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The Story of Rest Lake Dam

January 22 @ 4:00 pm - 6:15 pm
White Oak of Chippewa Retreat
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More Than A Museum Northwoods Forest History Experience

A Joint Project of the North Lakeland Discovery Center and Manitowish Waters Historical Society

Each exhibit, in addition to illuminating forest history periods, traditions, and practices, will direct visitors to actual nearby historic sites for further enrichment.

For the past four years, we have been quietly planning, designing, and raising funds to restore, renovate, and transform a 1930’s Civilian Conservation Corps building into an immersive, interactive forest history museum and experience that will:

  • Contain 6 exhibits from Indigenous to modern times, depicting with artifacts, photos, and digital content the natural, governmental, and business forces and practices that have shaped our Northwoods forests over time
  • Encourage visitors to Get out and explore the many historical sites in our area, using an interactive geo-based phone application
  • Educate visitors young and old, making them better informed stewards of this precious, abundant yet finite resource

Preserving Our Heritage Popular Videos

Manitowish Waters Historical Society Who We Are

The Manitowish Waters Historical Society's Mission is: 

To collect, preserve and share materials and information relating to the history of Manitowish Waters and the surrounding area so that we engage, educate and excite our members and community.

We collaborate with community groups to increase your access to fun MWHS historic connections. These activities include presentations, pontoon tours, hikes, drives, and even bike tours.

We are diligently catching up on the 130+-year backlog of community documents. Our interns are also focusing on area resorts, adding stories, images and narratives to our website allowing everyone free access.

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Manitowish Waters Historical Society Support Us

Through our past successful fundraising efforts and your generosity, we remain committed to ensuring that our digital experts can continue archiving historic documents from the last 130+ years.