Charlevoix Historical Society

06/15/2026

𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗺𝘁𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗕𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗶𝘃𝗮𝗹
𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗧𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝗜𝗿𝗼𝗻-𝗪𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝗪𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻 𝗥𝗲𝗰𝗹𝗮𝗶𝗺𝗲𝗱 𝗜𝗿𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗼𝗻 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗥𝘂𝗶𝗻

— The greatest comeback of this struggling Lake Charlevoix community wasn't sparked by industry or its famed ferry. It came from a family of Chicago women whose story reshaped a town — then slipped quietly from memory. —

𝗔 𝗙𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝗻 𝗟𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗼𝗶𝘅

Long before industry arrived in Ironton — just seven miles south of Charlevoix — it was little more than forest, and a cluster of pioneer farms along and inland from the South Arm of Lake Charlevoix.

That changed in 1879, when young Chicago entrepreneur Robert M. Cherrie arrived with a plan to build a monumental pig iron furnace and lumbering operation on this isolated shoreline — then an unnamed corridor in the wilds of Charlevoix County’s Eveline Township.

Construction of the Pine Lake Iron Company began in the summer of 1880, and by early winter of 1881 the first blast of the new furnace roared to life.

The stack towered nearly forty feet above the shoreline, a four story industrial monolith fed from a wooden ramp leading to its top. In time, more than forty charcoal producing kilns rose around it to fuel the smelter.

Masted schooners crowded the cove-side wharf, bringing ore from the Upper Peninsula’s Menominee Range near Escanaba, ninety five miles away.

Ironton stood on the brink of an industrial transformation that would soon redefine the region.

𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗧𝗼𝘄𝗻, 𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆, 𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗙𝗲𝗿𝗿𝘆

From a visionary plan on paper, a new village came to life around the furnace in little over a year.

Newcomers arrived from near and far to the growing settlement. With the establishment of a federal post office in January 1881, the settlement received its official name: 𝗜𝗿𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗼𝗻.

New community and industry demanded reliable ferry service across the South Arm, which was brought under county oversight in October 1883.

By 1886, the community had taken full form. Land was cleared, new homes were built, and workers, tradesmen, merchants, a blacksmith, a sawmill, an apothecary, a school, two churches, and two hotels filled what had once been forest and fields.

For a brief period, Ironton’s population was poised to overtake Charlevoix’s — and the furnace complex stood as the largest single private investment in water bound industry in the county.

The Pine Lake Iron Company’s general store became the largest and best stocked in the Lake Charlevoix region.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 “𝗚𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝗣𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗰”

But the great industrial experiment failed almost as suddenly as it had begun.

The nationwide financial collapse, the Panic of 1893, struck the Michigan iron industry hard, and Ironton’s furnace went cold along with others across the country.

The town’s brief surge came to a halt, and what had been the county’s most ambitious industrial venture was no more.

By late 1894, creditor foreclosures placed the company’s assets into receivership, most eventually sold at public auction on the steps of the Boyne City courthouse.

Ironton did not empty overnight, but its purpose had vanished. Businesses struggled, families moved away, and the furnace buildings fell into decay and collapse.

𝗣𝘂𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗔𝗱𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸

The consequences of the company’s failure fell heavily on Robert Cherrie’s sisters — Sarah Cherrie Adams, a widow entering her sixties, and unmarried Eliza, a few years older.

Both were genteel, “patrician” ladies who for years had made their regular home in Chicago and had invested their fortunes in the Pine Lake Iron Company.

When the company collapsed, the lives they knew unraveled. Their money disappeared and the land surrounding the shared family home in Ironton was swept into foreclosure.

For the first time in their lives, the sisters faced the need to work to support themselves and shoulder responsibilities they had never expected.

Their first response was survival. They opened their lakeside home to summer guests, taking in boarders to earn enough to live.

But Ironton was hardly suited for vacationers. The nearby furnace grounds were a jagged “quarry” of iron spillings and sharp slag glass. Views were marred by abandoned wharves, crumbling kilns, collapsing worksheds, and the towering furnace stack.

Where others saw abandonment and industrial ruin, the sisters envisioned something small but new — a quiet guesthouse retreat at the mouth of the South Arm.

𝗔 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗽 𝗼𝗳 𝗙𝗮𝗶𝘁𝗵

Somehow, their idea worked — opening the way to a larger vision: an idyllic summer resort community.

