Exhibits

Former mail sorting room turned exhibit hall, this space hosts our major temporary exhibits. 

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June 2025-March 2026

ORDER IN THE COURT: THE LEGACY OF SAGINAW COUNTY'S COURTHOUSES

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An in-house exhibit curated from the Castle Museum's own collection of artifacts, ephemera, and memorabilia from Saginaw County's three courthouses, its courthouse square, jail, and more

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HIGHLIGHTS:

• Rare Original Documents on Display

• Cornerstone Contents from the 1884 Courthouse

• Interactive Courtroom Selfie Station

The Castle Museum is housed in Saginaw's original post office, dedicated in 1898. This landmark building, rescued from demolition twice, is considered our greatest artifact. This gallery details the history of the building. 

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HIGLIGHTS:

• Photos of the original building and expansion

• An original vault

• A lookout gallery

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The Alcoves are four distinct display areas in the Main Floor hallway alongside the Morley Room. These exhibits change about once a year on a staggered schedule.

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Currently on display:

• Sonny Stitt: Saginaw's Giant of Jazz

• Bintz Restaurant

• Saginaw Mural

• Audra Francis

• Roethke Greenhouses

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Long before the first Europeans arrived in the Saginaw Valley, the Anishinabek inhabited this fertile land. They still live here today.

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HIGHLIGHTS:

• Anishinabek means First People

• Items from everyday life that demonstrate  technique and fine craftsmanship

• The Council of the Three Fires, an alliance of the Ojibwe (Chippewa), Ottawa, and Potawatomie

The first Europeans to the region came as traders and missionaries. Louis Campau established the first permanent trading post and later would become integral to U.S. efforts to obtain lands in central Michigan. 

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HIGLIGHTS:

• Early fur traders

• Treaty of Saginaw from the perspective of territorial governor Lewis Cass and Anishinabek spokesperson Ogemaw-Ke-Ga-To

• Fort Saginaw

Archaeology is the study of the human past through systematic recovery and analysis of material evidence. Archaeologists reconstruct the past through the objects left behind. 

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HIGHLIGHTS:

• Artifacts discovered on federal land at the Shiawassee Wildlife Refuge

• The tools and procedures archaeologists use

• Explore Saginaw's Great Fire of 1893 through maps and materials. Learn how archaeology uncovered details of the story

Together Saginaw City and East Saginaw were once the Lumber Capital of the World. Despite predictions that the sawmills would run for generations, the boom times only lasted about 50 years. 

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HIGHLIGHTS:

• Hang out in a logging camp and contemplate the life of a lumberjack. See tools of the trade.

• At its peak Saginaw boasted over 80 sawmills, and every company had its own logmark. The museum has many on display.

• Learn about the wealthy lumber barons and see how they lived.

Once the lumber boom ended, Saginaw found a new identity as it entered the 20th Century. What unfolded was one of the most exciting times in Saginaw County's history as the region reinvented itself as an industrial center.

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HIGHLIGHTS:

• Learn about the largest foundries, Grey Iron and Saginaw Malleable, and see artifacts and images of the casting process.

• Learn about Jacox, the company responsible for inventing the steering gear

• Hear the stories of the people who labored and made the boom possible.

Currently still under construction, this space transitions our lower level from mining and lumbering into agriculture and industry with a focus on minority peoples and their contributions to Saginaw County's development.

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HIGHLIGHTS:

• Interactive sugar beet field.

• Updated images and information on African American and Latino contributions. (Coming Soon).

• First Ward cityscape. (Coming Soon).

This exhibit explores and celebrates things made in Saginaw, and it tells the stories of the people who made them.

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HIGHLIGHTS:

• See beautifully crafted furniture and instruments.

• Learn about the many businesses located here, from Lufkin Rule to Schust Baking to Saginaw Paving Brick Company and more. 

• Saginaw women invented hair tonics, baking powders, and even a cleaning product that is still a household name: Spic 'n Span.