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Feb 19 1984 A note from Mike "Kathy: I don't know if this would be interesting reading for the library patrons or not. It is for you to decide. The tape that I mention at the last is to be made and put into the archives room. There are some citizens of Howell that are between 80 and 90 years old and Zemp (Mr. Duane Zemper) and I are going to tape them and put in the archives room also. Mike"
I am Marvin J. (Mike) Hagman and I was
born
at 522 E. Summit St., on June 4, 1919. This story is being written on
December 8, 1983 and I wish to pass to you my recollections of
Howell.
When I became old enough to remember things, it was probably
1926 or
1927. We practically lived out in the country during my childhood.
across the road to the east was a huge field that is now the new
part of
the Protestant Cemetery. This field was grown up with tall weeds,
grass
and brush At one time this field was a farm and crops were grown
on it,
according to my sister Erma Hagman Wright. Also in the field and a
little to the north, were two small houses which were rented to the
Deaners and the Dockstaders.
On top of the hill were the garage and office building sits in the
old protestant cemetery, was a wooden building which was the
Sexton's
office and tool storage shed. This building became obsolete and a
cement
block building was built about where the north edge of the main
entrance
into the new cemetery is located. This building was very modern as
it
had the sexton's office in front facing Madison St. and a man and
ladies
toilet were on each side of the building, also a small garage at the
back end. After sometime, this building was torn down and the
present
building was built were the old wood building originally stood.
As the burials grew in the old cemetery, so did the need for
more
modern equipment. Also just to the south on the east side of the
road,
going into the old protestant cemetery, was the mausoleum. For
many
years the mausoleum was a well used burial place. I also remember
when
someone died in the middle of the winter and the ground was
frozen down
a few feet, the bodies were kept in the mausoleum until spring, until
the ground thawed, as the graves were all dug by hand, and a pick
and
shovel did not work on the frozen ground. My father was caretaker
of the
mausoleum and my job
In the spring, summer and fall it was my job to mow the grass,
go
inside and dust the marble shelves and sweep the floor. I�m telling
you
that when I was at the far east end dusting and sweeping, the dust
mop
and broom really flew until I got to the front end.
At the south entrance to the new cemetery was an old time ice
house
that served the citizens of Howell. As the City grew this building
became too small so three larger ice houses were built, more to the
east. It was very fascinating to watch all the procedures that it took
to put this ice in the-houses, as they put in enough ice to last all
summer. This ice was delivered to the business places and homes by
horse
and wagon, then eventually by truck. Artificial ice also became very
popular as it was more pure than lake ice.
On the northwest corner of N. Michigan Ave. and Clinton St.
stood an
old fashioned gas station with a canopy over the three gas pumps
which
sat almost out to the east sidewalk. There were two pits on the
north
side of the station building where grease jobs and oil changes were
done. I worked in this station from June 1936 until November 1938.
We
had an ice storage house that stood south of the station next to the
sidewalk on Clinton St. This was filled with artificial ice which came
from Brighton. I can remember in the heat of the summer we used to
sell
two tons of ice, each day, out of this house, cash and carry. In those
days the cars had rear bumpers that were away from the body quite
aways
and these were the ice carrying spots for 25 and 50 lbs. or two 50
lbs,
one on each side on the rear bumpers. As electric refrigerators came
on
the market and more people could afford them, the ice business
was not a
profitable operation so the ice houses were closed.
I didn�t see this, but my father who helped to put up the ice,
told
me that one time, on the lake by the ice houses a team of horses
the men
were using to cut the ice down about six or eight inches, got on
some
thin ice and in the lake went the horses. The men tried to pull the
horses out of the hole in the ice by their reins, but they would get
the
horses started up on the ice and it would break through again. The
men
finally got some rope and put around the horses necks and pulled
them to
safety. I asked my father why the horses didn�t freeze to death after
the men got them safely out. My father said that they covered the
horses
with blankets and made them jog on the ice until they were dried
off and
their bodies were warm. At the bottom of the hill, at the end of Lake
St. was the City�s trash dump. No garbage was dumped there, but
chunks
of concrete and stones were dumped to fill this In. The lake at this
point came up to the street and during the spring thaw and during
heavy
rains the water would be across the road.