In 1899, after several difficult seasons, they scraped together the funds to buy the foreclosed property back from the bank. What had once been the industrial heart of Ironton was now in their hands — not as passive investors, but as business leaders determined to build a secure future for themselves.

Cleanup began immediately. Contractors from Boyne City dismantled the kilns. Wagonloads of slag and iron spillings were hauled away. The old worker dwellings — rough, utilitarian structures — were repaired and adapted as guest cottages.

From these beginnings emerged the storied Sweet Brier Farm resort.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗦𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀

By 1901, the transformation was unmistakable, and the success of Sweet Brier Farm began to outrun the sisters’ ability to manage it alone.

Sarah’s stepdaughter, Eva Adams — an aspiring artist and still living in Chicago — arrived to help during the summers.

Through their determined work, Sweet Brier Farm grew into a nearly eighty acre summer colony along the South Arm. A long wooden boardwalk traced the shoreline and connected the resort’s many cottages. Groomed pastures rolled gently toward the water. At the center stood the former Pine Lake Iron Company general store — now the community hall, dining room, and social heart of the resort.

Guests returned year after year, some eventually purchasing the places they had once rented.

As Eliza and Sarah grew infirm, Eva gradually assumed full direction of Sweet Brier Farm and moved to Ironton full time. Through these years, Eva set aside a promising artistic career and a once exciting city life to care for her aging stepmother and aunt while leading the business with renewed energy and creativity.

Eliza died in 1914, and Sarah — long an invalid — in 1921.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗚𝗼𝗹𝗱𝗲𝗻 𝗬𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗦𝘄𝗲𝗲𝘁 𝗕𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗿 𝗙𝗮𝗿𝗺

By the early 1920s, under Eva Adams’ enthusiastic guidance, Sweet Brier Farm entered its most vibrant era.

She managed the grounds, welcomed guests, transformed the communal hall into a public Tea Room, and created an increasing number of jobs for local residents throughout the year.

She is remembered as a woman of exceptional personality, culture, and skill — able to manage a business, charm guests with unmatched conversation and hospitality, and still find time to paint.

Through all its changes, Sweet Brier Farm remained as decidedly rustic as Ironton itself. There was no indoor plumbing, no electricity, no telephones. Instead, guests found bucolic lakeside summers: hand pumped wells, artesian springs, kerosene lamps, home cooked meals, fresh farm products, fishing expeditions, and hayrides. Many workers came from the ranks of local farmers, and their families.

Simple cottages bore playful names like “Bonnie Brier Bush” and “Uneeda Rest.”

What it lacked in “city conveniences,” it more than made up for in the atmosphere guests came to cherish.

As one longtime summer resident later wrote, Eva developed a summer colony at Ironton that would never again be matched.

𝗔 𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗟𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗘𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝗮𝗻 𝗘𝗿𝗮

By 1925, after more than a decade of devoted care for others, Eva Adams chose to claim a life entirely her own.

She sold Sweet Brier Farm and moved into Charlevoix in 1926.

Then, in 1929, at the age of seventy-four, she found lasting love and marriage with the Reverend Frederick Sass, a longtime minister in Charlevoix, where the couple made their final home.

Eva died there on January 6, 1943, at the age of eighty eight.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗥𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘀

In the 1950s, the grounds of Sweet Brier Farm — once the Pine Lake Iron Company property — were subdivided into residential lots.

Today, the memory of the resort lingers in the quiet neighborhood that occupies its former acreage, its name preserved in the subdivision and in the boardwalk-aligned streets that still reflect the layout of the pioneer era town of Ironton.

In 2023, an archive of Eva Adams’ cherished Sweet Brier Farm photographs surfaced in the attic of her former home on Michigan Avenue — images forgotten and unrecognized for eighty years.

Their discovery returns a lost era to living memory.

Today, the legacy of Eva Adams and the Cherrie sisters still echoes quietly beneath the streets of Ironton — a story of determination, resourcefulness, and revival that helped guide the community from its scarred industrial past into the modern era.

𝗦𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗛𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆

If you have photographs, documents, or family stories connected to early Ironton, please share them below. Even one unknown image — like the rediscovered archive from Eva’s attic — can reshape what we know.

Stay tuned for more Ironton history — other forgotten and inspiring stories to come.

