Manistique’s U.P. Championship Baseball Team – October 1923

The above photo of the Manistique championship baseball team by E.O. Brault appeared in the October 4, 1923 edition of the Pioneer Tribune.

The above photo of the Manistique championship baseball team by E.O. Brault appeared in the October 4, 1923 edition of the Pioneer Tribune.

           Manistique had a marvelous baseball team back in the early 1920s. During the summer of 1923 the team played a total of 31 games and finished with a record of 22 wins and 9 losses. Twenty-five games were played against Upper Peninsula teams and 6 games were played against traveling African American teams including the Illinois Giants from Chicago and the New York Royals.  The Manistique club won 19 of 25 games played against the Upper Peninsula teams and went 3-3 versus the traveling teams from New York and Chicago.   Read More...

August Klagstad – Altar Artist

August Klagstad 1866-1949

August Klagstad 1866-1949

           Reared in a remote Upper Peninsula lumbering settlement, August Klagstad toiled in the mill piling pine slabs. But the high-pitched whine of the big saws could not drown out his dreams for a brighter future. When he exchanged his leather work gloves for brushes and a palette of oils—an artist emerged. A faithful Lutheran, Klagstad specialized in religious paintings. Today, Klagstad’s altar paintings can be found in churches throughout the United States. His “sermons on canvas” have inspired generations of worshipers in Michigan and across the nation. Read More...

Lazarus Rosenthal – Dry Goods & Clothing Merchant

Circa 1904-06 image of Rosenthals Clothing Store  (last two awnings far right)

Circa 1904-06 image of Rosenthal’s Clothing Store (last two awnings far right)

           Lazarus Rosenthal was born on November 4, 1874 in Syracuse, New York to Saul and Celia (Rubenstein) Rosenthal. He came to Manistique in 1895 and operated a dry goods store for four years under the name of Rosenthal & Blumrosen. Rosenthal married Rachael Blumrosen in a Jewish ceremony in Detroit, Michigan on January 28, 1898.

            Becoming sole owner of Rosenthal’s Clothing Store in 1899, he remained in business in Manistique for 27 years. In February of 1926, he sold the clothing store to Henry Neville and W. J. Raredon. The Rosenthal building later housed the Lauerman Department Store. While in business in Manistique, Rosenthal was active in civic affairs and a great booster for Manistique and Schoolcraft County. Read More...

Central School Essay Contest – 1924

The Central School building was erected in 1882 with an initial enrollment of 76 students. It was replaced by the new Junior High building in 1931

The Central School building was erected in 1882 with an initial enrollment of 76 students. It was replaced by the new Junior High building in 1931

        During the fall of 1924, the Manistique Women’s Club sponsored an essay contest at the Central School concerning the early history of Manistique. They hoped to kindle an interest in local history among the community’s young people. The Pioneer Historical Society had just been organized a year earlier, so there was little written material available for research. But the students had an even better source of information to draw upon—the pioneers themselves. Many of Manistique’s earliest settlers were still alive and residing in the area. The essays that the students produced are a treasure trove of information, but leave us wishing for even more. The winning essays were read before a school assembly at the Central School and were later published in the local paper as follows: Read More...