top of page
Search


The Manistee County connection to the first Best Picture winner
With the Vogue Theatre showing 1927’s epic film, “Wings” (directed by William Wellman) for this Wednesday’s (March 8) classic film...
manisteemuseum
Mar 4, 20233 min read


Lumber Camp versus Saw Mill
Many, even with a passing history of Manistee, have heard of the many saw mills around Manistee Lake and the channel out to Lake Michigan....
Kurt Schindler
Feb 4, 20233 min read


"The life story of a glass, or a bottle of beer as produced in the local brewery" in 1937
A view of the Chippewa Brewing Company circa late 1930s. In April of 1937 it was announced that Manistee’s brewery was to be reopened...

Mark Fedder
Nov 26, 20225 min read


City taxes from a century ago
(The Fowler Building, formerly located at the southwest corner of Water and Maple street, were once home to city offices. We, in the...
Kurt Schindler
Oct 8, 20222 min read


The Needlecraft Shop
As a child, whenever I would go to the office of my former dentist, Dr. Kitson, located at 84 Cypress St., I can’t ever remember thinking...

Mark Fedder
Aug 13, 20223 min read


Vogue to celebrate Summer of '82 films this July
When I was younger and someone older started out a conversation with the words, “Back when I was a kid…”, I can remember on several...

Mark Fedder
Jun 15, 20222 min read


Colloquial Names
ABOVE PHOTO: A drive down Merritt's Hill One of the challenges of scanning photos is figuring out where they were taken. Some are easy....
Kurt Schindler
May 26, 20222 min read


Groceries, groceries, everywhere
As regular readers of this blog know I volunteer at the museum to scan the 25,000+/- historic photos. (I’m now a bit over 10,000 photos...
Kurt Schindler
Apr 2, 20222 min read


A ribbon of hard surfaced road
By the 1920s, the local economy had declined due to the collapse of the sawmill industry. With several smaller industries attempting to...

Mark Fedder
Mar 12, 20226 min read


The bell of Woodrow Wilson School
As a rule of thumb, the “responsibility” of a bell is to signify when something has begun or ended. However, much like the ding-dong,...

Mark Fedder
Feb 12, 20226 min read


Family members and old films
BY MARK FEDDER Right before last year’s Christmas season I purchased a film to digital convertor in an attempt to upgrade all of the...
manisteemuseum
Dec 15, 20212 min read


Red Bridge
Many years ago I was host of visitors to Manistee County. We were driving around the county and I was helping them with the county’s...
Kurt Schindler
Nov 27, 20212 min read


Dating historic photos Part 2
Dating old photos is a skill. Back in May 2020 I wrote an article about using the existiance of highways (when built) and if they were...
Kurt Schindler
Oct 26, 20212 min read


John Madison, River Street businessman
When people decide to go into business for themselves, it is often a genial mix of experience, service, and product that sustain their...

Mark Fedder
Sep 14, 20216 min read


"Over summer's high hill"
The older I get, the more I seem to notice how the summer light changes as the months wear on into fall. As I am typically an early...

Mark Fedder
Aug 12, 20213 min read


The Red Carpet Inn
No matter what era a building is constructed in, it is doubtless that those (i.e. architects, contractors, etc.) who assembled said...

Mark Fedder
Jul 7, 20214 min read


An old article about an old rectory
When going through newspapers for the daily “Looking Back” column published in the Manistee News Advocate, I often come across things...
manisteemuseum
May 29, 20213 min read


Let's go to the hop...in 1894
During a normal year, a right of passage for high schoolers is the opportunity to attend the big year end dance called the Prom (short...

Mark Fedder
Apr 27, 20212 min read


Robinson Street
The street names in every community run from the mundane (First Street, Second Street, etc…) to the obvious (Main Street), to the ones...

Mark Fedder
Apr 14, 20212 min read


A name on a shelf
The Manistee County Historical Museum’s main building is in what used to be the A. H. Lyman Drug Store. This was the largest drug store...
Kurt Schindler
Mar 30, 20212 min read
bottom of page