Historical Feature

Empire’s Gnarly Old Man

By Pat Stinson Sun contributor All the farmers drove Mercedes, the occasional BMW, and all that they were farmin’ was a mere hectare or two. What in heaven’s name could be the source of all this wealth? It’s just a funny, gnarled root that some folks nibble for their health. And they call it You […]

Read more
/by

South Manitou Memories

By Grace Dickinson Johnson Sun contributor There’s something about an island that lures the traveler from the mainland and beckons the voyager on a passing vessel. Times on South Manitou Island were spent within a mist of great natural beauty. My sister, Terry Dickinson, and Sandy Holds were best friends during their school years at […]

Read more
/by

You can’t walk home

By Larry Kaplan The following chapter is excerpted from Kaplan’s manuscript, “Life and death on a Great Lake,” which chronicles the stories of local fishermen through the twentieth century: from the Carlson family in Leland’s “Fish Town,” to Native American struggles for fishing rights, to the more recent battles against the invasive sea lamprey. You […]

Read more
/by

Big wheels roll into Empire: New film documents restoration

By Pat Stinson Sun contributor On June 2, the Empire Area Museum’s newest permanent exhibit came to rest on the front lawn after two years of planning and hours of restoration work by Empire museum members and other supporters. “Most of the work was completed in the last month,” says Dave Taghon, the museum’s president. […]

Read more
/by

Historic Cottages book on shelves

From staff reports Rarely seen interior images of 50 cozy summer cottages and narratives provide a portrait of a special place and state of mind evoked by summer cottage living on beautiful Glen Lake. These cottages are viewed against the backdrop of early summer resort life in northern Michigan the first half of the twentieth […]

Read more
/by

A Glen Lake Honeymoon, 1942

By F. Josephine Arrowood Sun contributor A couple planning to wed these days has a huge and bewildering variety of decisions to make, from the color of the bridesmaids’ gowns to the reception location to the wording of their marriage vows. Last but not least in the wedding sequence comes the honeymoon: to the modern […]

Read more
/by

Turning back the clock: A history of the Brammer Mill

By Edna Brammer Sun contributor Mr. Fisher built the millpond in the 1800s. He dammed up the Crystal River north of Glen Arbor. The millpond was made by damming the water up but also letting the remaining water continue on to Glen Arbor and then come back to the bridge. The river ran under the […]

Read more
/by

Traveling Vietnam Memorial Wall Visits Peshawbestown

By Pat Stinson Sun contributor Three members of the Grand Traverse Band who died during the Vietnam War were honored recently when a traveling replica of the Vietnam Memorial Wall made a July 13-15 visit to nearby Peshawbestown. The Grand Traverse Band sponsored the memorial known as the American Veterans Traveling Tribute (AVTT). Local organizations […]

Read more
/by

A Dogcart, a Flag, and the Slippery Jims

By Jacqueline Tompkins-Weede Sun contributor The Old Settlers Picnic My cousin Jack Sundling sent me a faded picture of two little girls in a dog cart — a picture of his mother Edna and her younger sister Nan. I took the faded picture to Blue Photo on Eight Street in Traverse City. “Yes,” the clerk […]

Read more
/by

Protecting the Crystal River’s manmade history

By Jacob Wheeler Sun editor Dr. Chuck Olson is on a mission to protect historic structures in the Crystal River. Ever since he and his wife Connie acquired a seasonal home on the river just off County Road 675 northeast of Glen Arbor 20 years ago, the former professor at the University of Michigan School […]

Read more
/by