Best Community Museums In Detroit
Governor Warner Museum
23600 Liberty St.
Farmington, MI 48335-3529
(248) 473-7275
www.ci.farmington.mi.us
This Civil War era mansion rests in the middle of Farmington's historic district and functions as a nexus point for understanding the town in which it was built. Named for Michigan's first three-term governor, the museum features room after room of antique furnishings and other items, most of which are not original to the house. The museum itself is a painstakingly preserved trip back to the turn of the Twentieth Century, with a few side-trips to the 1920's. The Warners lived there for 113 years, their era officially ending with the death of Warner's daughter Edessa Warner Slocum, who passed away in 1980 at the age of eighty-nine. The museum includes an gazebo, a separate "summer kitchen" and a large carriage house where visiting schoolchildren often meet for historical presentations.
Ferndale Historical Museum
1651 Livernois St.
Ferndale, MI 48220-1827
(248) 545-7606
www.ferndale-mi.com
A small, quaint home-like structure neatly set up to display artifacts and memorabilia from all of the different periods of Ferndale's history. Among these are photographs of the many veterans who served in the Armed Forces, some of which date back to the Spanish-American War and food ration books from World II. This particular section features several items from the Second World War such as a captured Japanese helmet and a doll that was made for a soldier who was a guard at one of the Japanese internment camps. It's not a large museum but the collection is fascinating and the historian will talk with you as long as you want.
Berkley Historical Museum
3338 Coolidge Highway
Berkley, MI 48072
(248) 544-1470
www.berkleymich.org
From the outside, one might think the Berkley Historical Museum is a rather large place. Housed inside the former Berkley Fire Hall and Village Offices, anyone approaching the building on foot for the first time might get the impression that the museum comprises the entire structure. The majority of the exhibits are located in a single room found to the right of the short entrance corridor. Items on exhibit include furniture and other household items from the 1930's, firefighting equipment and tools, and an extensive collection of records such as yearbooks and newspapers dating back to the 1910's.
Christopher Nadeau is a published author of fiction and news articles who has written extensively on Metro Detroit Area museums for the Examiner. He knows there are museums he omitted from these lists but felt it important to include those he'd actually visited or with whom he'd corresponded. Check out Christopher's blog and book.
