The Scolnik House - A Historic House of the Depression Era

A Site of the Muskegon County Museum

The Scolnik House – A Historic House of the Depression Era will open in Muskegon in May 2007. The house, located at 504 W. Clay Avenue , is a site of the Muskegon County Museum and will tell the story of common families living during the Great Depression.

            In fall 1929, stocks fell 75%, income fell 40% and a quarter of the workforce was unemployed. People who had previously been able to take care of their families found themselves struggling to survive.

            A fictional Polish Catholic family owns the two story home which was built in the late 1880s in classic Queen Anne-Inspired Folk Victorian style. The family includes a couple, their five children and the paternal grandmother. They initially lived on both floors of the home, but because of the depression, now only occupy the main floor. The second floor is now an apartment which serves as home to a young fictional Polish-Jewish couple, their two children and the wife’s brother. They immigrated to the United States before the Holocaust.

            Museum curators are in the process of furnishing the home as it might have looked in 1929.  Period appropriate carpet, paint and linoleum cover the floors, the furniture will be a variety of styles and a player piano will play music from the era. The first floor kitchen will have a 1928 refrigerator and an ice box will be in the second floor kitchen. The Muskegon Garden Club will plant and maintain a vegetable and flower garden behind the home.

            The house was purchased by the Muskegon Heritage Association and Hackley Heritage Association following the death of its owner. The two organizations then turned the house over to the Muskegon County Museum to be developed as an additional local attraction and educational opportunity for school children. The house was a crumbling eyesore and has undergone an extensive renovation. The project was funded through private donations and grants. The home is named for Herman and Ida Scolnik who raised their family during the Depression. Their son Bob and his wife Merle are longtime residents of Muskegon County who believe in supporting the community through contributions to such projects as the Depression Era House.