Museum & Historical Park

The Swift Lathers home features a large front porch, sunroom, beautiful woodwork, and etched windows.  Check out the chair and typewriter where Swift composed the historic Mears Newz.  Explore the Dune Forest diorama and listen to the recorded voice of Swift himself! The kitchen and other aspects of the home serve as a reflection of the lives and times of bygone days.  Adjoining property contains flower gardens, a bronze statue of Swift, sections of C & O railroad tracks, antique railroad signs and several other historic buildings. The Garage directly behind the house contains antique tools, as well as farming and logging equipment, and a three-seater outhouse!​​

The Transportation Museum houses an exhibit of dune vehicles (Swift's son, Bill Lathers owned and operated the original dune rides).  The 1926 Model-T dune-rider on display once lived within the Lathers barn which rested exactly where the transportation building sits today. Dale Lathers laughingly said the vehicle, has spent its entire life housed within a four-block radius of the garage.  Several vehicles on display denote the beginnings of that popular area sport.  Also featured are several antique cars, vintage snowmobiles, a refurbished sleigh, vintage toboggans, Little Sable Point Lighthouse exhibit, a license plate exhibit, and MORE!

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Conference room rental $100/day​.  Application available HERE

Donated by the family, this typical lakeshore cottage, built in 1909 by Rev. Malbourne Parker Boynton (the original summer resident on the Little Sable Point's south shore community), is a small one-room cottage that played an integral part of the Little Sable Point community's development.  It contains simple furnishings and a loft, just enough for a vacation at the beach!​​​​​​​​​

This charming country church was acquired in 1985 from the disbanding congregation of the local Swedish Mission Covenant Church.  The church seats 80-100 people and is available for small weddings, reunions, anniversary celebrations, clubs and other meetings for a nominal fee.

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Church rental available: $200/day

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Application available HERE​​​​​​​

The Tool Museum is in the original garage of the Swift Lathers Home.  The collection includes a variety of antique tools, as well as misc. farming and logging equipment.  The garage also houses a “three-hole” outhouse once used by the family.  A real hit with the younger generation!​​​​​​​​

In 1982 the Robinson Building was built with donated funds from the Robinson family, to honor the first chairwoman of the Mears Museum and Historical Park, Mrs. Marjorie I. Robinson. 

The building not only includes special artifacts from the Robinson family but a historic laundry exhibit, Oceana County Post Office exhibit, former county doctor and dentist office equipment, attorney and county courthouse artifacts, as well as temporary displays that are changed out each season.

The Old Town Hall, in downtown Mears was acquired by the OCHGS from Golden Township in 2005 after the township moved into the vacant Golden Elementary School.  It is unknown the exact date it was constructed, however, several clues within the building lead one to believe it was built in the late 1800’s.  

The lower level was used for township operations while the upper floor was utilized in a variety of ways.  At one time the Odd Fellows Lodge met there.  It was also known as the place to get an oyster dinner when the train would come to town with oysters. With its high ceilings it was a wonderful place for youth to play basketball before the school built a gym. 

Now the upper level is used as storage for many of the Society’s artifacts. The former township offices located on the lower level are now used by The Oceana Echo/The White Lake Mirror newspaper offices for their home base. A "one-room" schoolhouse exhibit is located next to the newspaper office. There are plans for the hall's front meeting room to include a publishing exhibit in the future.

The Mears Museum Complex’s newest building, the Agricultural Building, was constructed in 2023-24 by a local building company and formally dedicated on June 15, 2024. 

This long-held dream of the OCHGS turned out more beautifully than anyone could have imagined. Housed within are some of the Society’s ever-growing collection of agricultural artifacts including vintage tractors, implements, and tools. ​​​​​​​​​

The Chadwick Munger House is located at 114 Dryden Street in Hart, behind the Oceana County Courthouse.  Built in 1885 by former Hart physician, Dr. Harvey Jenner Chadwick, the unique stone house was hand-blocked using local fieldstone. The front portico was added later.

From 1897 to 1958, Dr. L.P. Munger and his family lived in the house.  Dr. Munger was Oceana’s cherry industry pioneer and a practicing physician. His wife Edith Munger was a founding member of the National Audubon Society and was instrumental in having the “Robin” listed as Michigan’s state bird.

During the 1960s and 1970s, the building was home to the county’s Social Services offices, followed by the District Health Department.  When the building became vacant the county made plans to have the building razed for a parking lot. 

Fortunately, members of the OCHGS met the county’s $15,000 funding minimum to acquire the house in 1984 before the home was lost forever. Since that time the former Chadwick-Munger home has become a widely-known repository for the written history and genealogy of Oceana County.  Open to the public every Wednesday, it serves as a research center for those who are seeking greater knowledge of the county and its families.​​​​

Trapper Ralph’s Cabin was once located just south of the Village of Mears.  Home of long-time Mears resident Ralph Fenton, it was donated by his family following his passing, and moved to the Mears Historical Park in 2013. 

This one-room cabin, with no indoor plumbing, was home to Fenton for his entire adult life. Fenton was known far and wide as the local trapper. And having never learned to drive, he walked everywhere he went. 

Inside, one can appreciate the way this simple, yet industrious man lived. Its meager furnishings, his trapping equipment, and a few fur pelts are all that’s left to remind us of Trapper Ralph's legacy.