Welcome to the Fox Island Museum

The Fox Island Historical Society held it's first meeting on February 22, 1897, and has held a President's Day potluck every year since, for over 103 consecutive years.

The Historical Society was reactivated in 1959 and opened the first Museum in the Nichols Community Center in 1959 (continued below).

• Come celebrate Island Days which will be held each evening from Monday, July 13 - Thursday, July 18 and on Saturday, July 18. Enjoy various activities including sing-along, violin making demonstration and mini concert, writing contest for children, quilt-making, weaving, butter making, and log peeling which will take place at the Museum, the Chapel on Echo Bay, the Nichols Center, and the United Church of Christ.

• The museum's Victorian Crazy Quilts exhibit features pieced fabrics which became a canvas for women to add their needlework skills. There was no limit to the variety of embroidery stitches and pictures that could be added to each seam and piece. Dates, names and events were embroidery and silk pictures were added.


• A creative writing contest for Youth of Fox Island families and friends is being held under the sponsorship of the Fox Island Museum in coordination with the Dixy Lee Ray Exhibit. The guidelines are simple. Entrants are encouraged to be imaginative and use whatever genre or writing style each author prefers – essay, prose, poetry, free verse, limerick, parody, or haiku.

(Continued from above) The present Museum building opened in 1980 after many years in one room of the old School Building (Nichols Community Center).

The purpose of the Museum is to display artifacts used by people here on the Island to illustrate the changes in life styles through the years. There are more than 3000 artifacts on display in Dioramas, Showcases, and free standing exhibits.

Among them is a display describing the life of former Governor Dr. Dixy Lee Ray, the largest collection of pulley blocks in the State, and several antique gasoline engines in working order.


Hours of Operation
- Admission $1.00 - Current Members free
- Wednesdays, Saturdays & Sundays: 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM
- Group Tours: Call Marie Weis at 253-549-8140 for information

Thanks for supporting the Fox Island Museum.