On Arthur Street (U.S. 31), on the right when traveling north.
As early as 10,000 years ago, nomadic people were following the bountiful harvests of fish and game the Manistee River provided. By 500 B.C., natives began settling this land, setting up camps and farming.
The lands were controlled by the . . . — — Map (db m97439) HM
On 4th Street east of Oak Street, on the right when traveling west.
William Le Baron Jenney, eminent Chicago architect known as the "father of the skyscraper," designed this beautiful Romanesque church. Completed in 1892, it features vibrant stained glass windows, two of which are of Tiffany design. The soaring . . . — — Map (db m231264) HM
It is a popular misconception that Nineteenth Century lumbermen believed the timber would last forever. In reality the exact opposite was true; every lumberman in Manistee could readily tell you the amount of timber he owned and the year it would . . . — — Map (db m97433) HM
On River Street at Water Street, on the right when traveling west on River Street.
(Side A)
The Manistee Harbor
Pictured is the Manistee Harbor in 1880 with intense activity of pleasure boating, commercial fishing, schooners, steamers and lumber freighters.
The Manistee Water Works
540 First Street
The old Holly . . . — — Map (db m97438) HM
On River Street at Pine Street, on the right when traveling west on River Street.
One lazy summer day in 1911, Manistee residents Herbert Harley and Charles Ruggles discussed reform of the American justice system while floating in a skiff on Lake Michigan near here. That conversation led to the birth of the American Judicature . . . — — Map (db m97436) HM
On Maple Street at 1st Street, on the right when traveling north on Maple Street.
In 1885 a group of Manistee Ladies formed the Lakeside Club, whose primary goal was to create a library. In 1902 the club joined forces with the local literary society and successfully campaigned for a public library. The Andrew Carnegie . . . — — Map (db m97376) HM
On Maple Street at 1st Street, on the right when traveling north on Maple Street.
In memory
of those from Manistee County
who gave their lives
in the Civil War
[Roll of Honored Dead]
in the Spanish American War
[Roll of Honored Dead]
——————————
In . . . — — Map (db m97377) WM
In early October 1888, the Manistee City Council hired Frederick Hollister of Saginaw, the architect of Manistee’s principal school, to design a fire hall to replace the original station, which was constructed in 1872–1873 on Filer Street. Later . . . — — Map (db m1191) HM
On Walnut Street south of 3rd Street, on the right when traveling south.
Organized as a Scandinavian congregation in 1868, Our Saviour's became a Danish church in 1875 and served the American Evangelical Lutheran Synod until 1962. First used for worship in 1869, the building escaped damage in the Fire of 1871 and was . . . — — Map (db m97378) HM
The last firm to service the Manistee passenger and package freight business was the Pere Marquette Line Steamers. The companies engaged in this business required extensive dockside facilities to service their clientele. These facilities lined up . . . — — Map (db m97400) HM
Thomas Jefferson Ramsdell—pioneer lawyer, state legislator and civic leader—built this theatre between 1902 and 1903. Many traveling companies played here and praised the features that made it unique among the playhouses of the era. Theatrical . . . — — Map (db m1192) HM
On River Street at Oak Street, on the left when traveling west on River Street.
In the summer of 1878, this building was constructed by John Mee and leased to Clark D. Gardner. The building measures 24 × 50, described following its construction as "without exception the finest of its kind north of Grand Rapids". It was . . . — — Map (db m97402) HM
On River Street west of Maple Street, on the left when traveling west.
The "Haley Block" was the last of a succession of buildings in this area beginning sometime prior to 1871. These buildings were built and rebuilt to house the Haley Sisters Millinery Shop. Five successive structures burned, the first being . . . — — Map (db m97409) HM
On River Street west of Maple Street, on the left when traveling west.
A prominent Manistee jeweler, who's place of business was two doors west at the corner of River and Oak Streets, contracted to have the structure at 427 River Street (the west half of the current building) built in the summer of 1883. . . . — — Map (db m97407) HM
For the first 25 years after lumbermen settled in Manistee the river divided the community. People who later became prominent citizens spent their youth ferrying an occasional passenger across the river in canoes. After the Civil War, private . . . — — Map (db m97382) HM
On River Street east of Oak Street, on the left when traveling west.
Originally built by John Thompson, the first floor housed the Russell & Ramsdell Hardware Store. The second floor was especially constructed with two large skylights to accomodate [sic] the studio of a photographer by the name of Miller. The . . . — — Map (db m97404) HM
For nearly a hundred years a small building stood across the River which looked like a Dutch windmill without a vane. The building was not a windmill at all, but instead the entrance to a utility tunnel which runs under the River. Today the . . . — — Map (db m97399) HM
An 1818 Treaty allows the United States and Canada to each maintain one warship of limited armament on the Great Lakes. For most of a century the U.S.S. MICHIGAN served as the U.S. warship.
The MICHIGAN was built on the frontier in 1843 at . . . — — Map (db m97434) HM
