The Indian Mission, now the Luckhard Museum, is a historic Native American Christian mission located at 590 East Bay Street in

Sebewaing, Michigan Sebewaing is a village in Huron County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 1,759 at the 2010 census. The village is within Sebewaing Township. This community is known as the Sugar Beet Capital, due to the Michigan Sugar slicing m ...

. It was built in 1849 and added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

in 1972.

History

John J. Auch was born in 1817 in Wurtemburg, Germany, and emigrated tho the United States with his parents in 1836. He studied theology, and in 1845 arrived in what is now Sebewaing as a missionary to the local

Ojibwe The Ojibwe, Ojibwa, Chippewa, or Saulteaux are an Anishinaabe people in what is currently southern Canada, the northern Midwestern United States, and Northern Plains. According to the U.S. census, in the United States Ojibwe people are one of ...

tribe. Upon arrival, Auch constructed a log house at a site just north of Sebewaing. This proved inadequate, so in 1846 he purchased lumber from Bay City, ferried it to Sebewaing, and began constructing this mission house. The house was dedicated in 1849, and Auch used it as a combination mission and home for the next five years. After Auch moved on, the building was alternately occupied and abandoned over the course of decades. In 1954, C.F. Luckhard purchased the building and extensively restored it. Luckhard moved the structure to its present location, and used it to display his collection of pioneer-era artifacts. Luckhard also constructed a replica of the first log house build by Auch near the mission.

Description

The Indian Mission is a -story rectangular frame building with a gabled roof on a low stone foundation. The building has box cornices and two brick chimneys within the walls. The windows are double-hung sash units, six over six. Adjoining the mission is a concrete structure, cast in the shape of a log building, as a replica of the first chapel built in Sebewaing in 1845.

References

{{National Register of Historic Places Churches in Michigan Properties of religious function on the National Register of Historic Places in Michigan Churches completed in 1849 Buildings and structures in Huron County, Michigan 1849 establishments in Michigan National Register of Historic Places in Huron County, Michigan