The Mackinac County Airport in St. Ignace was created as Wing Field after Chester Wing, an aviation enthusiast who operated a St. Ignace automobile garage from 1910 to 1956. Here, planes from the U.S. Army's Fort Brady in Sault Ste. Marie are being tested with new skis made by Wing Garage. The Wing family sold the airstrip to the county around 1932, according to Paul Fullerton, who operates the airport today. Its terminal was built in 1934. This photograph is thought to have been taken in the 1920s. (Photograph courtesy of Paul Fullerton) 115 Years Ago

The St. Ignace News

Saturday, March 25, 1893

Rev. Bean preached at Les Cheneaux Monday night.

E. LaRoque walked to and from the Island on Wednesday last.

Eddie McElroy left for Grand Haven on Wednesday to take a position on the steamer Minnie M.

Conrad Orth, of the Central Hotel, was looking after his interests at Les Cheneaux the first of the week, returning home Tuesday afternoon.

A crowd of Mackinac Island girls went out sleigh riding. They didn't know why they attracted so much attention until they got off the sleigh, when on the box a placard was discovered, "A load of old maids."

Three small boys were seen intoxicated at the iron ore dock on Sunday last. The soberest one claimed that he stole the "budge" from his father's supply. It is to be hoped that this is the case - for surely no man in the liquor business would sell them the stuff.

It is said all the Island hotels intend opening between June 1 and June 15. It is expected that the season will open a month earlier than usual, and there is every indication that it will be a big one for Mackinac Island.

James Hess, formerly in the employ of the Martel Furnace Co., and Capt. Stevenson, have purchased the steamer Mary, and will run her on her old route between here and Les Cheneaux the coming season.

90 Years Ago

The St. Ignace Enterprise

Thursday, March 28, 1918

Even the church was remembered in the act making Michigan dry May 1st, 1918. Churches must have a permit to use wine for sacramental purposes. Drug stores will be required to have permits to sell alcohol in any form. Doctors will secure permits from the county clerk to have alcohol in their possession, and for the right to use it.

The warm weather the first of the week, during which the warm rays of the sun produced a summer atmosphere, so weakened the ice bridge as to make the crossing [between St. Ignace and Mackinac Island] dangerous. As is usually the case, this fact had to be forcibly brought home to the venturesome by a wetting.

Curtis: Walter Smith, Chas. McPherson, Will Sherbrook, and Geo. Thomas are putting up their ice for summer use.

Rexton: The mumps are raging in town. Everyone here expects to become afflicted.

Trout Lake: Hotel Nevins burnt to the ground Sunday night. The fire started in some mysterious manner. It is a great loss to the owner, Mr. Daley, as there is only $2,000 insurance.

Moran: School was closed by the health officer, Chas. Sachweh, on account of an epidemic of measles, which had broken out among the school children. Thursday evening, 16 cases had been reported. School will reopen April 1.

There is no question about who is the oldest white inhabitant of Les Cheneaux. It is William A. Patrick, who, surrounded by his children and grandchildren, still lives on the channel near the Pennsylvania Hotel, and what was for years known as "Patrick's Landing." This landing was for years the principal and almost only dock and stopping place for boats in the Snows. He will be 80 years old on the seventh of the coming May.

50 Years Ago

The Republican-News

& St. Ignace Enterprise

Thursday, March 27, 1958

Reconstruction of the historic Fort de Buade at St. Ignace, 17th century military center of the Great Northwest, is seen in House Bill No. 100 this week, in the process of printing and awaiting the signature of Gov. G. Mennen Williams.

A $20,000 project to light the Mackinac County airport at St. Ignace is in the offing, but the Mackinac Co. Board of Supervisors must approve a $5,000 appropriation in order to obtain total funds.

Mr. and Mrs. Louis Yellen, who recently purchased Syversen's motel and bar in St. Ignace, will re-open the business April 2. The Yellens have renamed the business Danny's Bar and Motel.

Scaffolding has been removed from the new Zion Lutheran Church in the First Ward and its appearance is rewarding.

The U.S. Coast Guard have the full crew on hand at the Mackinac Island life boat station, and possibly before long we can again hear the familiar fog horn, a sound so dear to Islanders in the spring.

Unusually heavy ice, up to 20 feet thick in lower Lake Huron, delayed the start of ice breaking operations in the Straits, scheduled for last weekend. The cutter Mackinaw this week escorted five ships from Port Huron to Alpena.

35 Years Ago

The Republican-News

& St. Ignace Enterprise

Thursday, March 29, 1973

Robert Sposito, Michigan State University County Extension agent, will speak at the annual soil conservation district meeting at Engadine Town Hall Saturday, March 31. The topic will be "Tourism and Land Management."

On Monday of this week William J. Byland, DDS, officially began his practice of dentistry at the Mackinac Straits Hospital, raising the number of dentists in the immediate area to three, including Dr. A.D. McKinnon and Dr. R.L. Holle.

The St. Ignace Saints boys basketball team had a dream of a state championship ever since the initial basketball game of this season, but that dream came to an end at Traverse City Saturday, as Jim Beavers, Elijah Coates, and their Saginaw St. Stephen teammates defeated the Saints 89-73. Seniors that will be hard to replace next year for the Saints are Ed Lester and Dan Yellen. Lester led all scorers with 38 points in his last game as a Saint.

15 Years Ago

The St. Ignace News

Thursday, March 25, 1993

The car allegedly used in a hitand run February 27 on Mackinac Trail, near St. Ignace, that critically injured a Cheboygan man, was found by sheriff's deputies near Titusville, Florida. The Benzonia fugitive is still at large.

An ordinance to govern the flow of solid waste through Mackinac Island's disposal system was adopted Wednesday, March 17, by the Island City Council. Under the new ordinance, only city-licensed waste haulers may transport solid waste from a residence or business to the Island's solid waste handling facility. There is leeway in the ordinance for a resident or business to dispose of trash off of the Island, but without aid of a licensed hauler.

The Cedarville Trojans girls volleyball team cruised past Bessemer to defend its Upper Peninsula Class D championship after a scrappy Baraga team pushed the Trojans to three games - all of which saw Cedarville overcome deficits - in the semifinals.

The DeTour Raiders boys basketball team captured its first regional title since 1986 with a 42- 39 win over Boyne Falls Saturday, March 20, in Cheboygan.