Tuesday, we will launch another series of stories from that same general area; this series from a square dancing weekend in Jackson, OH we enjoyed over the weekend of July 15th..
Meanwhile, we continued our roaming around the state on Thursday, July 21st with a visit to the nautical museum in Vermilion and the Edison birthplace in Milan.
Today's blog features that latest adventure. Tuesday's blog will launch from Chillicothe and conclude in mid-August--with a little silliness. We hope you enjoy staying tuned.)
Sue Brooks and grand daughter Mackenna Curtis-Collins enjoy the wheelhouse of the Great Lakes freighter CANOPUS which was built in 1905. After the freighter's retirement the bow of the ship was added to the structure of Vermilion's Inland Seas Maritime Museum in 1968 and remains a favorite of visitors. From the pilothouse, visitors enjoy a view like that of a freighter leaving port and heading north into Lake Erie.
SHIPWRECKS and INVENTIONS--
The museum of the Great Lakes Historical Society has been located in a donated home (later purchased) at the North end of Vermilion's Main St., since 1953.
That will be ending when the museum moves to Toledo in 2012.
It's new location will be along the Maumee River in what was formerly known as Portside; a much heralded cluster of trendy retail shops that opened there in 1984...and closed in 1990.
The Vermilion facility already is showing signs of departure as some displays are being readied for the move.
I was particularly disappointed on this Vermilion visit when a life ring was the only artifact I could find concerning the sinking of the 639 foot ore boat Carl D. Bradley in November 1958 in northern Lake Michigan--shortly after my assignment to the Charlevoix, MI coast guard station where search and rescue coordination was centered.
The Bradley lost 33 of its 35 man crew. I hope it finds more prominent mention in the museum's new location.
We then stopped by the birthplace of Thomas A. Edison in Milan, OH. While Sue and Mackenna toured that facility, I was pleasantly surprised to discover the nearby Milan Historical Museum, a six-building, mostly reconstructed campus between the town square and Edison's birthplace.
These buildings contain a general store, a blacksmith shop with carriage shed, a memorial building with artifacts from a prominent Milan family, the 1846 home of the doctor who attended Edison's birth, a doll and toy house and The Sayles House--a delightfully refurnished home from 1843.
A thorough visit to these two facilities can occupy half a day and is very much worth the cost of their individual admissions.
The Newton Arts Building, attached to the campus, was built in 1971 and houses the exquisite artifacts of Bert P. Newton of Milan who made his fortune in petroleum sales and traveled the world extensively in that role. The building is dedicated to his wife Edna Roe Newton.
Vermilion Nautical Museum
Edison's Birthplace
Milan Historical Museum
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