News · Thumb Coast
Port Sanilac’s Loop-Harrison House gets $85,000 to stop the water damage
PORT SANILAC, Mich. — The Sanilac County Historical Society will use an $85,000 state grant to repair the exterior of the 1872 Loop-Harrison House, the cornerstone building at the Sanilac County Historic Village and Museum, the Michigan Strategic Fund announced Oct. 1.
The money comes from the State Historic Preservation Office’s Rural Heritage Partnership Grant Program. Across Michigan, SHPO awarded about $673,000 to eight rural projects. Awards ranged from $51,000 to $100,000.
In Port Sanilac, the work targets deteriorated porches, failed and missing drainage, masonry and foundation spots where water is getting in. Officials say the project is meant to stop active damage now and set up a longer rehabilitation plan so the house can keep hosting educational and cultural programs.
“This grant opportunity has been long awaited,” Dan Finn, the historical society’s administrator, said in the state announcement. He said rotting and water damage on the building’s front-facing features had gone too long without serious attention, and that without the grant the damage risked becoming unaffordable to fix.
The Rural Heritage program is backed by a one-time Paul Bruhn Historic Revitalization grant from the National Park Service. SHPO created it after rural communities said they needed help preserving downtowns and community landmarks when local money is thin.
The museum campus is at 228 S. Ridge St. Its 2026 calendar still includes Haunted Village nights on Oct. 10 and 17, according to local listings.
Sources:
Michigan Economic Development Corporation / Michigan Strategic Fund, “State Historic Preservation Office Awards Local Grants through Rural Heritage Partnership Grant Program,” Oct. 1, 2026, https://www.michiganbusiness.org/press-releases/2026/10/shpo-awards-local-grants-through-rural-heritage-partnership-grant-program/
WGRT, “Haunted Village,” Oct. 2, 2026, https://wgrt.com/haunted-village/
Photo: Jsokolo, “Loop House,” July 26, 2017, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/), cropped and color-corrected; derivative under the same ShareAlike license, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Loop_House.jpg
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