Step back towards a different time...pick any time in history for our county...and you'll see interesting documents, collections, and stories about the people and places of Lenawee County, Michigan.
Read about the impact our County had on other national events. Learn how determination shaped the individuals who made a difference in our part of the world.
The archives at the Lenawee County Historical Society offer thousands of documents relating to business, government, religion, education, transportation, the military, prominent citizens, and many other subjects of local interest.
Visit us soon! We're located at 110 E. Church St., Adrian MI
Adrian’s Governor Croswell House: style, context and significance in mid-19th century America
Dr. Barr is adjunct professor of Art and Architectural History at Adrian College. He has led many tours of historic buildings and homes in and around the city of Adrian and will lead the Parade of Homes, which will include the Croswell house, as part of Adrian’s bicentennial celebration in July. Dr. Barr is a former member of the Board of Trustees of the Lenawee Historical Society.
He will be speaking about the Governor Croswell House that serves today as the home of the Lucy Wolcott Barnum Chapter of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution. The Croswell house is located on North Broad Street and was built in the 1840s.
Please join us on Thursday, June 26, 2025, in the Frazier Auditorium on the second floor of the museum. The doors will open at 6:30 with the program beginning at 7:00 pm.
The program is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be served.
The Lenawee Historical Museum is planning to be a part of the Adrian Bicentennial celebration being held over the Fourth of July weekend!
The museum will be open with music and complementary popcorn and bottled water. The museum will also have a booth at the River Raisin Ragtime Revue at the PlaneWave campus on North Main Street. Volunteers are needed to help staff the museum and the table.
New volunteers will be teamed up with one of our docents, so no experience or specific knowledge of
county history is necessary.
If you have been looking for a way to give back to the community, this could be the ticket. If this sounds like something you would be interested in either stop by the museum or call 517-265-6071.
The Lenawee Historical Society began major renovation and restoration of the Lenawee Historical Museum in 2023. The first phase, completed last year, was to seal the exterior of the building against moisture and water penetration.
The Society is beginning the work of restoring the interior wall and ceiling areas damaged by years of moisture penetration. The restoration work includes plaster repair, drywall work, and painting.
The 19 rooms and exhibit spaces will be restored one at a time to enable the museum to remain open during the process. The process is expected to take at least a year and will cost just over $60,000.
The Society is seeking sponsors to cover the restoration cost for individual rooms. Examples of sponsors are individuals, businesses, civic organizations, or groups of individuals. Sponsors will be announced in future press releases and will be recognized by a plaque placed prominently in the sponsored room.
Sponsorships range from $700 to $7000. Potential sponsors are invited to either stop by the museum or call (517) 265-6071 for a list of available sponsorships.
Help the Lenawee Historical Museum with one of its New Year Resolutions! The Museum frequently receives donations of items to sell to raise operating funds. Currently, these items are set out for sale at the museum where they can be seen and purchased by museum visitors.
We are hoping to reach a wider audience by placing some of the items online for auction. These are often items of clothing, books, household items, pictures, posters, comic books, artwork, or other collectibles of one type or another. Specific examples include old family Bibles, old textbooks, political campaign buttons, commemorative calendars, militaria, tableware, jewelry, chachkies, and tools.
The Lenawee Historical Museum is seeking a volunteer to create and help manage an account on one or more internet auction sites.
If you have expertise, and are able to help us create or manage online accounts to sell some of these items, you can drop by on any Friday or Saturday between 10 and 2, or you can call the museum at 517-265-6071. If you don’t have the time to do it for us, maybe you could teach us how to do it and get us started. Your efforts will be appreciated either way.
