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
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
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
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
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
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
