The Peter Dougherty Mission House is now open for visitors and tours. The museum officially opened in 2019, but was closed in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. (Photo courtesy of the Peter Dougherty Mission House Society)
OLD MISSION -- The Peter Dougherty Mission House will open for tours on Friday, July 2.
Summer hours are from 1 to 4:30 p.m., Friday through Sunday.
They will be closed on July 4 in observance of Independence Day.
Step back in time in the 1842 Mission House listed on the National Register of Historic Places on Old Mission Peninsula in Old Mission.
Visitors' can experience first hand what early life looked life on the Old Mission Peninsula.
Off hour visitors may peek in the windows, view the demonstration gardens, walk the trails, and take a virtual tour of the interior on the website videos page, the Dougherty Old Mission House Facebook page, or on YouTube at PDS Virtual Tour.
The grounds, including walking trails, remain open year-round.
Beginning in 2004, a group of Old Mission Peninsula residents collaborated with the Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy, the Old Mission Peninsula Historical Society, the Grand Traverse Regional Community Foundation and Peninsula Township to raise over $575,000 to restore the house and property.
The 1842 home built by Reverend Peter Dougherty, a Presbyterian minister, and surrounding land were acquired.
In July, 2006, the home and property were deeded to Peninsula Township.
It became a part of the Michigan Historic Preservation Network, placing the home and property in conservancy.
With the restoration now completed, the House site is an historical, cultural, educational and community center as well as a museum for all visitors.
The grounds include the Heritage Trail and Disabled Trail as well as gardens which reflect farming in the late 19th Century.
We have furnished the interior with furniture and artifacts appropriate to the period from 1842 to 1910.
There are several pieces of the original furniture actually used by Peter Dougherty and his family, and others are appropriate for the period 1839 to 1910.
The home opened as a museum on June 15, 2019.
Group tours may be arranged no later than 2 days in advance by emailing doughertyoldmission@yahoo.com
For more information visit doughertyoldmissionhouse.com
REGULAR SUMMER HOURS
• Friday: 1 - 4:30 p.m.
• Saturday: 1 - 4:30p.m.
• Sunday: 1 - 4:30p.m.