06/07/2026

𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗼𝗶𝘅–𝗠𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲‑𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗹𝗼: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗲𝗮𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗲, 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗜𝘀𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗖𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗼 𝗚𝗲𝘁𝗮𝘄𝗮𝘆, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗪𝗼𝗺𝗮𝗻 𝗪𝗵𝗼 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝘁 𝗮𝗻 𝗜𝗰𝗼𝗻

From the sad tale of Chickawago, where dreams yielded to the unforeseen forces of nature, the story of one Charlevoix entrepreneur follows a very different trajectory — toward a vision bold enough to brush against the future.

Meet Martha Elston Baker — described by the local press as a “managerial genius” and a “financial daredevil.”

While most people in Charlevoix of the early 1900s were simply trying to get by, Martha was busy building a hospitality empire that would put Charlevoix on the map.

She didn’t just inherit her father’s hotel instincts — she amplified them. Martha took a modest 15 room hotel building, constructed by her husband John Baker in 1899, and through sheer audacity, transformed it into a world class destination.

By 1915, she had constructed the tallest building ever erected in Charlevoix — a seven story “house of wonderment” complete with the city’s first bronze elevator and a direct ticker tape connection to the Chicago Stock Exchange. At its peak, her sprawling complex could house an astonishing 1,000 guests per night.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗜𝘀𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗖𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗼

Martha’s boldest move came in 1921, during the height of the Jazz Age. While local businessmen blinked at her confidence, Martha was already looking toward the horizon — literally.

Just a few miles down the Lake Michigan shoreline sat Fisherman’s Island. Martha bought the entire island for $500 and envisioned an exclusive clubhouse and casino tucked away on its wild, windswept shores.

How would her elite guests get there? Not by boat.

After witnessing the arrival of the Santa Maria — a massive 14 seat seaplane touring the region — Martha was captivated. She immediately placed an order for her own seaplane to shuttle guests from the Beach Hotel straight to her private island casino.

For Charlevoix in 1921, the idea of guests boarding a seaplane from downtown and flying to a private island casino only six miles away, and only a rowboat ride from the shore, was almost unimaginable. It pointed toward a future only Martha Baker could imagine.

𝗔 𝗟𝗲𝗴𝗮𝗰𝘆 𝗖𝘂𝘁 𝗦𝗵𝗼𝗿𝘁

The world never got to see Martha’s casino in full swing. She died unexpectedly in Florida the next year, in 1922, at just 56. Without her razor sharp leadership, her empire faltered. Instead of leaving the business in the hands of her seasoned business secretary, she left everything to her daughter, Doris — a “flighty party girl” — and Doris’s husband, Arthur von Dolcke, a high rolling gambler with a reputation to match.

Under their mismanagement, the Beach Hotel entered a long decline, ending in demolition and an ensuing fire in 1967, and now part of history. A lost relic of Charlevoix’s golden age past. Today, the LaCroft condominium complex, built in 1972, stands on the old Beach Hotel site overlooking lake Michigan.

Martha’s story stays with us because her ambition didn’t just reach — it delivered. Her hotel became one of Northern Michigan’s true successes, and her legend only grew from there.

Would you have taken a seaplane to a secret island casino in the 1920s? Tell us below.

06/03/2026

𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐠𝐨 𝐋𝐨𝐝𝐠𝐞 & 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐍𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐖𝐚𝐬

As you once left Charlevoix and headed south toward Ellsworth, a great log structure stood on the hilltop above the tiny Twin Lakes in Marion Township. It remained for forty-three years — derelict more often than cared for, marked as much by ill‑fate as by neglect and decay. This was Chickawago Lodge.

Chickawago Lodge, known briefly in later years as the Hilltop Inn, was planned and built in 1928–29 by the prestigious down-state real estate firm of Seeley‑Linton, led by Thaddeus DeWitt Seeley, former mayor of Pontiac, and his partner Lloyd S. Linton. It was intended as the centerpiece of a speculative resort community the developers would promote as the ‘Chickawago Club.’

They imagined Chicawago as a rural counterpart to Charlevoix’s Belvedere Club and Chicago Club — matching their exclusivity, yet conceived as a year‑round resort set deep in the countryside with views reaching across Little Traverse Bay. They found their site on eighty acres of rolling farmland, cedar lowlands, and hills first deeded to Warren Thompson in 1871. The land had passed through several hands before Seeley and Linton acquired it, but its mix of open fields, cedar swales, and high ground near water, made it an ideal playground for recreation in every season.

