This Memorial is Dedicated
to the Men and Women
Who Served Their Country,
State, and Community
With Courage, Dedication,
and Sacrifice
in War and in Peace.
They Will Not Be Forgotten. — — Map (db m190677) WM
In 1891-92 the Chicago and West Michigan Railway, precursor to the
Pere Marquette Railroad, extended the line between Traverse City and
Petoskey through Spencer Creek. William Alden Smith, the railway's
general counsel, advocated building the . . . — — Map (db m190676) HM
On East Cayuga Street (Michigan Route 88) east of North Bridge Street (Route 88), on the left when traveling east.
The first pioneers of Antrim County
settled along Grand Traverse Bay
near Elk Rapids in the 1850s. Later
settlers moved inland, and urged
that the county seat be transferred
from the bay shore closer to the
geographical center of the . . . — — Map (db m234153) HM
On U.S. 31, 0.2 miles north of 1st Street, on the right when traveling north.
Before America was discovered, indigenous people hunted and fished the Grand Traverse region for thousands of years. As far back as 8,000 B.C., the waters of Grand Traverse Bay, Elk River and the 14 lakes of Antrim County's Chain of Lakes had been . . . — — Map (db m98175) HM
In this photo you are standing on the other side of the Elk River and to the left side of the photograph. This picture of Elk Rapids is from the 1890s and the view is from the top of the Elk Rapids Iron Company's Furnace. What is left of this . . . — — Map (db m98173) HM
In 1856 Dexter and Noble Company began building an empire with their sawmill and mercantile business. In 1872 they built an iron smelting plant, one of the largest charcoal furnaces in the country. At each step of their building that empire, . . . — — Map (db m98125) HM
On Ames Street north of Bass and Ojibwa Streets, on the right when traveling north.
Elk Rapids thrived in the late
nineteenth century due to the
lumber industry boom and local
iron and chemical manufacturing
plants. When the economy declined,
people left to find work. Between
1910 and 1920. the town lost two-thirds of its . . . — — Map (db m234256) HM
As shown in the above photograph taken in c1910, the Elk River and Chain of Lakes provided a means of transporting logs to the Dexter & Noble sawmill and a shoreline site where cord wood was made into charcoal fuel for the iron furnace. This . . . — — Map (db m98151) HM
On Traverse Street at Pine Street, on the left when traveling west on Traverse Street.
In the late 1850s traveling pastors
began to conduct Methodist services in
Elk Rapids and nearby communities.
First Methodist Episcopal Church was
organized in the early 1870s. Services
were held in a former school and then a
former . . . — — Map (db m234753) HM
Native Americans have hunted and fished the Grand Traverse region for thousands of years, perhaps as many as 10,000 years before white settlers appeared. The waters of the Bay, Elk River and the 14 lakes of Antrim County's Chain of Lakes had been . . . — — Map (db m98128) HM
On U.S. 31, 0.2 miles north of 1st Street, on the right when traveling north.
US 31 in its present location was built in 1953. In the 1960s, the Rotary Club of Elk Rapids began to develop the land between the highway and Elk River. With the help of other local organizations, the area became a park, named Rotary Park in . . . — — Map (db m98118) HM
On River Street at Pine Street, on the right when traveling west on River Street.
Edwin S. Noble (1838-1922) designed
and built this house for his family in
1865. Noble, an expert accountant,
was associated with the Dexter Noble
Company, first as secretary-treasurer
and later as a full partner. The company
was involved in . . . — — Map (db m234603) HM
On River Street at Spruce Street, on the left when traveling west on River Street.
Designed by Charles H.Peale
and built in 1883 near the
site where the earliest
white settler, Abram Wadsworth had lived, the Elk
Rapids Township Hall has
served as a social and
political center
center for over
ninety years. Largely due
to . . . — — Map (db m234752) HM
It has often been asked, "Why the stumps in the river?"
In a way, the stumps tell the story of Elk Rapids. In the beginning the trees grew there while the land was still dry. As one can see in the photograph of the blast furnace, which was . . . — — Map (db m98135) HM
On Essex Road at South Dennis Road, on the right when traveling east on Essex Road.
At the beginning of 1901, a
reporter visiting Essex noted thirty to forty houses, a
large sawmill. a stave factory, a shingle mill, one store,
a telephone office, a blacksmith shop, a livery stable
and a post office. A 1902
Central Lake Torch . . . — — Map (db m234152) HM
On U.S. 131 at Satherly Lake Road, on the left when traveling north on U.S. 131.
On November 10, 1881, the Antrim County Herald ran an advertisement about the village of Wetzell that read: "New Town, New Store; Everything New!" Earlier that year the Wetzell brothers had platted the village and opened a sawmill. As the . . . — — Map (db m215768) HM
On Saint Johns Road at Michigan Route 32, on the left when traveling south on Saint Johns Road.
n 1885 Bohemian immigrants founded Saint John
Nepomucene Catholic Church,
named for the patron saint of
Czechoslovakia. The settlers,
most of whom emigrated from
Prague, named their community Praga. This Gothic
Revival church was built as
a . . . — — Map (db m234149) HM