Construction of the Mackinac Bridge began in 1954. During the 42 months of construction, hundreds of men worked on the many sections of the bridge; five lost their lives doing so. Here, a section is about to be lifted from a barge by cables to be connected. A freighter, leaving a dark trail of smoke, passes by at right. The bridge officially opened November 1, 1957, and Monday, September 5, will be the 48th annual Labor Day Mackinac Bridge Walk. (Photograph courtesy of Greg Main) 115 Years Ago

Saturday, August 23, 1890

Professor G.W. Oles, the greatest violinist in the country, will give a grand concert at the Sherwood Hotel Saturday evening, August 30. He comes here under the auspice of the M.E. Church of this city and all who love music should attend. Admission is 35¢.

Electricity is being used in hair-dressing, and by it a woman’s hair or man’s beard is curled in two minutes. It’s enough to make one’s hair curl, just thinking of it.

The capacity of the Grand Hotel at Mackinac Island is to be doubled. Work will commence as soon as the season is over, and the new addition will be ready for the reception of guests in 1891.

90 Years Ago

Thursday, August 26, 1915

The most important athletic exhibition ever to be staged in St. Ignace will be pulled off in the Grand Theatre next Wednesday evening, September 1.

Frank Burns of Flint, claiming the world’s championship, will be called upon to defend his title by Walter Miller of St. Paul, the undisputed champion wrestler of the Northwest. It will be a finish match, best two out of three falls. It should be a match that should bring out every lover of clean athletic exhibitions and will be an entertainment that ladies can safely attend.

After a lull of about two weeks, St. Ignace has again suffered a visit from midnight burglars, Harry Woods being the victim of their depredations. Sometime Monday night his place of business was broken into, entrance being effected through a rear window, and the back doors being forced. Articles to the value of between $35 and $40 were taken besides a small amount of money left in the cash register.

The officers are completely in the air concerning the identity of the burglars, but are inclined to the belief that they are the same parties who have been working the town on previous occasions.

County Engineer Brotherton came down from the west end of the county Tuesday morning, where he had been for 10 days, and yesterday looked over the Fogelsonger work. Fine progress is being made on three miles of road out of Engadine.

50 Years Ago

Thursday, August 25, 1955

A steer-riding rodeo, championship baseball games, and children’s races will be among the entertainment features at the Mackinac County fair, which opens Saturday, September 3, and continues through Monday.

Rudyard won the championship in the Class C softball tournament played at Pickford by defeating St. Ignace in a double-header last Thursday night.

A 68-year-old Detroit woman died in Mackinac Straits Hospital last Saturday about a half hour after the car she was in crashed off the highway at 11:40 a.m. and struck a birch tree at the foot of the hill about 4.4 miles west of St. Ignace. She suffered head and hip fractures.

A record enrollment is expected to overcrowd school facilities at the opening of the 1955-56 school year Wednesday, September 7, in St. Ignace. High school students numbering 350 are already enrolled, compared to 309 on opening day in 1954. A freshman class of 90 replaces 50 seniors.

Clark Township schools will open for the fall term on Thursday, September 1. Approximately 400 students are expected to enroll. Three new instructors will join the staff, including George Hill of DeTour, who will teach music, band, and social studies; Mrs. Phyliss Senske of Bay City, business education; and Leonard Della-Moretta of St. Ignace, who will teach mathematics and chemistry.

35 Years Ago

Thursday, August 27, 1970

Four young divers last week raised and pulled from the lake in back of the Firestone store a six cylinder Buick believed to be over 70 years old.

Danny Horan, 14, Pat Cronan, 12, Margaret Cronan, 13, and Jim Cronan discovered the sunken car, which was in 15 feet of water. Stan Sorenson said the Buick was at one time probably used as a taxi by the Litchord Livery Stables that had a dock between Firestone store and the Chamber of Commerce up to about 1920. Sorenson said he thinks when the car “ran out” they just shoved it off the dock.

Mackinac County farmers harvested 5,000 acres of hay in 1969, according to Phil Doctor of the Michigan Crop Reporting Service. Production amounted to 8,000 tons, an average of 1.60 tons per acre.

15 Years Ago

Thursday, August 23, 1990

Lance Corporal Lee Cole, son of Hartley and Sharon Cole of Pickford, has been sent to Saudi Arabia with the 2nd U.S. Marine Division. Cole, a 1988 graduate of Pickford High School, is assigned to the helicopter attack unit.

The Cole family has another son, Clifford, serving with the Sea Bees in Italy, which may also be sent to Saudi Arabia for construction work; a daughter Ruth, stationed with the Navy in Pearl Harbor; and a daughter-in-law working in the Pentagon.

The state of fishery in Les Cheneaux was presented August 16 at the Community Center in Cedarville. Members of the Les Cheneaux Community Action Committee spoke to about 75 residents and visitors, many who were impatient, angry at times, and voiced their opinion about the plight of the perch fishery and the future of fishing in the area.

Governor James Blanchard and his wife, Janet, following tradition, will lead an expected 70,000 participants September 3 in this year’s Labor Day Bridge Walk.