Pictured above is a Match Safe presented to gentlemen who attended the grand opening of the Rose Brothers Department Store on October 9, 1903. The match safe was recently donated to the historical society by Dee Hawthorne of Garden.
During the summer of 1903, Harry Rose erected a new department store on the corner of Oak and Cedar Streets. The store replaced an earlier building that stood on the same lot from November of 1900 to January of 1903, when it was totally destroyed by fire. The opening of Rose Brothers new store was eagerly anticipated by the citizens of Manistique. The celebration began on October 9, 1903 and was documented in the pages of the Pioneer Tribune.
“Rose Bros. big store was formally thrown open to the public yesterday morning and the mammoth building was inspected by more than 1200 ladies and gentlemen who heartily expressed their admiration for the store and the stock it contained. Every visitor was presented with souvenirs. The ladies received pin trays and the gentlemen match safes. The local orchestra furnished music during the evening hours. The opening sale is continued today and, as yesterday, the store is thronged.”
The reverse side of a Match Safe souvenir from the Rose Brothers Department Store donated by Dee Hawthorne of Garden, Michigan.
The store that opened with such promise in October of 1903 was short-lived. Unbelievably, on Christmas Day of 1906, the new Rose Brothers store was completely destroyed by a fire which originated in the furnace room. Harry Rose would not rebuild again.
The burned out shell of Rose Brothers Department Store on the corner of Oak and Cedar Streets is pictured here on December 25, 1906.
The ruins of the Rose Brothers store was purchased by Patrick McNamara who built the structure which stands today at the corner of Oak and Cedar Streets. Half of the building was occupied by the McNamara Bar and the other half became Winkelman’s Dry Goods store. Moses Winkelman came to Manistique in the 1880’s as a peddler before opening a department store. Winkelman’s first store had been destroyed in the fire of 1893.
Pictured above is a circa 1920 image of Winkelman’s Department Store (far left).
Moses Winkelman moved his stock into the McNamara building in February of 1909, and was in business at that location through the early 1920’s. The Winkelman family left Manistique during the 1920’s and relocated in Detroit. Two of Moses Winkeman’s son’s, Leon and Isadore Winkelman, later established the Winkelman chain of women’s apparel stores.
The People’s Auto and Tractor Supply Company and the Ford Dealership shared the McNamara building during the late 1920’s. The Ford dealership has continued through 2016, but will soon be moving to US 2.