On the northwest corner of Lake and Roosevelt St. there was a
pot
hole and this was grown up to reeds and cattails. A man by the
name of
Fred Server bought this property, filled it in and built the house that
sits there today. North of the boat launching site and on the east
side
of Roosevelt St. there were two small houses which were moved
from
somewhere by a Bert Smith.
Across the lake on the east shore, across from these houses,
was the
old swimming hole, which would be where Roselane Drive is now,
as the
Howell beach and beach house, as we know it today, was not in
existence.
The kids of Howell did their swimming there. As I remember it had a
nice
clear sandy bottom. Another thing I remember is the stumps that
stuck up
in quite a few places in the shallow part of the lake.
One fall the water was very low and when the lake ice got thick
enough a bunch of man were hired to cut these stumps off level
with the
ice. I can well remember the east lake, which we always referred to
as
"stump town", having these stumps standing six or eight feet tall.
They
looked like sentinels standing guard. In those days the stumps,
except
for being unsightly, did not hamper boat traffic as there were no
outboard motors. The boats were all motivated by a pair of oars.
On the east side of the front lake by the old swimming hole
where
Roselane Drive is now was all woods, and I can remember in the fall
walking on the beautiful different leaf cover on the ground that
Mother
Nature made.
On the hill between the boat launching site and the catholic
cemetery
just east of Roosevelt was Wenks Saw Mill. I don�t remember seeing
this
mill in operation, but there was a big pile of sawdust behind the
building. Years ago in the thirties, the Ann Arbor railroad was a bee
hive of activity and I can well remember the many freight and
passenger
trains that were on this track. Back then the tracks were in good
shape
and the trains did not creep through town as they do today. One
day I
was walking south on Roosevelt St. , in front of Howell Red Band
Motors,
and there was a freight train on the siding, waiting for another train
to pass through. This was a steam locomotive, making that peculiar
noise
that these engines did when idle.
I walked along the Motors building and stood looking up into
the cab
of the locomotive and the engineer saw me and waved for me to
climb into
the cab. I did and he showed me the throttle, brake levers, the
whistle
cord and let me sit on his seat looking forward down the track.
What a
boyhood experience!
On the Barnard St. railroad crossing, on the southwest corner,
stood
a small wood building and this was Mike Griffins Watchman�s Shack.
When
a train was coming, Mike would go out and stand on Barnard St.
near the
track with a stop sign in his hand to warn the cars that a train was
approaching, because if you come in a car headed north on Barnard
St.,
Purdy & Woodruff Lumber Yard stood on the east side of the
street
and you could not see until you were almost on the track. Mike had
only
one arm so this made him a good job. When the automatic crossing
gates
were invented, they took over for Mike.
I just mentioned Purdy & Woodruff Lumber Co. because this
was a
thriving business in the old days. They also sold coal and wood and
back
then everyone heated with either coal or wood. Purdy and Woodruff
almost
always bid the lowest to supply coal for the Michigan Ave. School. I
remember how they would haul ton after ton from their yard to the
huge
underground coal bin in back of the school. They would do this in
the
summer so when school started in the fall we students would be
nice and
warm.
Across the tracks to the north of Purdy & Woodruff was an
empty
field and on the east end of this field was Page field, our High
School
football, baseball, and track facilities. Page Field was on the east
end
across from Howell Red Band Motors and only used less than half of
the
property from Barnard St. east to Roosevelt St. A street that is gone
now, Athletic St., went from east to west from Barnard to Roosevelt.
This Street was about two thirds of the way from the railroad tracks
north.
The entrance to Page Field was on the north side and you
parked your
cars on Athletic St. and the adjacent field that has been mentioned.
There was also a small walk-in gate on the southwest corner of the
field, which would be at the end of Hesse St. The entire athletic field
was enclosed by an eight foot high chain link fence with barbed
wire on
the top.
As you went in the north or main entrance, you would cross the
running track which circled the entire inside enclosure. Across this
track was the baseball diamond, with its back stops on the north
end and
bleachers on each side, first base and third base. The football field
ran east and west on the south side of the lot and this was the
outfield.
