Manistique – The Ossawinamakee Hotel in Manistique, regarded at the plushest in the area following its construction in 1883 has been sold by Carl Graves to Curran Chevrolet Sales here.
The hotel purchase was concluded Friday night by Graves and the three members of the Curran Partnership, Ellsworth, Leon and Donald Curran. Plans for use of the building are indefinite. Graves had owned the 42 -room wood structure the past nine years. It houses a bar, restaurant and a Western Union office in addition to the hotel facilities.
The familiar landmark at the east entrance to the business district is located on U.S. 2 and adjoining other property owned by the garage firm. The four-floor hotel was built by the Chicago Lumbering Company, and in its early years was operated by a combination hotel and summer home for company stockholders.
In its early years a wooden boardwalk with hand rails extended from the front entrance directly to the Manistique harbor which was a port of call for a number of passenger boats. There were no railroads here at the time of its construction.
An old register dating from from 1894, which has been presented to the Schoolcraft County Historical Society, shows that the hotel accommodated guest from principle cities in northern states extending from Boston and New York City all the way to Salt Lake City. Among names on the register are those of of Abijah Weston of Painted Post of New York, a man prominent in the founding of Manistique.
