The Colorful History of Manistique’s Gero Theatre

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The interior of the Gero Theatre when it was still an opera house. SCHS Photo

   During the early twentieth century, professional theatre companies toured the country via the railroad, and would stop in Manistique for a week’s engagement at the Gero Theatre. One railroad car housed the cast and crew, while two additional cars carried the actor’s costumes along with the company’s baggage and equipment.  Livery workers and draymen had to haul as many as 60 trunks from the Soo Line depot to the theatre building.

     A great lover of the theatre, Benjamin Gero purchased the Manistique Opera House, located on South Maple Street, in 1904 and redesigned the building to enhance live theatrical performances.  He slanted the floor of the opera house toward the stage and installed permanent seating. A 70-foot tower behind the stage allowed scenery backdrops to be raised and lowered with a system of ropes and pulleys.  An elevator made it easier for trunks and other theatre equipment to be transported to the second and third floors. In addition, the name of the opera house was changed to the “Gero Theatre.” Read More...

Ben Gero – Manistique’s First Car Dealer (1902)

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Benjamin Gero (right) in his battery powered Oldsmobile, circa 1901, Courtesy Ben Gero III collection.

     Born on Nov. 9, 1862 in Potsdam, New York, Benjamin Gero’s business career and civic contributions can only be marveled at today. He is best remembered as the owner of the “Gero Theater” in Manistique, but his accomplishments were many and varied. The death of his father when Gero was only nine years old and the necessity to support his mother and younger brother fueled his quest for achievement.  When he was 15, he left home for Michigan, finding work at Cheboygan in the lumber industry. With steady employment, the family joined him there and established a home. By the time Gero turned 21, he had risen to the position of lumber inspector for the Martin Stillman Lumber Company in Cheboygan.  Coming to Manistique in 1890, he began his remarkable career here as an independent lumber inspector. Read More...

Life Members Sought to Help Fund New Museum

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The former laundry building in the 1880’s when a wooden bridge spanned the Manistique river.

     The Schoolcraft County Historical Society has begun a capital campaign to fund a new museum.  Hundreds of artifacts relating to the rich history of Schoolcraft County are stored away in the society’s archive building, inaccessible to the public—all for the lack of a suitable place to display them.

     The former Manistique Lumber Warehouse building, located at 301 River Street, dates back to the 1880’s when all the property in town was owned by the Chicago Lumbering Company and a wooden bridge spanned the Manistique River. Now however, the building must either be torn down or moved to make way for the highly anticipated extended boardwalk project along the Manistique River.  Read More...

George Holbein and the Tribune Newspaper

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George Holbein at his desk in the newspaper office.

     George Holbein was born on August 16, 1864 at Dennison Station, Summit County, Ohio.  He was the fourth child in a sibling group of eight born to Elias and Lydia Holbein. Only four of George’s siblings survived to adulthood.

     George’s father, Elias Holbein was a skilled leather worker who crafted saddles and harnesses for horses. Elias was an educated man who was active in his German Reformed Church congregation, where he served as deacon, secretary and Sunday school superintendent. He was praised as having “an even temperament and a genial spirit.” Read More...