Cool spaces: Century-old Sunfield hardware store is now an eclectic museum

SUNFIELD - The concrete floor is marred in spots by oil stains. You can still picture aisles running the length of the space, their shelves filled with cans of paint and household supplies.

Less than a decade ago the yellow-and-green building on Main Street in downtown Sunfield was Welch Hardware, a family-run store. For more than 80 years it was the place where locals went to buy household tools.

Today, the hardware has been replaced by an eclectic and quirky mix of area history. The century-old building is home to the Sunfield Historical Society Welch Museum.

Eight years ago the small historical society, whose members often helped residents research their own roots, was gifted the property and urged to create a space for history.

And so the historical society moved out of Sunfield's library. Six weeks after taking ownership of the building, the Welch Museum opened its doors.

The museum occupies three storefronts, boasting approximately 8,000 square feet. Every inch is filled with aging treasures, more than 10,000 pieces of history.

It's a gem, said Jan Sedore, Sunfield Historical Society's president, and it works because the community has always been behind it.

"We turn nothing down," she said. "Nothing."

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Sunfield's very first fire truck from 1927 is parked inside the downtown museum. There are five large bells, one from each of the small town's one-room schoolhouses. Visitors are encouraged to ring them when they stop by.

A massive windmill occupies one wall, rescued from a stretch of farmland after a tree had grown through parts of it. You'll find century-old school desks and parlor furniture, an aging printing press and a dozen antique rocking chairs. Miniature electric train tracks run overhead around the building's front room, carrying a train from Mackinac Island.

There's a functional telephone switchboard with antique telephones on the wall throughout the space, as well, and a "party line" that visitors can chat on.

A large 1800s-era cast iron pot belly stove sits inside the museum's front door. Volunteers installed it in 2011 and feed it wood daily to help heat the space. 

The history inside the Sunfield Historical Society Welch Museum isn't specific to Sunfield or Eaton County. There are items from Clinton and Ionia counties, and an entire display of collectibles from Mexico, Thailand and the Galápagos Islands that a local resident donated.

When the historical society announced its plans for a local museum in 2010, people responded en masse, said Sue Curtis, the society's secretary and treasurer.

In the days following, area residents brought truckloads of antique items that had been in their families for generations, Carter said.

"People felt like stuff needed to be here for other people to see," she said. "They were more than willing to let us display it for them."

Volunteers have done just that, in creative and surprising ways.

One area in building has been transformed into a one-room school house complete with period-accurate desks, a chalk board and school books. Another section has been used to recreate an 1860s furnished log cabin. There's also a 1900s parlor, a barber and cobbler's shop, a church and a turn-of-the-century kitchen, complete with a working wood-burning stove. 

Sedore said anything that isn't behind glass can be touched and enjoyed. Kids are encouraged to sit in the school desks and wander the cabin's tiny rooms.

"People find something new every time they come in," Curtis said. "People know they're going to see something new every time they visit."

Volunteers and members of the historical society's 12-member board don't charge guests who come in to wander the displays. They also make the museum available to residents and community groups who need a place to meet or celebrate.

The museum costs about $7,000 a year to maintain and operate and survives because of donations.

"The community helps us out so much," Curtis said.

Historical society members open it Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays, but they've been known to open it up for visitors who call and ask to see it at other times.

Sedore said it takes more than one visit to the museum to take everything in, and volunteers are constantly adding items and changing the displays, so there's always a reason to come back.

They devote time to it, Sedore said, because they love it.

"It's love for your community, you know?" Sedore said. "We all grew up here. We're here for the people to let them come in and see their past." 

Contact reporter Rachel Greco at (517) 528-2075 or rgreco@lsj.com. Follow her on Twitter @GrecoatLSJ.