Maple Ridge Farm

Maple Ridge Farm. . , The Stimpson family (George, Elvira and six children) came to Mackinaw City in 1869 to construct a dock and sell cord wood to steamers passing through the Straits of Mackinac. Their eldest son, Charles, built the home this replica is patterned after., Charles initially established himself by trading lumber. In 1882 when he was 32-years-old, he married Ella Eastman and a year later bought 156 acres on Stimpson Road, three miles southeast of Mackinaw City. He felled the trees, sold the lumber, cleared the land, and took up farming. The soil was stony and the growing season was short but with hard work and newly developed agricultural techniques "Maple Ridge Farm" became a model operation in Cheboygan County. He and Ella had two children., He sold cedar logs to the railroads. He raised beef and dairy cattle as well as sheep and goats. From these he produced meat, milk and wool. The Angora goats, which produced valuable mohair, helped keep the land clear by grazing on the forest regrowth. Using horses and oxen, he tilled the land and hauled the harvests. He planted hay and oats to feed the animals and fruits and vegetables, which Ella preserved, to provide nourishment for the family. Their farm supported a middle-class lifestyle., [Captions:] , By the 1940s, the Stimpson family no longer wanted the farm. It was sold to the Grebe family. The house burned to the ground in the 1960s and is reconstructed here from the memory of the Grebes., The farm home had four bedrooms, a parlor, and a large kitchen, all for a family of four., Ella with their two children Clarence and Ruth. Clarence went to college, earning a civil engineering degree, before enlisting in world war one where he lost an arm. Upon his return he moved out of the area. Ruth also went to college and returned to marry the local barber. Ruth and Herbert Barrett raised seven children in this house., Many original Stimpson possessions were returned to this house., Bare foot riding bareback, Ruth grew up loving the farm. Notice both kids are wearing hats with tassels to keep the black flies away.