Glen Haven Cannery and Boat Museum

A most welcoming building.

NPS credit

Quick Facts

Location:

5291 Glen Haven Road, Glen Arbor, MI

Amenities

8 listed

Bicycle - Rack, Historical/Interpretive Information/Exhibits, Information - Ranger/Staff Member Present, Information Kiosk/Bulletin Board, Parking - Auto, Picnic Table, Wheelchair Accessible, Wheelchairs Available

Hours

Open Daily 11am - 5pm

Opening Day 2025: Friday May 23rd

This museum is open seasonally, typically Memorial Day through Labor Day. 

Information

Glen Haven Cannery is an excellent place to get a taste of everything Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore has to offer. From the parking lot next to the Cannery, it is a short walk to seasonal bathrooms, a seasonal bottle filling station, the beach, Sleeping Bear Heritage Trail, Maritime Museum, and the other historic buildings in Glen Haven. 

The Cannery Boat Museum currently displays a variety of older boats ranging in size and technology from the Anishinaabek dug-out canoe to U.S. Coast Guard TRS motorized surfboat.

A wayside in front of the cannery entitled, "Fruit to go," tells the story of the cannery's fruit packing history.

 

History of the Cannery

By the 1900s D.H. Day owned Glen Haven, 5,000 acres around it, 5,000 cherry and apple trees, a farm with hundreds of hogs, and a massive lumber company. Day was a visionary. He could see that the demand for lumber was falling rapidly, and he would need to diversify. Predicting the trend in changing agriculture, he started a canning company in the building that had been used to house items to be shipped. The Glen Haven Canning Company processed cherries, raspberries, and peaches and shipped the finished canned goods to Great Lake cities.

Attempting to diversify the town's interest further, Day and the residents of Glen Haven promoted the area's natural beauty. Day worked to draw visitors to the area, helping to build M-109 and M-209, the highway from Empire to Glen Haven, and donating land for Michigan's first state park, which is now the D. H. Day Campground. Day's vision also included building the Glen Lake area into the most exclusive resort in the United States. However, the Great Depression and his death in 1928 put an end to that plan.