Tag Archives: Star Opera House

The Alva Kepler Log Cabin

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The Alva Kepler Log Cabin, Photo courtesy Lee Ekblad

     The Alva Kepler log cabin in Manistique’s Pioneer Park dates back to the 1880’s and was once part of the Byers’ settlement in Hiawatha Township, 12 miles north of Manistique. The cabin became a source of controversy in the mid-1890’s, when Abe Byers and Walter Thomas Mills formed a cooperative community known as the “Hiawatha Village Association.” People who joined the colony promised to move into association housing as soon as it became ready. When Civil War veterans John and Alva Kepler refused to do so, the firestorm it ignited lead to the demise of the Utopian experiment in Schoolcraft County. Read More...

Manistique’s Indoor Baseball Team

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The 1902 Manistique Indoor Baseball Club. Top row from left: Harley Garland, Victor Deemer, John Forshaw. Middle row from left: Dean Crowe, J.C. Wood, Ben Gero, Sr. and Ed Jewell. Bottom row from left: F. Paulson, William S. Crowe, John “Jack” Williams and F. Guinan. Photo courtesy Wm. S. Crowe Collection.

           During the early 1900’s, the month of November marked the beginning of the indoor baseball season. Fans flocked to the Star Opera House to watch an indoor version of the national pastime.  Season tickets cost a dollar and a quarter. Indoor baseball was invented in the 1880’s and was the forerunner of modern fast-pitch softball. In Manistique, the fraternal societies organized a “city league” which included the Masons, Legionites, Maccabees, Woodmen of the World and the Ancient Order of United Workmen. Read More...

Artifacts from the Ossawinamakee Hotel

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Business Card from the Ossawinamakee – George Orr Collection donated by Chris Orr

Business Card from the Ossawinamakee – George Orr Collection donated by Chris Orr

            During the late 1880s and 90s, Constant Moody Ruggles was the proprietor at the Ossawinamakee Hotel. Ruggles was a Civil War veteran from Oshkosh, Wisconsin, who first came to Manistique in 1875 with Ebenezer James. Ruggles was a partner in the James Bros. Sawmill which flourished briefly at the village of Jamestown on the Manistique River. He had diverse business interests including a butcher shop, stage coach line, livery stable and a strawberry farm. According to the above business card, Ruggles was also a guide for tourist fishermen seeking a good trout stream. Read More...

Memorial-Decoration Day History, Schoolcraft County

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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. Read More...