MANISTEE COUNTY, Mich., (WPBN/WGTU) — After years of research and planning, visitors and residents can now get a new and authentic experience of the community’s historical landmarks.
Hollywood actress and Manistee native, Toni Trucks dedicated the Manistee Historic Sites Tours on Tuesday, at the Ramsdell Regional Center for the Arts.
With help from the Manistee County Historical Museum, the Manistee County Visitors Bureau created a next-generation self-guided tour route throughout the area.
The tour showcases more than 100 locations including churches, the downtown/commercial district, destination sites, east homes, River Walk sites, museums, industrial sites, west homes, as well as fall colors tours.
Some of those sites include the historic Ramsdell Regional Center for the Arts, one of the oldest existing Danish Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and the Manistee County Historic Museum where hundreds of antiques and memorabilia from the town’s Victorian era can be seen.
The tour includes a guide book, map, and mobile app that has links to videos and images for explanations and history of each site.
“Today is the culmination of a project that dates back to 2011 when it was just a kernel of an idea,” said Executive Director of the Visitors Bureau, Kathryn Kenny. “When we looked at Manistee brand assets, our rich history is one of the primary draws for visitors.”
Trucks, who is no stranger to the Ramsdell Theatre, did the voice-overs for the videos that showcase landmarks and history in her hometown.
Before heading to Hollywood, the actress started her career at age seven in her first performance at the Ramsdell. She then attended Interlochen Center for the Arts, before studying Musical Theatre at the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance.
She has starred in the television series, “SEAL Team”, played a role in the Comedy Central show, “Corporate”, and appeared in the move, “Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 2” as well as several other film or TV appearances.
She says she holds Manistee and the community near and dear to her heart.
“These buildings are so special and the way Manistee values the history behind these buildings is so unique,” Trucks said. “I’m so honored and tickled that I can be the voice of Manistee in some capacity, in many ways it’s so surreal but also fitting because I really do love this town.”
“The base of [the tour] is in the City of Manistee, but there are a lot of other destination spots that are neat spots in the County as well,” explained Mark Fedder, the Director of the Manistee County Historical Museum who headed the research into the historic sites. “Being at the museum, [visitors] have a lot of questions about the history, about our Victorian architecture here in Manistee. It was a big lumbering town so a lot of millionaire lumbermen that helped build all these extravagant houses and extravagant churches.”
The tour project was supported by a $50,000 grant from the United States Department of Agriculture Rural Development, as well as $70,000 from the Manistee County Visitors Bureau.
“Our grants in USDA are designed to stimulate business, promote tourism and business activities in small communities throughout the State of Michigan,” Jason Allen, the Director of USDA Rural Development Michigan said. “We find these projects invaluable, because we know the cultural tourism and the ability to attract individuals to such a rich and historic community is hard to even measure.”
“It’s hard to articulate when you’re far away how special this place is, just flush with beautiful buildings and history,” Trucks said. “This project has given me such a beautiful and practical outlet to express my love, and the history that’s here.”
