2011 Tour Guide

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2011 Tour GuideSaturday, September 24

For the second year in a row, historic prop-erties in the Coloma, Watervliet, and Hartford ar-

eas will open together for free public tours and ac-

tivities. The 2011 Tri-City Heritage Tour will takeplace on Saturday, September 24, from 10:00am to

4:00pm. The Tri-City Heritage Tour offers youthe rare chance to discover places with local archi-

tectural and cultural significanceall on one dayand all for free. On September 24, nine diverse

heritage sites will offer tours, demonstrations, ac-

tivities, and conversations related to local history.The tour is self-guided and sites may be visited in

any order. Consult the description for each site to

find details about whats happening there or ifthere are amenities such as a restroom or gift shop.

All sites will be open free from 10:00am to

4:00pm on September 24, with the exception ofthe Watervliet Dams Removal project on the Paw

Paw River. From 1:00 to 4:00pm only, visit theNorth Berrien Historical Societys tent in Hays

Park where historic photos and maps of the paper

mill area will be on display. The tents hosts will

be former employees of the Watervliet Paper Mill,

who have volunteered to answer questions and ori-

ent public visitors to the former mill area.The North Berrien Historical Museum will

offer a free vintage pennant craft, with a choice of

Coloma or Watervliet school designs, to comple-ment our 2011 exhibit Women in Baseball. The

North Berrien Photography ContestExhibit will

also be premiered, displaying wonderful images ofthe area by local photographers. Guided tours will

bring to life exhibits at the Southwestern MichiganBasket, Crate & Veneer Machinery Museum in

Riverside/ Hagar Township. At the Van Buren

County Historical Museum, east of Hartford, all

ages will enjoy tours and, from Noon to 4:00pm, alive blacksmith demonstration.

Two brief talks on local electric railway

history will be given at the Coloma Interurban Sta-tion. The Hartford Library, housed in a handsome

1871 mansion, will demonstrate for visitors onlineaccess to historic issues of theHartford Day

Spring newspaper. In the rolling farm country of

Bainbridge Township, tour the Tees Barn and the

Nafziger Barn, each featuring hand-hewn beamsand adaptations for different uses through many

years. In Watervliet you will also be welcomed at

the beautiful new home of the Sanctuary Baptist

Church, which previously served as the WatervlietMethodist Church for 140 years.

Look for this sign outside the historical sites open for

this years self-guided Tri-City Heritage Tour.

This 19th century parlor exhibit is at the Van Buren

County Historical Museum in Hartford Township,

site #7 on the 2011 Tri-City Heritage Tour.

The SW Michigan Basket Machinery Museum

exhibits more than 50 historic machines used tomanufacture wooden produce packaging.

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This Guide provides a complete set of de-

tails for the 2011 Tri-City Heritage Tour, but moreinformation and images of local historic sites can

be found on the tour website:

http://TriCityHeritageTour.wordpress.com

The website welcomes visitors to post commentsor questions pertaining to the tour or any site fea-

tured on the 2011 tour or previously. Questions orcomments can also be directed to the North Ber-rien Historical Museum at (269) 468-3330 or

[email protected]. Organized by the

North Berrien Historical Society and the Van Bu-

ren County Historical Society, the first-ever Tri-City Heritage Tour in 2010 featured twenty-two

sites and was supported in part by a grant from the

Berrien Community Foundation. This years tourwill offer nine heritage sites to better allow public

participants to reach every site if desired.

The Tri-City Heritage Tour allows you totake a closer look at historic sites and stories in the

heart of the Fruit Belt and celebrates our shared

legacies of agriculture, summer resorts, and small-town traditions. The areas around Bainbridge, Co-

loma, Hagar, Hartford, and Watervliet have long

been tied together by social and commercial inter-ests, and this event crosses municipal and even

county lines in recognition of that. Thank you to

the many volunteers and community leaders who

have made this event possible, including: Boardof Directors, North Berrien Historical Museum;

Board of Directors, Van Buren County Museum;

Sam Monte; Kevin Hester; June, Dale, & SandyNafziger; Ted & JoAnn Tees; Stephanie Daniels;

Coloma City Commission; Jim Polashak; Bill &

Sue Moser; Rick Rasmussen; George Lawton;Milt Stibal; Darrell Day; Karl Bayer and others.

Many people have contributed knowledge and

suggestions to shape the 2011 Tri-City Heritage

Tour. Contact the North Berrien Historical Mu-

seum if you would like to become involved as avolunteer or heritage site on future tours!

The numbers in red on this map correspond to the following site descriptions.

