Collections Area

The Port Huron Museum is home to over 15,000 objects and archival items relating to the history, pre-history and culture of the Blue Water area. While all of our sites have items from the Port Huron Museum's collection, the majority of our object, document, and photograph collections are housed at the Carnegie Center. Since 1904, a museum, first under the auspices of the Port Huron Public Library, has been housed here. Below is a picture of librarian Miss Barnum, taken in 1915, in what is now the McMorran - Murphy Room. Many of the objects seen in this photo exist in the Museum's collection to this day, reflecting the long-standing commitment of the City of Port Huron to preserving its heritage. 


For more information on our collections, please go to this link: http://www.phmuseum.org/collections.html

North and South Galleries

Our two rotating exhibition areas offer over 2000 Square feet of space. From Robotic Dinosaurs to the nationally known American Watercolor Society Traveling Show,  the exhibitions in our North and South galleries will leave you wondering what we will bring in next!

MEZZANINE

Local History Gallery

Explore the local history of the Port Huron area through displays related to the history of the area on the Mezzanine. Be sure to look under foot; the material of the floor of the mezzanine is often surprising to our visitors! When the Carnegie Center was a library, books were stacked in this section.

2ND FLOOR

Music Room

The Port Huron Museum has an extensive musical instrument collection, which is on display in our newly renovated Music Room. Also on display is a 1900's era musical instrument repair shop, where we hope to demonstrate musical instrument repair in the future.

Marine Gallery

We have all the bells and whistles in our Lee M. Cooper Marine Gallery! Explore shipwrecks, see what it took to build a wooden schooner or lumber hooker, or pretend your a traveler in one of the elegant passenger boats like the Tashmoo, South American, or City of Cleveland III. Go ahead --- ring the bells, your allowed!

Tour a ship's pilot house

Welcome aboard to the Frank Crevier Pilot House! You are entering a Great Lakes ship's pilot house and cabin as they were at the turn of the century. The view from the wheel is the way it looked to the mariner heading out into Lake Huron nearly a century ago.

On the left is Fort Gratiot Lighthouse, second oldest on the lakes. On the right or "starboard" side, is the upper grain elevator of the Grand Trunk Railroad at Point Edward.

We will soon change course to the "port" between the lighted gas buoy and the spar, and head out toward the HURON Lightship marking the dangerous Corsica Shoals.

Don't forget to see what is on our grounds!

Visit Our Log Cabin

In the late 1850s, Conrad Kammer built a log home in Casco Township to the south and west of Port Huron. Generations of Kammers lived in this house. Over the years, many additions and improvements were made to keep pace with changing times and fashions. The original log walls with mud daubing had become completely hidden by two different layers of exterior siding.

In 1981, Mr. Paul Nellis bought the cabin. When he began to tear down what was now a house, preparatory to building a new one, he discovered the log cabin under the siding. Rather than destroy it, Mr. Nellis donated it to the Port Huron Museum and it was moved to the Museum grounds. The Museum has restored the historical structure to approximate its appearance during its early years as a pioneer home and it is used extensively for educational programs and special events such as Michigan Log Cabin Day.

Ships' Anchors, Capstan and Rudders

Rudder History: In 1894, the Schooner William H. Shupe was caught in a storm on Lake Huron. She and her five man crew were driven ashore near Lakeport, Michigan, and the schooner proceeded to break apart. A valiant effort was made to save her crew by five local Individuals. Sadly, four of them, tired from their trek from Port Huron, were overcome by the surf while attempting to rescue the crew. The lone survivor, James Lynn, went on to found the Lynn Marine Service, better known today as the J.W. Wescott Company. The crew was finally rescued by the brave men of the Sand Beach (now Harbor Beach) Station of the U.S. Lifesaving Service.

The rudder and capstan on our South Lawn, are some of the few things that survived the sinking of the Shupe. Recovered and later donated by the Buel Conger family, it stands as testament to the brave men who risked their lives to save the men of the Shupe.

Ships' Anchors: The wood stock and iron anchors on our south lawn are from the wrecks of the sailing vessels John Martin and Fontana, which sank in the St. Clair River near the Blue Water Bridges in 1900. The stories of these wrecks will be detailed at a later date.