The Prohibition Era (1918-1933)

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Sheriff Jack Hewitt (left) and Deputy Matt Kasun (rt.) with confiscated still. Photo courtesy the Lundstrom Collection.

     The die was cast on November 8, 1916. Michigan voters went to the polls and overwhelmingly approved an amendment to the Michigan State Constitution prohibiting the manufacture, sale and transportation of alcoholic beverages. In an era prior to women’s suffrage, the statewide tally was 353,378 dry to 284,752 wet.  The state prohibition amendment became the law in Michigan eighteen months later on May 1, 1918.

     The immediate impact of state prohibition was to put local saloons, along with hotel bars and restaurants out of the liquor business. Those businesses that didn’t close their doors were converted to soft drink parlors, billiard rooms or lunch counters. These new establishments became popular places for social gatherings, but also fell under increasing scrutiny by law enforcement officials. The ratification the 18th amendment to the U.S. Constitution in January of 1919 ushered in national prohibition one year later on January 17, 1920.   Read More...

The Rose Brothers Stores (1892-1906)

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The Rose Brothers first store built on the corner of Oak and Cedar Streets (1900-1903).

     Manistique merchant Harry Rose was born in Russia in February of 1865, where the Tsar’s treachery and authority knew no limits.  Impressed by his older brother’s glowing letters about unlimited opportunity in America and freedom from religious persecution, he immigrated to the United States. Rose settled first in Marquette, Michigan in 1884, joining his older brothers, Leo and Jacob.  He spent his first eight years in America working as a clerk in his brother Jacob’s store. During these years he became fluent in English as a second language, to go along with his native Yiddish. Read More...

Camping on Indian Lake in the Gay 90’s

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A turn of the century era group camping on Indian Lake.

     Camping at Indian Lake was all the rage for Manistique residents during the 1890’s and early 1900’s. An orderly row of tents lined both sides of a broad street near the present Bishop Baraga Shrine and cemetery.  Clear and pleasant tasting drinking water was readily available from a nearby spring. Fresh milk and eggs for breakfast could be purchased at the Miller farm, which then occupied the future site of the Arrowhead Inn (now just a faded memory). In the evening, the campers gathered around the large bonfire which illuminated the grounds; while musicians with violins and harmonicas accompanied a chorus of campers singing the popular “Gay Nineties” ballads of the day. The children spent their days playing, swimming and eating homemade ice cream and their evenings roasting marshmallows and popping popcorn. Read More...

The Colorful History of Manistique’s Gero Theatre

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The interior of the Gero Theatre when it was still an opera house. SCHS Photo

   During the early twentieth century, professional theatre companies toured the country via the railroad, and would stop in Manistique for a week’s engagement at the Gero Theatre. One railroad car housed the cast and crew, while two additional cars carried the actor’s costumes along with the company’s baggage and equipment.  Livery workers and draymen had to haul as many as 60 trunks from the Soo Line depot to the theatre building.

     A great lover of the theatre, Benjamin Gero purchased the Manistique Opera House, located on South Maple Street, in 1904 and redesigned the building to enhance live theatrical performances.  He slanted the floor of the opera house toward the stage and installed permanent seating. A 70-foot tower behind the stage allowed scenery backdrops to be raised and lowered with a system of ropes and pulleys.  An elevator made it easier for trunks and other theatre equipment to be transported to the second and third floors. In addition, the name of the opera house was changed to the “Gero Theatre.” Read More...