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1. Southwestern Michigan Basket, Crate, &

Veneer Machinery Museum3840 Riverside Road, Riverside/ Hagar Township

Barrier-Free Accessibility (No Restrooms)

In years past, the massive fruit and vegeta-ble industries of southwest Michigan depended

upon wooden baskets and crates. This museum

exhibits more than 50 historic machines that were

used to turn a log in to thin veneer, and then to cre-ate produce containers in a range of sizes and

shapes. Our regions agriculture was supported by

numerous factories which used thesemachines tomake baskets and crates. In the early 1900s, there

were only two foundries in the United States that built this type of machinery, the Saranac Machine

Company and the St. Joe Iron Works, both located nearby in the Twin Cities. At one time BerrienCounty supplied all the machinery used nationwide for the manufacturing of wooden produce contain-

ers. The Southwestern Michigan Basket Crate & Veneer Machinery Museum is affiliated with Monte

Package Company, which has done business from Riverside since 1925. The museum will be open

from 10:00am-4:00pm, but three guided tours will be conducted at 10am, 12pm, and 2pm (lasting

approx. 25 minutes).

2. North Berrien Historical Museum

300 Coloma Avenue, Coloma Township

Barrier-Free Accessibility, Public Restrooms,

Gift Shop

The North Berrien Historical Society was

organized in 1966. The society opened the mu-seum in the spring of 1992, which preserves and

displays the history of Hagar, Bainbridge, Coloma,

and Watervliet townships as well as the cities of

Coloma and Watervliet. Exhibit highlights includeNative Americans, local industry, tourism, and ag-

riculture. The main gallery in our Log Cabin building currently presents the exhibit Women in Base-

ball: Bloomer Girls of Berrien County & Beyond. Discover 150 years of female baseball players, in-cluding the story of renowned pitcher and Watervliet resident Maud Nelson. Women in Baseball fea-

tures nearly 200 objects ranging from picture postcards, game programs, photographs, baseballs, jer-

seys, and a uniform from the 1993 movieA League of Their Own. A free vintage pennant craft will beavailable for all ages, with a choice to use either Coloma or Watervliet school colors and logos. The

museums Carter House (c.1860) will display vibrant local photos from the recent North Berrien Pho-

tography Contest.

3. Coloma Interurban StationLions Park/ South Paw Paw Street, Coloma

Limited Accessibility (No Restrooms)

This brick building was constructed in

early 1910 to serve as the Coloma Station for the

electric interurban of the Benton Harbor- St. JoeRailway & Light Company. Passengers could

ride from the Twin Cities through Millburg to Co-

loma, and on to Watervliet (starting in 1913) or to

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the north shore of Paw Paw Lake in the summertime (1910-1919). The interurban business declined

due to competition with cars and trucks, and the tracks to North Berrien were abandoned in 1928. Thestation was preserved because it continued to be used as an electrical substation for I&M Power for

many years. It is now owned by the City of Coloma and used for storage. Historic materials including

maps and images related to the interurban will be displayed. A short talk lasting about 15 minutes onthe history of the local electric interurban railways will be presented at 11am and 3pm at the station.

4. Sanctuary Baptist Church122 Church Street, WatervlietBarrier-Free Accessibility, Public Restrooms

The oldest church building in Watervliet, long known

as the First Methodist Church and now home to the SanctuaryBaptist Church, was constructed in 1869 and dedicated in

early 1870. A Methodist class had met since 1846 in pri-

vate homes and at the schoolhouse in the village. The churchoriginally consisted of only a single room 34 x 34 feet. The

current belfry, entryway, and a western addition were built in

1905, followed within two years by a choir room, balcony,

and electric lights. In 1914 a basement was constructed and

the first furnace put in to place. Further improvements camein the 1950s and for a time the congregation considered build-

ing a new facility, but never did so. In recent years much careand effort was made to maintain the historic building. The

Watervliet Methodists held their final regular service in the

church in 2011, before merging with the Coloma MethodistChurch. A week later, the first service was held by the build-

ings new congregation, the Sanctuary Baptist Church, which formerly met in Coloma. Visitors willenjoy the sanctuarys colorful stain-glass windows and traditional balcony, as well as viewing historic

images and information related to the church.

