“We needed a town where we could not only make a living, but a town worth living in.” – Charles H. Hackley
Charles H. Hackley was a man with vision, and I’ve long thought his presence still lingers in downtown Muskegon. He is one of many businessmen who made Muskegon through the decades. Arguably the most prominent, Hackley helped the city survive the post-lumber boom and become a thriving manufacturing town. He arrived in Muskegon in 1857 with $7 and died with a net worth of $12 million.
I didn’t know much about Hackley – or Muskegon – when I moved to West Michigan in 2005 to cover arts and entertainment for the Muskegon Chronicle. I had two dogs and a cat, which made it virtually impossible to find a place to rent, so I settled on a second-floor apartment with a cool spiral staircase, original gym floor from the YMCA, and a view of Muskegon Museum of Art in the 297 Clay building.
I lived downtown from 2005 to early 2010, before the breweries, eateries, apartments and foot traffic returned to Western Avenue. In the city’s heyday, Muskegon had a bustling and vibrant downtown with blocks of historic buildings and unique shopping. When I moved there, downtown consisted of an empty 23-acre lot with sand and random vacant historical buildings – the remnants of the demolished Muskegon Mall that left an eight-block area essentially deserted.
Take a walking tour
I’m used to the streets of downtown being desolate. I used to walk a block to work every day, and the Chronicle’s newsroom had a nice view of Hackley Park. Most evenings, I would take my dog for a walk, passing what is now Muskegon Farmers Market, near Terrace Street and Western Avenue, and walking on the Lakeshore Trail and out to the point at Heritage Landing. I would walk back home on Western Avenue or head a couple of blocks over and walk on Webster Avenue.
Muskegon has come a long way in recent years, and it’s great to see. But I think people often overlook the history that has been there all along. Why not be a tourist in your own town, take a walking tour, read the historical markers, and appreciate the history, architecture and public art that is all around you? It doesn’t matter where you live. Most towns have some unique history and points of interest. My hometown of Muncie, Indiana, has the beautiful Ball State University campus. I lived in Columbus, Indiana, before moving to Muskegon, and Columbus has an organized architectural tour. Taking a walk doesn’t require any money, it’s healthy, and you may even learn something.
We’re all struggling. We’re all tired of being at home. We’re all ready for this pandemic to be over. Under the governor’s stay-at-home order, we are allowed to go outside, exercise, and get fresh air. Nature therapy is real, and it can be a powerful antidote to depression, anxiety, and doomsday thinking. So can getting away from a computer screen, social media, and Zoom meetings. The Muskegon Farmers Market reopened May 2 – a sure sign of hope and that things may be moving toward a return to “normal.”
Go outside. Look around. Look at the sky. Look at the statues and architecture. Find a reason to appreciate where you live. I promise you will feel better!
The Amazon Hosiery Mill, also known as the Amazon Knitting Mill, is on the National Register of Historic Places. In 1897, lumber barons Charles Hackley and Thomas Hume rescued the company, and it employed 650 people by 1899.
This interactive sculpture of Charles Hackley allows people to sit on the bench beside him and admire the Civil War monument in Hackley Park. Read my story on the 2009 dedication in Muskegon Chronicle.
Hackley & Hume Historic Site
Managed by Lakeshore Museum Center, Hackley & Hume Historic Site offers tours May through October. The Historic Sites division includes five historic structures: The Hackley House, Hume House, City Barn, the Fire Barn Museum, and the Scolnik House of the Depression Era. Visiting the Hackley & Hume site is the No. 1 thing to do in Muskegon on Tripadvisor. These historic homes, constructed between 1887 and 1889, are an impressive example of Queen Anne style architecture and were the original residences for the Hackley family and his partner, Thomas Hume and family. The property is still accessible, so you can admire the exteriors and read the historical markers from the street.
Hackley walked these streets 150 years ago! Below, you also can visit the Scolnik House of the Depression Era and Fire Barn Museum.
Hackley Park
Home to Parties in the Park, the community Christmas tree, and a variety of community gatherings and festivals, Hackley Park is a National Historic Designated Park dedicated to the memory of Civil War veterans. Charles Hackley donated the 2.3-acre park in 1890. Statues of Farragut, Sherman, Grant and Lincoln greet visitors on each corner of the park. The most prominent feature is an 80-foot tall soldiers’ monument in the center.
