Looking Back
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The St. Ignace News
Thursday, January 16, 1919
The Jones-Kerry lumber mill caught fire between 5 and 6 o'clock Saturday afternoon and burned to the ground, resulting in a total loss. The origin of the fire is unknown, but it is believed was caused by electric light wires becoming crossed. The mill was built in 1907 at a cost of $63,000 and was one of the best equipped plants of its kind in the north country.
Potatoes are going up in price this winter but the increase will be gradual and will not reach the height of two years ago.
Sheriff Benjamin said that the criminal business was almost at a standstill and the greatest difficulty he was experiencing was in trying to find something to keep busy at.
Women voters applying to the city clerk's office to register have been disappointed in not being able to do so. The clerk ordered registration books in ample time but on their arrival here found that the printers had made a mistake and sent books for Charlotte instead of St. Ignace.
The Soo suffered a $100,000 loss early Sunday morning when the machine shops of Hickler Bros. burned to the ground.
The business men of the city [St. Ignace] are showing the right spirit in subscribing for stock in the Box & Float Co.
Our school [Mackinac Island] still remains closed on account of the "flu."
The D.P. Perry is now in winter quarters on the beach in front of the Palmer House. [Mackinac Island]
James Norton has his summer's supply of ice in the ice house. [Curtis]
The channels in the Snows were most all open until after Christmas, a very unusual condition.
In the latter part of December, Capt. David Hartnack, who lives at the Elliott House, broke through the ice in the channel near the Islington and had a narrow escape from drowning. [Les Cheneaux]
The St. Ignace-Cedarville stage has been having a hard time getting through regularly since the first of the year, as it has frequently arrived at Hessel very late, and they're put up for the night, coming on to Cedarville the next morning.
A deal of considerable interest to the residents of the Snows and the summer resorters as well has recently been made by which Ross W. Patrick has purchased the business of the Cedarville Boat Company and will continue the same on the premises now occupied by that company.
50 YEARS AGO
The Republican-News & St. Ignace Enterprise
Thursday, January 15, 1959
Herbert A. Powers, cashier of First National Bank, St. Ignace, last Friday, marked 50 years in the banking business - all of those years with the local bank.
Five men from Mackinac Island braved the ice bridge and made the first crossing of the season to St. Ignace last Sunday. In the group were Frank Visnaw, J.K. Gallagher, Jim Pero, Fred and Ding Cadotte.
A local Michigan historical society has initiated a drive for funds to finance an archaeological study in the St. Ignace area under the direction of a University of Michigan anthropologist. Professor Emerson Greenman says he will search for the French military stockade and Jesuit mission near St. Ignace, which is believed to date to the mid-seventeenth century.
If the sites are located, excavation will follow.
On Jan. 12, Martin A. Fair, who was born at Clinton, Ontario, on Oct. 29, 1875, was honored by his local lodge, F.& A.M., by being presented with a 60-year award pin, which is the first awarded at St. Ignace for that long a period of honorable membership.
Harvey T. Woodfield, 72, who died of a heart attack Dec. 26, 1958, had made provision in his will for a bequest of $10,000 to the School District of the City of St. Ignace.
Prosecuting Attorney James J. Brown of St. Ignace and Chuck Blanck, Moran businessman, plan to leave here toward the end of January bound on a 2,600-mile trek to Great Slave Lake, Canada, within the Arctic Circle. Both ardent sportsmen, especially fishermen, Brown and Blanck propose to fish for lake trout, using the ancient methods of "snatching," so popular on Lake Michigan, Huron, and Superior during the years the trout were plentiful.
According to Dr. Howard Walker, the Moran township board plans a public hearing next spring for study and discussion of the proposed zoning plans.
Three St. Ignace lodging establishments have received national recognition in the new (1959) editions of "Duncan Hines Adventures in Good Eating" and "Lodging for a Night," just off the press. They are included among 8,000 selected eating and lodging establishments, "recommended by Duncan Hines" out of a total half million in North America. They are: Dettman's Motel, Mac- Donald's Motel, and Wishing Well.
Ice fishermen who drive their automobiles over frozen lakes can be flirting with danger, if the ice is "thick." Information supplied by the Meteorologist Laboratories at the University of Michigan indicates that a vehicle moving across ice produces a traveling wave of ice all around it.
35 YEARS AGO
The Republican-News & St. Ignace Enterprise
Thursday, January 17, 1974
Fifty-seven members of the North Kent Snowmobile Club on a safari from Cedar Springs arrived in St. Ignace on Monday morning enroute to Hurley, Wisconsin, a trip of 718 miles.
L.J. Ormsbee Motors has opened in St. Ignace with complete Chrysler Sales and Service available.
The first ice crossing to St. Ignace from Mackinac Island were made Saturday a.m., January 12, both on foot and by snowmobile. The ice bridge was well marked by Christmas trees with below zero temperatures last week making ice every day. Monday morning dawned with high westerly winds and milder temperatures throughout the day and by noon the ice bridge was gone and open water was visible again between St. Ignace and Mackinac Island.
James Sherlund of Les Cheneaux was discharged from the U.S. Navy after a four-year tour of duty.
15 YEARS AGO
The St. Ignace News
Thursday, January 20, 1994
St. Ignace was forced to close its city offices for three days this week and to postpone a city council meeting when a cracked boiler put its steam heating system out of commission.
Unresolved funding questions, and a change of leadership, has thwarted an idea of a $21 million museum near the Mackinac Bridge. Most admit the project is dead. John Truscott, spokesperson for Governor John Engler, said he has never even heard of the proposed museum. To others, the "dream" remains. Representative Pat Gagliardi (D-Drummond Island) said he has yet to abandon hope.
The Department of Natural Resources may use the threat of legal action as a bargaining chip to force a compromise on gill net safety standards with Michigan tribes.
Senior Jim Fisher scored a school-record 55 points to lead Mackinac Island to a 111-53 win over Hannahville Saturday, January 15.
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 the 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.
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