(The Center Square) – The 2024 Governor’s Award for Historical Preservation ceremony gave four separate sites the highest preservation project award for efforts to maintain Michigan history.
The Hiawatha National Forest lighthouses, Malcolm X’s Inkster home, the Keweenaw Time Traveler Project and the East Ludington Avenue homes in Mason County all received awards after joint review by the State Historic Preservation Office and State Historic Preservation Review Board.
“It’s an honor to recognize this group of outstanding historic preservation achievements,” Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist II said. “Today’s honorees represent the rich diversity of our communities, our inclusive heritage and the welcoming culture that has long defined us in Michigan.”
The Hiawatha Lighthouse stewardship is a collaborative, long-term project between the Hiawatha National Forest, the Round Island Lighthouse Preservation Society, the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society, HistoriCorps, YouthWork and the Bay Mills Indian Community. For decades, the million-acre Hiawatha forest’s shores have been illuminated by the six lighthouses.
Over the past few years, the Hiawatha National Forest partnered with the Round Island Lighthouse Preservation Society to repair the metal doors, outbuildings and rip-rap on the Mackinac lighthouse. The Grant Island North Light near Munising will be getting a public interpretation program through the Great Lakes Shipwreck Program. The Point Iroquois Light near Brimley has been restored over the course of three summers by adult volunteers and at-risk youth and will receive a new indigenous history museum. The Grand Island East Channel, Christmas Range and Peninsula Point lighthouses also have projects in development.
In Wayne County, Malcolm X’s home from 1952-1953 also received an award. It was at this time Malcolm Little became “X” by Elijah Muhammad, the leader of the Nation of Islam. After years of abandonment, the home was nearly demolished, but was saved by being listed on the National Register of Historical Places. Since 2021, the Wayne State University anthropology program in partnership with the non-profit Project We Hope, Dream, and Believe is renovating the house into a museum.
The Keweenaw Time Traveler, an online historical atlas, also received an award. The project, run by researchers at Michigan Technological University in Houghton, seeks to provide a digital insight into the history of Michigan Copper Country. First launched in 2017, the project connects more than 2,000 archival maps with census data, city directories, and employment records. Oral histories are being gradually added to the website.
Ludington, Michigan native resident Raymond Madsen received the last preservation award of the year, for placing East Ludington Avenue on the National Register of Historic Districts. According to Madsen, he was saddened by the lack of recognition toward the Queen Anne and Classical Revival mansions in his town, which were originally built and owned by ship captains and lumber magnates in the late 1800s. Through his efforts, the neighborhood now has a walking tour and access to the State Historic Tax Credit program.
