The city of Manistee turns 150

The city of Manistee turns 150

During the first week in March of 1869, Manistee was granted a charter by the State Legislature officially making Manistee a city.  After the first charter election was held on March 15 of that year, a mayor was elected as were alderman for the city’s (then) four...
Hollywood Actor Dedicates Manistee Historic Sites Tours

Hollywood Actor Dedicates Manistee Historic Sites Tours

By: Andrew Allen HOLLYWOOD ACTOR TONI TRUCKS DEDICATES HISTORIC SITES TOURS Hollywood Actor and Manistee native Toni Trucks (known for her parts in Seal Team and Twilight Breaking Dawn)  came home for a very special event at the Ramsdell Theatre. Media and the local...
The Udell History in Manistee County

The Udell History in Manistee County

THE ROLLWAY HISTORY Often times before we set out on a trip, we may wonder if the journey (like the old adage says) will be worth the destination. Upon turning onto Horseshoe Bend Road the thought of turning around and the phrase, “There’s not really much down here,”...
Mortimer E. Cooley Bridge

Mortimer E. Cooley Bridge

I can’t count how many times I’ve traveled across M-55 to get to Manistee County from the east side of the state.  What I recently learned is that right before the village of Wellston, you will cross one of Michigan’s rarest truss bridges. The Cooley Bridge is...
History of Main Streets

History of Main Streets

As a general rule of thumb, the phrase “Main Street” is normally given to a road in a city, town, or village that runs through a specified area where the foremost business was being done in that community. The main streets of Manistee County are in essence no...
The Sand Industry in Manistee

The Sand Industry in Manistee

While salt was more or less discovered in Manistee, sand, on the other hand, was an abundant problem that residents of the city have had to, more or less, endure. In the past, the area’s sand dunes gave the city a unique reputation for being pretty to look at...
The Salt Industry in Manistee

The Salt Industry in Manistee

When examining a grain of salt or a grain of sand, it is difficult using the naked eye to gauge which one is actually bigger than the other. In terms of Manistee’s industrial past, both mineral and sediment have played reasonably equal roles throughout the...
City Bridges: Maple Street Bridge

City Bridges: Maple Street Bridge

Prior to the late 1860s, there was no easy access across the Manistee river channel. This meant that the town was actually made up of two areas and two communities, those that resided North of the city limits and those that resided South of the city. The only way to...
City Bridges: Memorial Bridge

City Bridges: Memorial Bridge

One can imagine that after enduring the Great Fire of 1871, people of Manistee would be extra concerned about fires. Since there was only one bridge to cross the river a theory arose that if the bridge were open for boating traffic or by some chance damaged then there...
Manistee’s Big Four Railroads

Manistee’s Big Four Railroads

To take a glance into the past is to delve into the world of yesterday where how people lived, worked, dressed, and traveled can all at once be foreign and similar to the way in which we live today. With Manistee’s place in history as a towering lumber industry, the...
Hodenpyl & Tippy Dams

Hodenpyl & Tippy Dams

Completed in 1918, Tippy Dam (known as Junction Hydro when it was built) was named after Charles W. Tippy, a board of directors chair for Consumers Power.  Tippy is Consumer Energy’s second largest hydro dam producing up to 20,000 kilowatts and providing electricity...