Museum Sites

In addition to nearly 1 million artifacts in 350,000 record groups, the Museum has two historic buildings in its collection. The (1895) Voigt House Victorian Museum carriage house and grounds is situated in Grand Rapids’ Heritage Hill Historic District, just east of downtown, and is a time capsule of the late Victorian period with intact original family furnishings. The Voigt House is open to the public on a limited schedule.

The Calkins Law Office (1835) is the oldest extant frame building in the Grand River Valley. It is located at the corner of Washington and State Streets in southeast Grand Rapids. The building is not currently open to the public.

The 55 acre Norton Mound National Historic Landmark is one of only a few surviving Hopewellian burial mound groups that were once present in the lower Grand River Valley and the only one of which the mounds themselves are still in existence. Originally consisting of 17 burial mounds, it is located on a flood plain of the Grand River a short distance south of the city limits of Grand Rapids. The historical significance of this site was recognized in 1957 when it was listed on the Michigan Register of Historic Sites, and then again in 1965 when it was designated as a National Historic Landmark, and then listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Museum is currently working with its Norton Mounds Advisory Council to develop specific policies and procedures that will ultimately guide, manage and support the Museum’s educational mission and define parameters for further study of the important Norton Mounds National Historic Landmark Site and its Cultural Resources. Until this important planning and administrative work is completed, all scientific studies throughout the entire Norton Mound Group and its related cultural resources collections will be restricted.