This image, probably from the early 1900s, shows the former Donaldson Post Office and store and the home of William and Mary Armstrong. The post office, store, and home were just north of Pickford, at the corner of M-129 and 13-Mile Road, on the north side of the present Donaldson Presbyterian Church. The picture shows the father, grandparents, and great-grandparents of Audrey Armstrong McDonald of Pickford. (Photograph courtesy of John McDonald) 115 Years Ago

The St. Ignace News

Saturday, August 8, 1891

P.W. Hombach and William St. James will deed eight lots each to the first 16 persons who will build $500 cottages on their lands in the first ward. Mr. Hombach would give six lots on Pero street and two lots on Claim 1.

There has been a good deal said lately about a driving park for St. Ignace. We need one bad, of course we do, and the only hitch is the raising of an amount of money sufficiently large to buy and put in shape a piece of land suitable for the purpose.

The teachers for our city schools have all been appointed except the principal of the third ward.

The Congregational excursion to Les Cheneaux on Thursday was not as well attended as it should have been.

C.G. Cavanagh is negotiating with outside parties for the sale of the St. Ignace Bell Telephone plant. Should the transfer be made no doubt rates will be reduced and a large and better "exchange" established.

Several young ladies of St. Ignace are talking of organizing a "reform club." Among its most stringent rules will be against the use of "slang" and "flirting with strangers." For each offense a fine of 25 cents will be imposed.

90 Years Ago

The St. Ignace Enterprise

Thursday, August 10, 1916

St. Ignace enjoyed a number of selections by the Manistique Woodsmen's band last Saturday, while the organization and other members of Upper Peninsula camps were waiting for the D&C to take them on their way to Mount Clemens for the annual encampment.

Acting upon numerous complaints made by the residents of Portage Township regarding the operations of an alleged sporting house running in the township, Prosecuting Attorney Brown ordered an investigation be made of the situation. For this purpose, Deputy Sheriffs Frank Grondin of St. Ignace and James McGraw of Engadine made a trip to the premises last Saturday night with the result that one man and three women were arrested and brought here for a hearing, all pleading guilty.

The Chief Wawatam will leave Saturday in charge of Capt. Robertson and the regular crew for the Toledo dry dock where repairs will be made to her hull.

The 1916 Chautauqua is a thing of the past - the big brown tent being taken down and shipped to its next stopping place after the performance Monday night. Seldom could anyone be found who would say that the chautauqua is not desirable, but on every hand it was argued that the town was not of sufficient size to support it at the price.

The Germans want peace because they think they have won the war, and the Allies refuse to accept it because they are sure they will win the war. Therefore, on with the carnival of blood.

Every day the Wawatam has one or more automobiles as part of its freight consignment. Saturday eight cars crossed the straits and the number is continually increasing. With the completion of the trunk line around Lake Michigan next year it is expected there will be a constant stream of cars crossing the straits in both directions.

Moran column Mrs. Fred Schlehuber was on the sick list Tuesday.

Thomas Schlehuber has two autos now. Moran is surely prospering.

Les Cheneaux column The ball game next Sunday will be between a team from the Islington Hotel and the Cedarville team.

Much interest is always manifested in these parts with regard to the height of the water in the lake and how it compares with former years. The government reports show that all of the lake levels are rising except Lake Erie. Lake Huron is twentytwo hundredths of a foot, or nearly three inches higher, than a month ago, and 15 inches higher than a year ago. It is about three inches higher than the average stage for this time of the year for the past 10 years and nearly two and one-half feet below the high stage of July 1876.

50 Years Ago

The Republican-News &

St. Ignace Enterprise

Thursday, August 9, 1956

A 20-year-old St. Ignace man is hospitalized in a serious condition as the result of an accident while working on the Mackinac Bridge. Shortly afternoon on Tuesday the man, who was loading rivets for transport to the towers of the bridge, was struck on the back of the head by a falling pin. The heavy steel fell more than 200 feet before striking the man, who was bending over loading rivets. The steel smashed through the safety helmet he was wearing and a piece of the helmet crushed into the man's scalp. He was taken to Mackinac Straits Hospital and was semi-conscious on Tuesday evening. It appeared he did not suffer a skull fracture.

The Detroit News, with a staff correspondent, recently told an interesting story about Charlie Hudson of St. Ignace:

For some years Charles T. Hudson has been running a foot race with age and progress and the two inevitables find him a frisky competitor. Charlie is well known to the hundreds of tourists who have to wait in line for their turn on the Straits of Mackinac ferry. He sells smoked fish, and, with each sale, hands out a generous dose of light talk to calm impatient nerves.

When the $100,000 Straits bridge is ready, his fish business will be gone. But the former oiler on a ferry isn't worried.

"By that time, I should be ready to call it quits," mused Charlie, as he peddled a parcel of smoked whitefish. However, he is counting on old friends in his home state to help him preserve a record when the bridge opens in November 1957:

"I was the first man to drive an automobile from St. Ignace to the Soo," said the 76-year-old sailor. "I'm hoping my friends will let me be the first man to drive a car across the bridge."

Charlie said he drove the first car to the Soo back in 1917.

"We had to cut trees out of the way," the Cheboygan-born veteran recalled. "But I'm going to be on that bridge when it opens, even if I can't find a car and have to push my fish cart."

35 Years Ago

The Republican-News &

St. Ignace Enterprise

Thursday, August 12, 1971

In keeping with St. Ignace's 300th birthday celebration, the annual presentation of the Pere Marquette Pageant, "The Black Gown Tree," over the Labor Day weekend will be bigger and better than ever. Dr. John McCabe, currently director of Communication Arts at Lake Superior State College, Sault Ste. Marie, will be the director. He has been connected with the theatre since childhood, and he founded the Department of Theatre at Mackinac College.

Portage Road, in the vicinity of the Krostue farm, has taken on the appearance of a mechanized industrial complex. The mobile gravelcrunching and black topping plant, from I.L. Whitehead Construction Company, was moved here and erected in the pit to produce material used in the black-topping of the shoulders on I-75, from the north approach of the Mackinac Bridge to Highway 123, a distance of nearly 10 miles.

Barry Pierson, who received his certification from the University of Michigan in April and took his student teaching at Whitmore Lake, will

replace John McCutcheon as assistant football coach and also teach Science and Social Studies at LaSalle High School.

15 Years Ago

The St. Ignace News

Thursday, August 8, 1991

For almost 80 years, the end of August has been a time when local families crowd in trucks with whopper cabbages or prettiest rabbits to try and win ribbons at the Mackinac County Fair in Allenville. But not this year. The County Fair has been

canceled, owing to a lack of money and, perhaps more debilitating, a lack of support.

EDITOR'S NOTE: The St. Ignace News is seeking original prints or reprints of old photographs depicting areas in the Eastern Upper Peninsula to be scanned into its archives and for the Looking Back column. Photographs to be loaned or donated to the Michilimackinac Historical Society can also be dropped off at The St. Ignace News.