At its heart rose an extraordinary log‑and‑fieldstone lodging house built on the foundations of the old Thompson farmhouse. With twenty bedrooms and a massive stone fireplace in the great hall, its most striking feature was a three-story lookout tower framing distant vistas in all directions.

Chickawago suffered its first blow soon after Its promotional booklets left the presses in 1928, as the Depression fell over a stunned nation. By 1931, the property had been deeded back to the Charlevoix State Savings Bank, a total failure.

It was in these late years of Prohibition that the lookout tower crept into local lore. A creaky staircase led to a louvered landing where a telescope was said to be kept at the ready. Stories say bootleggers made it their watchpost, scanning the roads for approaching threats to stillery operations hidden in the lowlands, who knows where.

In the mid‑1930s, Charlevoix’s Edith Blair — who later operated a tea garden at 205 Clinton Street and owned several Bridge Street businesses — purchased the property and tried to revive it as a restaurant and inn. But times were not much better. She soon parted ways with the venture, and the lodge sat empty for nearly a decade.

In 1944, Chicawago Lodge passed to F. A. Reinhart, and in 1946 to Bernard Linden, but neither managed to make much of it. Architect and realtor Earl Young later said the original developers were simply “too much ahead of their time.” Linden may have been similarly out of step. He tried unsuccessfully to secure a liquor license after the war, which might have turned things around. Young had thought it a good idea as well, but Marion Township wasn’t ready for it.

Around 1957, Tom Newton, a former Detroit‑area insurance man, bought the property to fulfill what was later described as a years-long dream of creating an all‑season vacation resort. Over the following decade, the building served mainly as a seasonal retreat for the family, as restoration work moved from planning into slow progress. Around 1968, while the family was away, it became the target of a distressing incident of vandalism that left the Newton family shaken.

After years of visiting the site, the Newtons moved into the building in the summer of 1970, occupying the downstairs while working to refurbish the interior. They revived the structure by clearing years of overgrowth, refacing the walls and ceilings and bringing in new furniture. By January 1971, Newton was preparing to open the landmark as a snowmobile resort. With thirteen freshly carpeted sleeping rooms and a rustic dining room ready for guests, the lodge seemed finally on the edge of the future its builders had imagined.

But once again, the revival was cut short.

On May 18, 1971, a violent storm swept across the western part of the county. Lightning struck the building and ignited it. Almost simultaneously, a sudden wind event — described by witnesses as a miniature tornado — tore through the grounds and flattened several nearby structures. Fire crews from Charlevoix, Petoskey, and Ellsworth tried to save the lodge, but the flames spread uncontrollably. The structure that had stood for more than four decades was gone in an afternoon. A few belongings were rescued during the fire, while the family emerged unharmed.

For most of its years, Chickawago Lodge stood a soulless sentinel on its hilltop — a visionary idea that never managed to achieve its moment. From promising beginnings, through decades of misfortune and renewal, to its final, crushing day, its story now belongs among the many Charlevoix‑area ambitions that were reshaped by forces larger than their dreamers.

05/27/2026

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐇𝐒 𝐂𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝟏𝟗𝟕𝟎 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐢𝐝𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐨𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐮𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 — 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐡𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐝 .

By this time of year, seniors everywhere feel the clock speeding up.

Fifty‑six years ago in late April, the Charlevoix High School Class of 1970 was already out the door on their whirlwind Senior Trip to Lansing — a story vividly captured in pages of the Courier newspaper.

Two days, a lot of miles, and a full itinerary: the Capitol steps with Senator Schweigert and Representative Davis, an overnight in Battle Creek, and factory floors at Kellogg’s and Oldsmobile — the kind of stops that made Michigan feel big when you were 18 and seeing it with the friends and classmates who filled your world.

A classic rite of passage captured in one indelible frame — on a day when bigger things were starting to enter the picture.

Remember this or another CHS Senior Trip? We’d love to hear it.

The photo: CHS Class of 1970, April 1970, with co-hosts Senator and acting Lt. Gov Thomas F. Schweigert ( R-Petoskey) and Rep. Robert Davis (R-St. Ignace) on the Michigan Capitol steps. The group was lead by class sponsor Max Novak and his wife; Harold DeYoung; Ted Heeres; and Mr. & Mrs. Dale Boss. Charlevoix Historical Society/Courier Archive.

