The fire on Friday, September 15th, 1893, was called Manistique’s “Big Fire”. The Fire began on South Walnut Street and spread to both sides of Cedar Street. Since all the buildings except one on Cedar Street were wood, the devastation was extensive. The fire on the West Side of Cedar Street stopped only because Blumrosen’s store was brick. Due to the wind and power of the fire, the volunteer fire department fought if for five hours, trying to stop it from consuming the residential district. Had it not been for an evening rain, the entire town would been ashes. Losses from the fire were around $75,000 (several millions in today’s dollars). As a result of this fire, the city passed an ordinance saying all buildings in the downtown area were to be brick buildings.
Southtown & Jamestown – Timber Boom Towns That Once Was
The earliest reference to South Manistique or “South-town” is from the early 1880’s. The town was developed around the Hall and Buell Lumber Company Mill. The following description of Southtown is from Earnest Williams: “Several houses in the town had four feet high fences around them to prevent the sand beach from blowing into the yards. All the streets were sand and grass was basically nonexistent.”
Hall and Buell lad lumber rights around Southtown and on Indian Lake. They cut the timber and floated it across Indian Lake to a “pull up” between Sunset and Harrison Beaches. From there it was loaded onto their own railroad and brought to the Southtown mill (The railroad crossed old U.S. 2 near the current location of WTIQ and the gas pipeline).
Memorial-Decoration Day History, Schoolcraft County
Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, is a day of remembrance for those who have died in our nation’s service. Memorial Day was officially proclaimed on 5 May 1868 by General John Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, in his General Order No. 11, and was first observed on 30 May 1868, when flowers were placed on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery.
The above picture shows early Memorial Day parades in Manistique. The parades featured not only veterans from foreign wars but also the Civil War. Several bands were part of the parades along with the Woman’s Relief Corps, Red Cross, Catholic Benevolent Association, and Daughters of Veterans. Schoolchildren marched in formation with their teachers along with the 200-member Garden Club.
Historic Bridges of Manistique
The Red Bridge (wooden bridge) was condemned in 1890.
The old ‘Wood Bridge’ called the Red Bridge was condemned in 1890, the ‘Iron Bridge’ was built parallel to the old wood bridge.
Once the new bridge was completed, the old wood bridge (‘Red Bridge’) became firewood.
Once the Siphon Bridge was built in 1919, the steel girders of the above bridge was used for various building projects throughout the county.
The iconic Siphon Bridge was built across the Manistique River in 1919 by the Manistique Pulp and Paper Company, which was owned by the Minneapolis Tribune Publishing Company.