Only a few exhibits are shown here — visit us to see more!

The Main Museum — Roen Saloon

The main museum building is fashioned after the old Roen Saloon that operated on Niagara Street in Empire between 1895 and 1925. Andrew Roen first came to Empire in 1892 to work for the Empire Lumber Company. He opened his saloon in 1895 across the street from the Western Hotel and close to the lumber mill, and it became a popular gathering place. The Roen Saloon exhibit on the museum's main floor has many original fixtures that were purchased at the Roen family auction held in 1985, including the 18-foot cherrywood main bar, back bar, bar tables, light fixtures, and tobacco cabinet. The exhibit also features a Mira music box, a player piano, and an Edison phonograph.

Blacksmith Shop

The lower level of the main museum building includes a blacksmith shop with original items from two former blacksmith shops in Empire. Blacksmith Henry Verno illustrates his trade in a turn-of-the-century shop in this audiovisual exhibit.

The Taghon Service Station

The Taghon family operated a service station in Empire for many years. This exhibit showcases original gas pumps and other artifacts from this business, which was a central hub of activity in the mid-1900s.

Warren Aylsworth Exhibit

One of our newer exhibits features the military career of Warren Aylsworth and includes a scale model of the B-29 that Warren flew for 36 missions over Japan in World War II. Several photographs feature Warren's long and varied flying career serving in World War II, the Korean War, and Vietnam. This display is a tribute to all of our military veterans from past wars and conflicts.

Helen Witt Egg Collection

Enjoy the fantastic detail and beauty of each egg. Eggs used are: pullet, chicken, turkey, double yoked turkey, ostrich and emu. This collection is on loan from Sharon and Bill Witt (Helen and Bill's son).

Ted Pelky's Model Bus Collection

Ted Pelky started drawing busses at age 5 and building them at age 10. He works off school bus brochures and photographs. Ted was born in 1957 in Traverse City and spent much of his time in later years in Empire, visiting here each summer from 1983 through 1998. He built an estimated 130 busses while in Empire visiting his family. After the busses would get old, he would select a few each year and have his Dad burn them keeping the wheels for the next project. Each bus took about 20 hours to complete. They are made out of poster board and some plastic trim and plastic wheels. He donated most of his remaining Empire collection (23 of 29 busses) to the Empire Museum in February of 2013. He now lives in Brunswick, Georgia and continues to make busses to this day. The new busses have a model airplane type finish that, Ted says, make them appear more realistic than his earlier models.