5. Paper Mill Dam Removal ProjectTent in Hays Park, At M-140 and Riverside Drive on the Paw

Paw River, Watervliet


From 1:00 to 4:00pm only, a tent and table will be

open in Hays Park near the ongoing Watervliet Dams Re-

moval Project on the Paw Paw River. Visitors are encour-aged to come by to view historic maps and images of the Wa-

tervliet Paper Mill and dams, and to talk with several past

employees of the paper mill who will be present. Paw PawRiver Dams at Watervliet date back to 1849, when they pro-

vided power for sawmills, and paper manufacturing began inthe early 1890s. The Watervliet paper mill employed hun-dreds of workers and produced fine specialty papers for a

century. The paper mill itself was demolished nearly ten

years ago, in early 2002, but the old dams are only now being

removed through funding from the Great Lakes RestorationInitiative along with federal, state, and local partners. Read

more about the goals of the Watervliet Dams Removal Pro-

ject, which include improving fish habitat and water quality,at the website for the Southwest Michigan Planning Commission: http://www.swmpc.org/

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6. Hartford Public Library

15 Franklin Street, Hartford

Barrier-Free Accessibility, Public Restrooms, Com-

plimentary Refreshments

In 1870-71, prosperous farmer Orson Oldsbuilt this large brick home in Hartford, now on the

State Register of Historic Sites. In the 1880s the

home was sold to George L. Merriman, a state Sena-

tor and Manager of the Exchange Bank. Merrimanswife was a member of the Ladies Library Association,

founded in 1895 and first located in the back room of

the bank before moving to several other locations intown. The ladies raised money to support the library

with dances, talent shows, and tag sales. After their deaths, Mr. and Mrs. Merriman left their property

and some money to the group and their home became the library in 1925. It became a district library,called the Hartford Public Library, in 1965. The building has five fireplaces, leaded plate glass win-

dows, carved woodwork, a ballroom, and a carved staircase, thanks to careful renovation and restora-

tion through the years. Library staff will offer demonstrations of

internet access to historic issues of the theHartford Day Spring

newspaper, 1877-1972.

7. Van Buren County Historical Museum58471 Red Arrow Highway, Hartford Township

Some Limited Accessibility, Public Restrooms, Gift Shop,

Refreshments for Sale

A Michigan Historical Marker announces the history of

this impressive building, constructed in 1884 as the Van BurenCounty Poorhouse. Destitute and mentally handicapped resi-

dents of the county were housed here until 1952, with many

working on an attached farm to supply food and income for the

facility. The building still contains a jail cell which was used bythe County Sheriff when transporting prisoners. The Van Buren

County Historical Society saved the poorhouse from neglect and

vandalism, and began converting it to a museum in 1972. Doz-ens of rooms in the buildings four stories now display thou-

sands of artifacts related to all parts of Van Buren County.

Highlights include many examples of historic clothing, carriages, several period rooms with homeand business vignettes, early telephones, medical equipment, a soda fountain, and outdoor replica log

cabin. Exciting live demonstrations will be presented from Noon to 4:00pm in the museums working

blacksmith shop.

8. Nafziger Barn5700 East Empire Avenue, Benton Harbor/Bainbridge Township Barrier-Free Accessibility,

Portable Public Restroom

Probably built around 1874, this barn and its

farm residence have been in the Nafziger familysince 1909. With a frame of large hand-hewn timber

beams and vertical board siding, its construction is

typical of barns from the era. Bark can still be seenon some of the rafters, as well as a track in the peak

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used with a hay fork for unloading wagons of hay in to the barn. In the past the barn housed horses and

cows, as well as lean-to additions (now removed) for buggy storage and a woodshed. In more recentyears the Nafziger Barn has held farm equipment, and for 42 years the family has welcomed summer

visitors for u-pick fruit. June Nafziger will demonstrate quilting skills and display heirloom quilts.

The memoirs of Herbert Nafziger (1892-1967) were published in 2011 as a book called From Shy to

Bungtown, which will be available for sale. Nafziger, who was at one time president of the Michigan

State Horticulture Society, describes in the book his

familys moves from Germany to Chicago to the Mill-

burg/ Spinks Corners area.

9.Tees Barn380 North Arent Road, Watervliet/ Bainbridge Twp


The Tees Barn is likely around 150 years old

and built prior to the dead-end road which leads up toit. Like other timber-framed barns from the mid-

1800s, the foundation is made of field stones and very

large oak beams. The rafters show the evidence that

they were squared by hand, and large wooden pegs

that hold the structure together are visible. Livestock,harvested crops, and packing equipment for tomatoes, apples, and peaches have all occupied the barn

in its history. Two rooms that once housed hired farmhands have now been converted to horse stalls.Visitors can view a collection of hand-wrought horseshoes found on the property and other tack, plus

the contents of the North Berrien Historical Societys All About Barns Traveling Trunk. The Tees

family have lovingly restored and modified the barn, which still houses farm animals and feed, andhope it will be standing for another 150 years.

The circled

numbers on this

map correspond

to the preceding

site descriptions.

Documents

2011 Tour Guide