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Organization

Beaver Island Historical Society

Also Beaver Island Historical Society of Michigan · BIHS

Draft — sources verified, prose evolving

TypeOrganization
Coordinates45.7462° N, 85.5207° W
WithinBeaver Island
ErasModern era

Summary

The Beaver Island Historical Society (legally, Beaver Island Historical Society of Michigan) is the nonprofit organization that collects, preserves and presents Beaver Island’s history. Founded in 1957, it operates the Mormon Print Shop Museum and Marine Museum, and maintains two additional historic sites, Protar’s House and Heritage Park. Since 1976 it has published the multi-volume Journal of Beaver Island History, a primary venue for locally researched island history, several volumes of which are cited (though not held in full) elsewhere in this knowledge base.

History

The Society was founded in 1957.1 Its headquarters occupies the former Mormon Print Shop, the building erected in 1850 by James Strang and his followers to publish the Northern Islander and Daily Northern Islander newspapers during the Strang kingdom; after Strang’s 1856 assassination and the expulsion of the Strangites the building was ransacked, later became a boardinghouse, and by the time of its 1958 state historical marker (erected 1977) served as the Society’s headquarters.2 The building is separately documented at Mormon Print Shop (NRHP reference 71000386).

By at least 2023 the Society operated two museums – the Mormon Print Shop Museum and the Marine Museum – plus two further historic sites, Heritage Park and Protar’s House (the cabin of Feodor Protar, NRHP reference 72000604), all staffed substantially by volunteers.3 The Society’s monthly presence in the island’s modern community newspaper, the Northern Islander (itself unrelated to Strang’s 1850s paper of the same name, per this project’s naming-trap notes), documents continuing operations: Museum Week programming, a 2024-2025 fundraising and repair campaign for the Protar House roof, and volunteer-run genealogy and photo services.45

In 1976 the Society began publishing The Journal of Beaver Island History, a grant-supported Bicentennial project; Volume I appeared that year, and the series continued at least through Volume V (cited in 2026 Northern Islander reporting on the 1887 wreck of the steamer Vernon) and Volume 3, held on the Internet Archive, dated 1988.67 This project does not hold the Journal volumes themselves and cites them only via the secondary references above.

Significance

As the institutional steward of the island’s three National Register-listed properties associated with the Strang and Protar periods, and as publisher of the only dedicated historical journal for the island, the Society is the central organization connecting this knowledge base’s sourced claims about the Strang kingdom, the Irish settlement, and Feodor Protar to further primary research that remains outside this project’s holdings.

Open questions

  • The Society’s founding date (1957) rests on a single nonprofit-registry source (impala.digital) rather than an organizational history document; it is not corroborated within the held corpus.
  • No volume of the Journal of Beaver Island History is held in this project’s data; all citations to it here are second-hand, via the modern Northern Islander newspaper or the Internet Archive catalog record for Volume 3.
  • The Society’s role, if any, in the Beaver Island Irish Heritage Group’s Emerald Isle Irish Féile (see Irish settlement of Beaver Island) is not established; the two appear in the same newspaper issues but are not stated to be affiliated.

See also

Sources

Full citations, matching the sources: block above.

Footnotes

  1. Beaver Island Historical Society of Michigan, EIN 38-6087750, retrieved 28 July 2026, https://impala.digital/public/profiles/38-6087750/overview. ↩

  2. Michigan Historical Marker “Mormon Print Shop,” marker ID HB32 (data/state/michigan/historical_markers.geojson). ↩

  3. Beaver Island Master Plan (2023), data/books/internet_archive/beaver-island-master-plan-20231113/. ↩

  4. Northern Islander, November 2024, data/books/internet_archive/northern_islander_2024.11/. ↩

  5. Beaver Island Historical Society, retrieved 28 July 2026, https://www.beaverislandhistory.org/. ↩

  6. Northern Islander, April 2026, data/books/internet_archive/northern_islander_2026.04_April/. ↩

  7. The Journal of Beaver Island History, Vol. 3 (1988), Internet Archive, https://archive.org/details/journalofbeaveri0003beav. ↩

