Manistique’s Great Fire of September, 1893

Pictured above is a circa 1890 photo of the corner of Cedar and Walnut Street in Manistique. The great fire of 1893 began in the rear of Paul Rediker’s Saloon on Walnut Street and quickly spread to adjacent buildings.

Pictured above is a circa 1890 photo of the corner of Cedar and Walnut Street in Manistique. The great fire of 1893 began in the rear of Paul Rediker’s Saloon on Walnut Street and quickly spread to adjacent buildings.

          The great fire began at 11:15 in the evening on September 15, 1893. The undisputed cause of the fire was arson. Blue vaporous flames were seen leaping from the ground to the roof in the rear of the Alexander Richards building on Walnut Street. Splashing liberal amounts of either gasoline or coal oil against the side of the structure, the arsonist applied a match and disappeared into the shadows. The culprit was never brought to justice and his motive forever unknown.

          Citizens spotted the flames almost immediately and turned in an alarm—but when the fire department arrived they confronted a raging inferno. All of the businesses and residences on Walnut Street were constructed with wood and were extremely dry.  Gale force winds out of the northwest spread fiery embers to nearby buildings on Walnut Street and to businesses on Cedar Street. The Richards building, which was occupied by the Paul Rediker Saloon, was soon transformed into a pile of ashes. Occupants on the second floor of the building barely escaped alive.  Other businesses on Walnut Street including saloons owned by Antowine Vassau and Fenton Gorman, along with the John Hackenbrach and Robert Knudson barbershops, the Bebeau Brothers livery and the John Kirstine tailor shop soon succumbed to the flames. 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...

The Corner of Oak and Cedar

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.

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.” Read More...

Edwin Cookson – Pioneer Lumberman

1880s image of Edwin Cookson. Photo courtesy of Anthony Perkins

1880’s image of Edwin Cookson. Photo courtesy of Anthony Perkins

            Edwin Cookson was born in Greenfield, Maine, in May of 1854. He was the second oldest child in a family of six boys and 2 girls. His parents, Joseph and Maria Cookson owned a farm in Greenfield, but all of their sons worked as loggers and river drivers in Maine.

            During the early 1870’s Edwin Cookson migrated west to Oshkosh, Wisconsin. There in 1878 he responded to a “Help Wanted” ad posted in the Oshkosh papers. Ebenezer James was seeking laborers to work at the James Brothers sawmill east of Manistique. Read More...