History of Sylvania Wilderness exhibit on display at the Ottawa National Forest Visitor Center

Our NorthernWaters Museum’s previous exhibit on The History of Sylvania Wilderness is now at the Ottawa National Forest Visitor Center in Watersmeet, Michigan!

We are thrilled to continue having this popular exhibit on display for public access, thanks to collaboration with the folks at the Ottawa Visitor Center. They have set the exhibit up in the area that had formerly been the gift shop. It is planned to be up through September of this year, 2026.

The Ottawa Visitor Center is open Monday thru Friday from 9 am to 4 pm central time.
Location: E23979 US 2, Watersmeet, MI 49969 (corner of Hwy 45 and US 2)
Office phone: 906-358-4724

The Sylvania exhibit showcases the history of this special wilderness area, just across our Land O’ Lakes border. It tells how this tract of land, comprising over 18,000 acres of old-growth forest and pristine lakes, was largely spared from the intense logging of the late 1800s and early 1900s.

Key items on display are the photos and narratives which tell the story of the wealthy industrialists, the “Sylvania Club” men, who purchased the property for their personal recreational use, and essentially saved this land from exploitation and development. The display follows through the purchase by the US Forest Service and eventual designation as part of the National Wilderness Preservation System in 1987.

“Sylvania contains one of only two remnants of virgin northern hardwood forests remaining in the Great Lakes region large enough to support significant research on forest dynamics. The other virgin forest remnant is located in the Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park.” —Friends of Sylvania (www.friendsofsylvania.org)