Many hours of hard work by volunteers helped create this wonderful all new Omena Women’s Club parlor from 100 years ago. This wonderful organization has contributed to the community in many ways with their generous and creatives gifts. Our museum resides in the original Putnam-Cloud Tower House relocated from nearby property once owned by Rinaldo Putnam who acquired the property from George Armstrong Custer and his wife, Libby.
We are very proud of our little community, its history, and the people that made it what it is today. We hope you will come by and take a look and maybe even purchase one of the wonderful items in our store. We have greeting cards, posters, Omena Historical Society mugs, custom tiles featuring a scene of Omena and much, much more! Remember, admission is always free!
Our museum resides in the original Putnam-Cloud Tower House relocated from nearby property once owned by Rinaldo Putnam who acquired the property from George Armstrong Custer and his wife, Libby.
The OHS Museum Committee, Amanda Holmes, Joey and Larry Bensley, Alice Littlefield, Jim Miller and Dennis Armbruster, decided to honor and celebrate the 164-year-old Omena Presbyterian Church with a display in the museum this summer. After some inspired conversation they decided to build a framework outline of the church’s structure complete with front porch, roof and steeple and showcase pictures and historical information in the “window frames” of the church.
The display is made from 1 x 1.5 inch wood and painted white. A picture of the church’s cemetery is displayed outside the building. Dennis Armbruster and Jim Miller designed and built the structure while Joey and Larry Bensley and Alice Littlefield prepared the display information. The display is housed in the museum’s main room.
Our main room exhibit is a look back at how Omena has evolved from the 1850s to today. It features scaled down replicas of storefronts with display windows, and many articles of interest. The exhibit runs in parallel with our beautiful book by Amanda Holmes titled, Omena a place in time, copies of which are still available on this website. Our surrey is back! Come take a look at the original surrey that transported summer guests to the Sunset Lodge. Artifacts, photos and other items are sure to pique your historical interest. Our front room exhibit for 2014 is a depiction of a “typical” 1860s era kitchen. In addition to many period items, it includes authentic items from the Craker farm, now owned by Joey and Larry Bensley.
A special point of interest: Because the walls of this old building are restored lath and plaster, no nails or other such fasteners were used in this exhibit. All items are suspended from the picture rails that were accurate for the period. Once removed, there will be no traces of the wood walls, the beams or the stove.
Old friends share fond memories and recollections of times past in Omena.
Typical items found in an early Omena General store
for additional information please email omenahistoricalsociety@gmail.com
Large: $58 (plus $12 postage)
Small: $36 (plus $6.25 postage)
$45 (plus postage: $5)
You can download the corrigenda for updates to the original book including additions, deletions, and corrections. Be sure to update your copy by clicking on the link and printing it. Keep it right in your book for future reference.
$7 (plus postage $4.50)
The Omena Historical Society (OHS) is constantly looking for information and memorabilia from Omena’s past. Our museum, located in the Putnam-Cloud Tower house, provides us with a wonderful venue to display items such as old photographs, family letters with or without the envelopes, books about or authored by people from Omena, and other items of historical interest from Omena. We also realize the significance of the proud Indian peoples that have lived here for many centuries and encourage them to let the OHS display items from their past with the public as well. Family heirlooms and artifacts are sometimes kept in cedar chests and handed down from generation to generation. While this is a wonderful way to keep such items of value, there is the risk of theft, vandalism or damage and destruction by fire to consider. It is the intent of the OHS to provide a more secure environment for such items while offering the opportunity for others to enjoy them as well. Credit will be given to those that provide historically significant items. We will also consider displaying items on a loaned basis.
The Omena Historical Society
P.O. Box 75
Omena, MI 49674
We also seek financial, professional and volunteer support. As with all non-profit organizations, donations of money, goods and services are essential to success. We urge the people of Omena and others that recognize the value of preserving our history, to give of themselves and support this important effort with financial contributions. Because OHS is a 501(c)3 non-profit corporation, donations are tax deductible.
Have you ever walked into an old room and said “if these walls could talk, I wonder what stories they would tell?” Well, we not only want your historical items but the stories behind them as well. Background information documents history for future generations to enjoy. If you have an item of historical interest and wish to share it with us, please provide whatever background information you might have so that we may share it with others. Dates, names, events and how you came to have the item(s) are all very important to us
We also seek financial, professional and volunteer support. As with all non-profit organizations, donations of money, goods and services are essential to success. We urge the people of Omena and others that recognize the value of preserving our history, to give of themselves and support this important effort with financial contributions. Because OHS is a 501(c)3 non-profit corporation, donations are tax deductible.