Founded in 1945, the Great Lakes Historical Society worked for decades to preserve and publicize the region’s history. In 2003, it began a strategic plan to create the National Museum of the Great Lakes to better portray the Great Lakes region’s impact on the North American continent’s economic, social, and political development, and by 2010 it had chosen Toledo as the best location. Support from the Ohio Cultural Facilities Commission, the Toledo Lucas County Port Authority, the City of Toledo, and many private donors helped bring the project into being. The museum presents how the region shaped the history of the United States and Canada through nearly 300 artifacts, hundreds of photographs, and more than forty interactive experiences. It also includes Great Lakes Heritage Park, which explores the theme “Great Lakes: A Powerful Force” and reflects how for more than 10,000 years the lakes have been a life force, a shaping force, and a deadly force on the continent. Part of the experience is the Col. James M. Schoonmaker Museum Ship, owned by the City of Toledo, previously named the Willis B. Boyer, purchased by Toledo in 1987, and given a $1,000,000 exterior renovation by the end of 2012, while ongoing preservation continues. Featured objects include the bow decoration from the passenger steamer Greyhound, which carried day-trippers from Toledo in the early 20th century, and the sounding board from the Edmund Fitzgerald, which sank in Lake Superior on November 10, 1975.
