Gift Shop

Merchandise is available at a variety of locations:

  1. Orchard Lake Museum Open Houses
  2. City of Orchard Lake
  3. Oakland County Pioneer and Historical Society
  4. Orchard Lake St. Mary’s Schools
  5. West Bloomfield Town Hall

GWBHS member and Time Traveler discounts available at museum only.

ItemPriceDescription
Apple Island Artifacts Notebook$7.00A collection of 28 artifact fragments, each with a description, photo, and questions for students. Space provided to draw what the entire object may have looked like.
(Available to download for free at https://www.gwbhs.org/education/apple-island/)
Apple Island Explorer’s Journal$5.00This informational 13-page coloring book with a glossary engages students in learning about Apple Island.
(Available to download for free at https://www.gwbhs.org/education/apple-island/)
Apple Island Tours Flip Chart$20.00Created by GWBHS for group tours docents. This easy-to-carry visual aid includes an inquiry overview, first-person quotes, images, information, maps, and island archaeological activities list. 24 color pages.
Keep Your Eye on Keego Harbor$5.00This 1912 real-estate narrative booklet recounts the developer’s work, plans, and hopes for the town of Keego Harbor. Includes 11 photographs and a Keego Harbor subdivision map by J.E. Sawyer, proprietor. 6”x8.5.”
Michigan Military Academy: Them Was the Days! by Brian Bohnett$15.00In 1877, an idea formed in the mind of 33-year-old Army Major J. Sumner Rogers—an idea that became the Michigan Military Academy. This book covers the brief 30-year life of a school once deemed the “West Point of the West.” It also contains anecdotes and accounts from the cadets, faculty, and others who played a part in the school’s history, giving the reader a taste of what life was like at Orchard Lake’s 19th-century military institute. Available Oakland County Pioneer and Historical Society and Orchard Lake Schools. Softbound, 151 pages, over 100 images.
Our History and Remembrance of Pleasant Lake, West Bloomfield by Gina and Robert Gregory$48.00Local residents share the history of Pleasant Lake, West Bloomfield, with the creation, habitation, development, and current status of the lake and its surroundings. This softbound 3rd edition book includes Covid memories, Donahue Drain installation, historical and pioneer research, land conservancy, property donation, and wildlife sightings. Color graphics with 375 images.
Song of the Heron: Reflections on the History of West Bloomfield by Charles Martinez$20.00This award-winning, comprehensive book on the history of Greater West Bloomfield, MI is carefully researched. It begins with the Ice Age, chronicles development through the 1920s, and ends with a chapter devoted to the tornado of 1976. An essential reference book! Available at Orchard Lake City Hall, and Oakland County Pioneer and Historical Society. 260 pages, 16 color plates.
The Story of Us$60.00An in-depth accounting of Westacres 75 year history,1936-2011. The softbound book features an unprecedented collection of photos. This is a story of a vibrant community, incredibly unique and cherished, built by people of modest means, huge hearts, and an inclination to work together for the sake of the whole. Their steadfast dedication creates a way of life hardly imagined by the founders. Color graphics, over 1,000 images, 314 pages.
West Bloomfield and the Tri-Cities by Ron Gay$20.00This Arcadia Images of America book celebrates the local community of Keego Harbor, Orchard Lake, Sylvan Lake, and West Bloomfield using black and white photos with informative captions. 126 pages.
1872 West Bloomfield Map$10.00from 1872 Atlas of Oakland County, Michigan by F. W. Beers, publisher. This color map indicates 13 West Bloomfield school districts, with property lots, buildings, and owners’ names. 11x17” reprint. Available at West Bloomfield Town Hall.
1917 & 1930 West Bloomfield Maps$10.00The maps indicate property lots, buildings, and owners’ names. Available at West Bloomfield Town Hall. Reproduced on 18x24” paper, with 14.5”x15.5” map.
1950s Orchard Lake and West Bloomfield Map$10.00Illustrated with development and areas to be left natural. The four-color map was hand-drawn by Brigadier General Frederick Strong, Jr., husband of Marjorie Ward Strong, the last private owner of Apple Island. A surveyor by trade, General Strong was contracted by the Ward real estate group to draw this map. 4’x4’
Apple Island Cedar Sachet, Coasters & Ornament$5.00 - $10.00Made from fallen cedar on Apple Island. Choose from various sizes and styles, some are wood burned: Apple Island National Register of Historic Places. Handcrafted for GWBHS. Organza gift bag.
Baseball Cap$15.00This adjustable beige baseball cap features the 2" colored embroidered GWBHS logo.
Five Note Cards$5.00Featuring Walter E. Flanders an early automotive leader in Detroit and Pontiac with assorted images of his West Bloomfield summer estate on Green Lake and one of his automobiles. Notecards created by the Green Lake Asso.
Eight Note Cards$5.00Featuring sketches of four local landmarks: the Orchard Lake Community Church, circa 1900; the interurban railcar; the David Ward home; and the “Castle” at the Michigan Military Academy. Each set contains eight cards, two of each drawing.
Orchard Lake Polka Sheet Music$10.00A local treasure! J. Henry Whittemore composed this catchy piano piece in 1871, before becoming a student at the Michigan Military Academy (MMA). Infusing local flavor into an internationally famous dance, Whittemore dedicated his composition to the “stockholders and patrons of the Orchard Lake Hotel”— which would become the MMA in 1877. Reproduced in its original size, on three sheets. 11”x14.”