05/25/2026

𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗼𝗶𝘅'𝘀 𝗛𝗶𝗴𝗵 𝗦𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗹 – 𝟭𝟯𝟴 𝗚𝗿𝗮𝗱𝘂𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗖𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀
𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝗠𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗛𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗬𝗼𝘂'𝗱 𝗚𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘀.

If you’ve driven down Bridge Street these last few weeks, you’ve seen the banners celebrating the Class of 2026. They are the 139th graduating class since Charlevoix’s first in 1888. As these seniors look ahead, we’re looking back at the names and landmarks that shaped the generations of Rayders past.

𝗘𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗚𝗮𝗿𝗳𝗶𝗲𝗹𝗱: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 “𝗡𝗲𝘄” 𝗛𝗶𝗴𝗵 𝗦𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗹 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵 𝗦𝗶𝗱𝗲

While Charlevoix’s school history stretches back to the 19th century, the era many older folks remember began with the building seen in a classic Ektachrome aerial view, taken by Bob Miles in 1965. It captures the "new" Junior-Senior High School along East Garfield Street and May Street in its early prime. When this campus opened its doors in September 1961, it represented more than a million-dollar investment in the future of our community. It was a symbol of a growing, modern Charlevoix.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗗𝗼𝘄𝗻𝘁𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗘𝗿𝗮: 𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝘁 𝗕𝗲𝗴𝗮𝗻

Before the move south to E. Garfield Street and May Street, the heart of Charlevoix education was firmly downtown. For nearly sixty years, high schoolers hit the books and kept things lively at the McKinley Building, along W. Mason Street, near Grant Street. A landmark red-brick structure built in 1902, it stood immediately next to the Union School, which was home to the elementary grades.

By the late 1950s, the community had outgrown the McKinley site. The need for modern labs and expanded sports facilities for a growing student body became a necessity. Classes were held at the McKinley Building through the spring of 1961, with the new Garfield Street campus opening later that fall. The 1902 landmark was demolished soon after, marking the end of a nearly sixty-year chapter.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗟𝗲𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 "𝗥𝗮𝘆𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀"

While the buildings changed, the spirit of Charlevoix’s high schools were forged by the people inside them - students and educators alike. From 1928 to 1950, athletic coach Ray Kipke was a defining presence. His steady leadership and expectations for hard work and fair play shaped generations of students, and Charlevoix High School and its teams eventually took on the “Rayders” name in recognition of his influence. The dedication of Kipke Field in 1950 made the coach’s legacy a permanent part of the Charlevoix’s landscape, reminding us that a school's history is written as much by its people as its buildings.

𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝗡𝗼𝘄

Though Charlevoix's high school eventually moved to the Marion Center campus in 2002, the legacy of earlier buildings — from McKinley to the 1961 campus — remains central to the story of the Charlevoix Public Schools. Each generation of Rayders has added its own chapter, building on more than a century of shared halls, inspiring educators, and school spirit.

05/22/2026

Thank you to Michigan Activity Pass - MAP and MLive.com for the great spotlight on our Train Depot. We’re excited that a new exhibit is now in development for installation in 2026, funded by our recent America250MI grant. The exhibit will explore the Depot’s rise and how the arrival of the railroad opened the floodgates to a new era of tourism, replacing the earlier travel boom once driven by Great Lakes steamers. It will also incorporate the voices of Indigenous peoples of the area and their role in the railroad as well as its impact on them.

You can read more in our latest newsletter — and follow us on Facebook for ongoing updates.

https://chxhistory.com/newsletter/
Summer 2026

https://www.mlive.com/life/2026/05/this-treasured-train-depot-helped-transform-an-up-north-settlement-into-a-premier-resort-town.html

A new exhibit funded by an America250MI grant will tell the story.

05/21/2026

𝗔 𝗠𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗗𝗮𝘆 𝗪𝗲𝗲𝗸𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝗦𝗰𝗼𝗼𝗽 𝗼𝗳 𝗟𝗼𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗛𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆

As Memorial Day weekend arrives and summer finally settles in over Charlevoix, it feels like the perfect time to celebrate one of our town’s most enduring traditions — ice cream.

Sure, today we each have our own local favorites. But this weekend, we’re taking a big step back in time to honor Charlevoix’s original ice‑cream culture — the one that started it all, and made downtown the place to be on warm summer nights.

Before modern shops came onto the scene, Charlevoix summers were powered by cones, sodas, and sundaes served up at old fashioned soda fountains. By the 1920s, Bridge Street was so packed on summer evenings that people spilled off the sidewalks and into the street — all waiting for something cold and delicious. Sound familiar?