Sources

  1. Michigan Historical Marker "Mormon Print Shop" (marker "James Strang's Print Shop"), Michigan Historical Commission, marker ID HB32, registry listing year 1958, erected 1977.
    States the print shop "Today ... serves as the headquarters for the Beaver Island Historical Society." Gives the building's address and history but not the Society's own founding date.
    state · michigan · historical_markers
  2. Beaver Island Master Plan (2023).
    Describes the Society as operating "four historic sites on Beaver Island for the public: the Mormon Print Shop Museum, the Marina Museum ..., Protar's House, and Heritage Park," staffed by volunteers, and states it "currently operates two museums ... the Mormon Print Shop Museum and the Marine Museum; and two additional historical sites, Heritage Park and the Protar Home."
    internet_archive · beaver-island-master-plan-20231113
  3. Northern Islander (Beaver Island's modern community newspaper), issues throughout 2024-2026.
    Regular Society director's columns describing museum operations, the Protar House roof replacement, docent/volunteer support, and Museum Week programming; confirms the Society's ongoing operating role.
    internet_archive · northern_islander_2024
  4. Beaver Island Historical Society, official website, retrieved 28 July 2026.
    Self-description ("Making Beaver Island History Come Alive"), confirms the four sites (Print Shop Museum, Marine Museum, Protar's Home, Heritage Park) and lists lighthouses among interpreted history.
  5. Beaver Island Historical Society of Michigan, nonprofit registration (EIN 38-6087750), retrieved 28 July 2026.
    Gives the legal name "Beaver Island Historical Society of Michigan" and a founding date of 1957.
  6. The Journal of Beaver Island History, Vol. 3 (Beaver Island Historical Society, St James, Michigan, 1988).
    Confirms the Society as publisher of this multi-volume essay series; Vol. I is independently dated to 1976 by a Northern Islander retrospective (April 2026 issue), and Vol. V is cited by name in Northern Islander pieces on the 1887 wreck of the steamer Vernon (March/April 2026 issues).
  7. Beaver Beacon, "Book Review: The Journal of Beaver Island History Volume 5," January 2003.
    Contemporary review identifies Volume 5 as a 224-page paperback published by the Society and describes its oral-history, local-life, maritime, and folklore contents; the full volume is not held here.
    websites · www.beaverbeacon.com · 2003-01-January · The_Journal_of_Beaver_Island_History_Volume_5
  8. Beaver Beacon, June–July 1970, “Historical Preservation on Beaver Island.”
    Reports cooperation between the Beaver Island Civic Association and Historical Society in a fund and campaign to preserve Protar’s Home and the older Bonner farm; it does not establish a deed, grant award, or final designation.
    beaver_beacon · 1970-06_Beaver-Beacon
  9. Beaver Beacon, August 1970, “Beaver Island Historical Society.”
    Reports 1970 museum visitor activity, a collection of 20 crayon portraits of Irish emigrants attributed to Helen Coller, volunteer staffing needs, a new Protar House roof planned for the fall, and continued Print Shop interior work; it does not identify the portraits individually or prove completion of every repair.
    beaver_beacon · 1970-08_Beaver-Beacon
  10. Beaver Beacon, August–September 1971, “Beaver Island Museum Report.”
    Reports approximately 1,325 visitors, a new collection on early Irish settlers, and completion of a Protar House roof and front-porch repairs while saying further restoration remained; it does not provide a contractor, cost, exact completion date, or final restoration survey.
    beaver_beacon · 1971-08_Beaver-Beacon
  11. Beaver Beacon, May 1972, “Museum Notes.”
    Reports A. J. Roy’s request for summer museum volunteers and historical objects for display; it does not identify the site, volunteer roster, accession records, or outcome of the appeal.
    beaver_beacon · 1972-05_Beaver-Beacon
  12. Beaver Beacon, August 1973, “Historical Society.”
    Reports more than 1,400 visitors, Boy Scout troop visits, volunteer helpers, new members and artifacts, and broad cataloguing work before regular hours ended September 4.
    beaver_beacon · 1973-08_Beaver-Beacon
  13. Beaver Beacon, August 1974, “Beaver Island Historical Society News.”
    Reports Museum painting and porch/fence work, donations, shutters made for the Protar Home, appointment-only seasonal access, A. J. Roy as curator, and Dr. and Mrs. John P. Ludwick as a Life Member household; it does not provide a work log, donor ledger, or final condition survey.
    beaver_beacon · 1974-08_Beaver-Beacon
  14. Beaver Beacon, January 1960, Beaver Island Historical Society membership application.
    Prints a Society membership application with regular, contributing, sustaining, and life dues and identifies Vera Wogen as treasurer. It does not provide a membership roll, charter, minutes, or completed applications.
    beaver_beacon · 1960-01_Beaver-Beacon
  15. Beaver Beacon, July 1961, “Beaver Island Historical Society.”
    Reports that memberships expired July 1, invites renewals and new members, gives July–August museum hours of 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., and identifies A. J. Roy as the contact for loaned display items. The notice does not provide a membership roll, attendance count, or accession records.
    beaver_beacon · 1961-07_Beaver-Beacon
  16. Beaver Beacon, August 1961, “Beaver Island Historical Society.”
    Announces an August 19 meeting at the Mormon Printing House Museum with an officer election and other business, describes planned Protar and King Strang displays and an old-fashioned kitchen, and records donated or loaned objects. It does not provide minutes, election results, or a complete accession record.
    beaver_beacon · 1961-08_Beaver-Beacon