Free Admission at Honolulu House Museum 4/1-2

The Honolulu House Museum will open for the 2017 season with free admission on Saturday and Sunday, April 1st and 2nd. There also will be a special exhibit of early 1900s photographs.

The museum at 107 N. Kalamazoo Ave. will be open noon to 4pm weekends in April and then Fridays through Mondays from May through October. Adult admission for a tour of the museum is $5 after April 1st and 2nd. There is no charge for Marshall Historical Society members.

The special exhibit will show the works of Lansing photographer C. Otto Linn. The photographs are from negatives recently donated to the historical society by Linn's granddaughter. The exhibit will have approximately 50 pictures including vacation scenes around Marshall, Homer and Lyon Lake. Museum visitors are encouraged to help identify persons portrayed in the photographs.

The Honolulu House Museum stands at the heart of Marshall's National Historic District and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and the Historic American Buildings Survey. The house was built in 1860 for a former U.S. consul to the Sandwich (Hawaiian) Islands. Constructed of Marshall sandstone, the building is a wonderful blend of Italianate, Gothic Revival and Polynesian architecture.

The Marshall Historical Society has restored the building's interior to its 1880s elegance that features decorative wall and ceiling paintings. A replica of the 1880s fence was installed in 2013 in front of the building. The Honolulu House is the headquarters of the Marshall Historical Society which has operated the building as a house museum since 1961.

The historical society also is beginning its 2017 membership drive April 1st. More information on membership and the Honolulu House is available at the historical society's website www.marshallhistoricalsociety.org.