Below is Hackley’s view from the bench!
Did you know each city has its own special manhole cover?
A sign of the times – someone put a mask on the Lincoln statue!
The park still has the original, decorative light poles.
Hackley Public Library and Muskegon Museum of Art
Across from Hackley Park, the Hackley Public Library also opened in 1890. The building is listed on the Michigan Register of Historic Places and was a gift from lumber baron Charles Hackley to the City of Muskegon Public Schools. Designed in an American Romanesque style, the library features Louis Millet stained glass windows and a variety of unique architectural elements.
Charles Hackley always wanted to establish an art gallery, but he died in 1905 before realizing that dream. Through a bequest in his will, Hackley left an expendable trust of $150,000 to the Muskegon Public Schools Board of Education to purchase “pictures of the best kind.” Interestingly, it was the only money Hackley donated for anything related to the arts. The Board of Education began purchasing fine art, and by 1910, decided a museum-quality facility should be built to house the acquisitions.
The opening and dedication of the Hackley Art Gallery on June 21, 1912, made international news. Those early Hackley Picture Fund purchases remain some of most treasured and valuable works of art in the museum’s collection. Today, the Muskegon Museum of Art has more than 6,000 pieces of art in the permanent collection, and the museum plans to devote all of its galleries to permanent collection works this summer. Learn more about those exhibits here.
This Lover’s Tree Poem sculpture outside the museum is a fun stop. Two cardinals even showed up the day we walked around!
Greater Muskegon Woman’s Club is another historical landmark and remains open for receptions and community events.
Public Gardens and Art
City leaders and philanthropists have made public art a priority, hiring a variety of artists to install unique sculptures and paint murals throughout downtown. Heritage Memorial Garden is a memorial park on Western Avenue that hosts small weddings or is a great spot to sit and have lunch. In the summer, visitors can admire a variety of colorful blooms and two fountains. It has different flowering plants each week throughout the warmer months.
Muskegon’s Monet Garden was inspired by the famous Monet Garden in Giverny, France. This picturesque pocket park features colorful blooms and has benches to sit and relax. Maintained by volunteers, the corner garden plot is open to the public and illuminated after dark for all to enjoy.
The Muskegon County Convention and Visitors Bureau, also known as Visit Muskegon, is located in the historic 1895 Union Depot at 610 W. Western Ave. near the Amazon building and Heritage Landing. The property also includes an old railroad car and two public sculptures. Across Shoreline Drive, the county-owned Heritage Landing is a spacious waterfront park where you can enjoy a picnic and playground, fish from the banks, catch a concert, and access the Lakeshore Trail.
The Union Depot hosted several political leaders during “whistle stop” campaigns, including William Jennings Bryan, Richard M. Nixon, and President Harry S. Truman.
A recent installation, Niikonii Kiinaa is a contemporary sculpture that honors the Teachings of the Seven Grandfathers of the Anishinaabe People: Love, Respect, Honesty, Bravery, Truth, Humility, and Wisdom.
Don’t be fooled by the unassuming storefront! Muskegon Heritage Museum houses a wealth of industrial artifacts and exhibits highlighting a century of Muskegon’s manufacturing and industrial heritage. Right now, the window display includes a Brunswick prototype semi-automatic pinsetter found in the attic of Ernest Hedenskoog’s Mona Lake home. Hedenskoog patented the pinsetter in March 1949. The machine had been in his home since the early 1950s. Dave Rice, a retired Brunswick employee and museum volunteer, restored it to working condition.
Seriously, this seasonal museum is a must-see if you like machines and history! The museum has over 12,000 square feet of display space, spanning three floors and housing a variety of working machines. One of those includes a Corliss Valve Steam Engine built in 1893, with a 10 foot diameter flywheel weighing 6 tons. In February 2009, before the back part of the building even had heat, I wrote a story about the volunteers who restored the Corliss for Muskegon Chronicle.
