The Mason County Historical Society is a private, non-profit educational organization, formally organized on November 30, 1937, dedicated to perpetuating Mason County’s history. A nine member Board of Directors governs the organization; three members are elected for a period of three years at the annual meeting each November or December. The Historical Society has not received local tax support since 1990 and is operated by revenue received from admissions, donations, grants, memberships, and sales. The Mason County Historical Society operates Historic White Pine Village with the help of over 400 volunteers each year. The Historical Society has a membership of 500 individuals and families, and twenty-one individuals, businesses, corporations, or organizations have adopted buildings and ramps. The “adopt a building” program started in 1993 and has provided the means to properly maintain the buildings. The Business Partner Program was initiated to allow businesses to support the Historical Society and receive some advertising and marketing benefits.
The Ludington Mariners Old Time Base Ball Team is another outreach of the Mason County Historical Society, interpreting the game of baseball as it was played in the 1860’s.
An extensive Research Library is maintained and open to members and the general public all year. It contains archival materials necessary for family and business research, such as books, photographs, documents, maps, newspapers, obituary and cemetery records, scrapbooks, and information files. A search of our archives and artifacts can now be done online from this web site- Archive and Artifact Search or by going to the “History Online” dropdown and clicking on “Archive and Artifact Search“. Our published books located in the Research Library can be searched online from this web site- Librarycom.com or by going to “History Online” dropdown and clicking “Librarycom.com“. Librarycom.com is provided to the Mason County Historical Society by the Mason County District Library. We do not allow books to be checked out from our Research Library, however, you can come to the Research Library and find the book of interest and peruse the contents. We do have a daily Research Library usage fee of $9.00. Research in the library can be done in person or we do research for individuals receiving those requests by mail, phone, e-mail, or from online from this web site- Research Request or by going to the “History Online” dropdown and clicking on “Reseach Request“.
You may download a Mason County Historical Society brochure here.
View the Mason County Historical Society’s Mission/Purpose Statement here.
Historic Highway Guides 