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
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
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
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
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
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 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