Walking up Western Avenue, Pigeon Hill Brewing’s taproom remains closed, but you can grab a pizza or sandwich from Topshelf Pizza. Yum! Topshelf pizza is the best in town (in my opinion)! Pigeon Hill is offering to-go sales at its distribution facility 3-6 p.m. Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. Unruly Brewing and Rake Beer Project also remain open for to-go beer. Other restaurants that are open include Nipote’s Italian Kitchen, Carmen’s Cafe, The Lake House, Curry Kitchen and Naan Pizza, and Dr. Rolf’s Barbeque. Watch for more in the coming weeks!
Muskegon is the birthplace of the snurfer, and this public sculpture “The Turning Point” honors Sherman Poppen’s 1965 Christmas Day invention. From 1968-1984, Muskegon Community College sponsored the National Snurfing Competition. The snurfer became the modern-day snowboard, which became an Olympic sport in 1998.
This sculpture celebrates silent film star Buster Keaton. The vaudeville actor and filmmaker called Muskegon home, and the International Buster Keaton Society holds its annual convention in Muskegon. Keaton’s family established the Bluffton Actors’ Colony and vacationed in Muskegon in the summer from 1908-38.
Installed in the center of the traffic circle at West Western Avenue and Third Street, “Muskegon, Together Rising” by Chicago-area sculptor Richard Hunt captures the city’s spirit and helped define the downtown’s early redevelopment. Read my stories about Hunt’s vision for the sculpture and the June 2008 installation and dedication.
Stop by and have your photo taken with the “What Lifts You” butterfly mural, a recent addition on an exterior wall of Frauenthal Center.
The Lakeshore Museum Center remains closed, but you can snap a selfie with Moxie the Mastodon, a life-sized bronze mastodon breaking out of the museum at Fourth Street and Clay Avenue. Mastodons roamed throughout Michigan about 14,000 to 10,000 years ago, before climate change and overhunting by humans forced its extinction.
The Mastodons on the Loose scavenger hunt is ongoing downtown. The brochure can be downloaded here. The mini-mastodons are only 4″ x 6″ so they are small, but once you spot one, the others become easier to find. Only the Delta and 1 of 2 at Frauenthal Center are inside and unable to be seen right now. Be sure to stop back and explore the exhibits when the museum reopens. Admission is free for all Muskegon County residents!
“Water’s Edge” is a public sculpture by James Clover in front of the United States Post Office, near Muskegon Farmers Market and a community splash pad.
Be sure to visit the Western Market chalets when they reopen. Now is the time to shop local and support local businesses!
A sign of progress and what is yet to come, the former Hackley Union National Bank Building was spared and redeveloped as Highpoint Flats. Opened in 1918, the nine-story Hackley Union National Bank building was the city’s first “skyscraper” at First Street and Western Avenue. The former Ameribank Building remains a shell.
Old Indian Cemetery
One of my favorite spots in downtown Muskegon is the Old Indian Cemetery. It has a sacred and spiritual vibe. Flocks of birds used to always fly over on my walks – as if to keep a watchful eye on those who visit. On this particular day, a cardinal flew by while I was taking pictures. In 2009, I covered and wrote about a ceremony there that involved the repatriation and reburial of Native American bones. It’s a great place to sit and pray, stop and reflect, and take time to truly appreciate the area’s early history.
Whether you want to pack a picnic and plan an afternoon walk during quarantine (yes, that is still allowed with proper social distancing), or wait for the restaurants to reopen and the streets to return to normal, living history and public art are on display for all to admire.
There is plenty to see, and it’s all free. Once this pandemic is over and life gets back to normal, return to the downtown museums and support them! They are going to need it! Tell your friends and family to visit. We are fortunate to have so many cultural gems in the downtown, including Muskegon Museum of Art, Lakeshore Museum Center, Hackley & Hume Historic Site, Muskegon Heritage Museum, West Michigan Symphony, Muskegon Civic Theatre, Frauenthal Center, and USS LST-393. The floating museum is one of only two World War II tank landing ships to survive in original configuration.
LSTs were built to be tough and hold up on land or at sea. They were capable of shore-to-shore delivery of tanks, amphibious assault vehicles, and troops.
Similarly, we were built to be tough. We are Muskegon. This is Muskegon. We will all get through this trying time and hopefully come out stronger, wiser, and grateful for the simple things!
Marla R. Miller is an award-winning journalist and content marketing writer who lives in Norton Shores. Please “like” or follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or LinkedIn.
