Castle Museum, Michigan, United States

4tymetraveler222 5:00 PM Aug 19, 2013

Nice local history museum, in a stunning building....
This is Saginaw's local history museum. It is located in an astounding, beautiful castle like stone building in downtown Saginaw. The building is a real gem as far as architecture goes. Lit up at night, it truly is magnificent. It was built for use as a post office, and you can still go up some stairs and look through the thin slits that were the portal holes to "view and/or observe" the postal employees and customers. A fun spot for kids. There are 3 floors of exhibits. Main floor houses a small gift shop, which has some great books for sale. A small sitting area allows you to look through the books before purchase. The "current" exhibits are held on this floor. My elderly father and I visited the current Korean War exhibit and was the main reason for the visit. However, we felt it was minimal at best and he was very disappointed in it. So, we moved onto the other exhibits on this floor, which are very nice. There is also a meeting room on this floor, which hosts the Lunch and Learn History series, every Tuesday. These are great learning lunches..you bring your lunch, they provide beverages and dessert. The basement floor has a wonderful, huge model train exhibit and it is manned all open hours by volunteers. The man working the day we visited was very thorough in his explanations, suggestions and ideas for improvement in the overall museum. The lumbering era is extensively covered on this floor. There are other exhibits, such as a GM history display, but we did not partake. The 2rd floor contains offices; however, they have a few rooms of displays here-a dentist/doctor office of bygone days; a kitchen (1950's?), a beauty salon and a formal dining room. We enjoyed these exhibits very much. Admission: $1.00! A steal. Of course, they will take donations, too and I would suggest anyone who visits add a couple of additional dollars. Parking is free, on the street, with a handicapped entrance in the back of the building. Bathrooms on each floor, I do believe and there is an elevator for use. I'd call ahead to see if any school groups are visiting during your time you expect to spend at the museum. I would not want to get caught up behind a group of school children. Volunteers do a great job of leading tours, however, and if you have a group of people, they provide special tours for such groups. Highly recommend!

4LJB049 5:00 PM Mar 3, 2014

A lot for $1
If you want to entertain your children or grandchildren on the cheap the cost will surprise you $1 for adults and $.50 for children and for that you get a visual history lesson of Saginaw with many hands on exhibits. take in the railroad museum downstairs. takes 1 to 2 hours.