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗲𝗹 𝗗𝗿𝘂𝗴𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗲 — 𝗢𝘂𝗿 𝗙𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗦𝗰𝗼𝗼𝗽 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗽
Built in 1897 at the corner of Clinton and Bridge Streets, the Chapel Drugstore was one of Charlevoix’s earliest soda fountains. For more than 60 years, it was a beloved gathering place where locals and visitors cooled off, caught up, and enjoyed the simple pleasure of a summer treat. It remained in operation until 1958. Today, the site is home to Rexall Drugs — but the memories of those early scoops still linger.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘂𝗴𝗮𝗿 𝗕𝗼𝘄𝗹 — 𝗔 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗼𝗶𝘅 𝗖𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗰
One of the brightest stars of that same era was George and John Glados’s shop, known as The Sugar Bowl, established in 1907 in the Buttars building (later Round Lake Books). Inside stood a breathtaking 14 foot Art Nouveau soda fountain — marble, mahogany, brass, colored glass — installed in 1910. George’s warm humor and thick accent made him a local legend, and for over 50 years, families lined up for his confections and his charm.

𝗕𝗲𝗿𝘁 & 𝗔𝗺𝘆 𝗕𝗲𝗮𝘂𝗱𝗼𝗶𝗻’𝘀 𝗖𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘆 𝗞𝗶𝘁𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗻
Just down the street, Bert and Amy Beaudoin ran a candy kitchen and soda fountain so popular that people jammed the sidewalks waiting to get in. Their iconic popcorn machine out front became a local landmark — and Bert himself became one of the most recognized and respected faces in town. The shop thrived from the early 1900s until fire destroyed the building in 1925 —ending one of Charlevoix’s most beloved businesses of the era.

𝗔 𝗠𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗗𝗮𝘆 𝗥𝗲𝗳𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻

Saying goodbye to this last winter was the easiest thing we did all year. Getting back to daily frozen desserts (dairy or not) might be the first genuinely fun thing we’ve had to look forward to since the thaw.

Happy Memorial Day Weekend, Charlevoix. Here’s to summer, community, and some icy cold nostalgia.

Like this topic? Explore more in our Looking Back series:https://chxhistory.com/wp-content/uploads/21-Ice-Cream-parlors.pdf

05/16/2026

Our Summer 2026 Newsletter is here!

This issue looks ahead to a season filled with maritime‑themed programs and celebrations surrounding the launch of The City on Three Lakes.

Not yet part of our community? Read the full issue on our website and sign up to receive the newsletter right from our newsletter page. https://chxhistory.com/newsletter/

Highlights in This Issue:

Maritime events calendar — dates and details for this summer’s public programs and member‑exclusive events celebrating The City on Three Lakes

A publisher’s perspective — Mission Point Press President Jen Wahl on the collaboration behind our new book

America250MI grant awarded — funding secured for a new railroad exhibit at the Train Depot

New to the Collection — including a major acquisition of Bob Miles’s historic photography



Cover photo by John Doskoch

05/15/2026

Inside Look
The City on Three Lakes Goes to PressI

It’s been a whirlwind of activity these last few weeks, and we’re excited to finally share a first look from our recent press check in Boston — a major milestone for The City on Three Lakes. We’re now one step closer to bringing this landmark volume to life.
After years of work, seeing the first pages of our new book come to life on press was unforgettable.

A huge thank‑you to the Mission Point Press team for sharing the day with us and pulling this fantastic reel together.
More updates soon. Follow along and visit cityon3lakes.com to stay connected.

Pages from our Great Lakes cartography chapter — created in collaboration with the University of Michigan’s William L. Clements Library —are now palletized, wrapped, and headed to binding.

05/15/2026

An exclusive behind-the-scenes look!

We had an incredible time in Boston for the press check of The City on Three Lakes: A Maritime History of Charlevoix & the Surrounding Region, created in partnership with the Charlevoix Historical Society!

Seeing this stunning, luxe edition come to life on press was an unforgettable experience. This landmark 650+ page volume features more than 875 museum-quality images and represents one of the most ambitious regional history projects the Society has ever undertaken.

Together with the Charlevoix Historical Society, we are proud to help bring this extraordinary visual and historical record of Charlevoix’s maritime legacy to readers everywhere July 2026.