I well remember when in the fall and spring it was the job of the
senior class to pick these heavy wood bleachers up and carry them
either
to the football field or the baseball diamond. From home plate
down the
right field foul line, quite a distance from home plate was the small
walk-in gate mentioned previously, so all the left hand hitters target
was to hit the ball through this gate. I saw a fellow by the name of
Gerry Jones do this a few times, and I suppose there were others.
On the north side of Athletic Street, by Barnard St. stood the old
East Ward School. This building was used for all the children from
Kindergarten through sixth grade. This school served the east side of
the City and the West Ward School served the west side. Starting
the
seventh grade the children went to the Central School that was on
the
south side of east Washington St. and S. Michigan Ave. A new
school was
built on this site, the Howell Public School, which opened in 1920.
The
children attended this school for the entire thirteen years. The new
school was a wonderful asset to the City of Howell, as there was
not
another building that could match it.
Just across the Ann Arbor tracks on Barnard St., on the northeast
side was a small livestock corral and loading chute. Freight cars
were
placed beside this chute and the livestock were herded into the
cars.
Back in those days this was the way cattle, sheep and pigs were
shipped
to slaughter houses as trucks were not big enough to handle the
bigger
livestock.
In this empty field, to the west of Page Field, towards Barnard St
.,
many small circuses, Wild West Shows, etc. appeared here. I
remember a
Wild West Show and the beautiful horses they had. I never saw this,
but
my father told me that one circus came to town during very hot
weather.
This circus had four elephants, so to cool them their trainers would
take them to where the boat launching site is now and let them go
out in
the lake for a swim. My father said they were like a bunch of little
kids in the lake. They would suck a lot of water into their trunks and
they would shoot it up in the air or at each other. I said to him, "
How
did the trainer get. the elephants Out of the water" and my father
said,
"He would call to them and away they would come." As elephants
do in a
parade, they would wrap their trunk around the tail of the one
ahead and
walk single file back to the circus.
A Vaudeville Show by the name of "Jack Kelley�s Stock Co."
came to
Howell for many years and pitched their tent on this show grounds.
We
kids would go there as soon as they arrived to get a job helping
them
set up the tent. For our pay we were admitted to all the shows free.
The
actors and themes were very good, and Jack Kelly usually filled the
tent.
Dr. Sharpstein also had a medicine show here for many years.
The tent
had a platform in front and shelves standing upright to display his
wares. He always had jars of tape worms on display and according
to him,
all of us had these worms and he had just the medicine to cure
them. He
also had another kind of medicine that was a "cure all" for any
ailment
inside your body and a lineament to rub on the outside to take care
of
all the external pain. He must have sold his wares or he would not
have
returned each year. The Livingston County Fairgrounds was located
across
the tracks on N. National St. Just across the tracks was the entrance
and I can remember a fancy half oval sign above the entrance saying
"Livingston Co. Fair " The fair grounds property started parallel to N.
National on the east side of the street and the north lot line was
probably 200 ft. north, then this line went east to almost where
Cornell
Drive is now and then south back to the railroad tracks.
This was a large chunk of property and I can well remember the
sheep,
pigs, cattle and chicken buildings on the north edge of the fair
grounds, the 411 building in the center and the big grandstand to
watch
the horse races. This fair was a great drawing card to people from
all
over the county. The fair board would hire people to come with
their hot
air balloon and have balloon ascensions. The balloons were not filled
as
they are today. As I remember, a shallow tunnel was dug and
covered with
wood which made it air tight, then I think cole was used and this
got
real hot and the heat was blown into the balloon and by degrees
the
balloon would rise. Many hands on the ropes were needed to hold
the
balloon on the ground.
A man and woman with parachutes would climb into the
gondola, the
ropes were released and up went the balloon. At a certain height
the man
and woman would jump out, open their parachutes and down they
came. The
balloon, without their weight, would soon tip sideways and the hot
gas
would escape and down would come the balloon, but not on the
fairgrounds, it might be two or three miles away.
My father, who had boats to rent, my brother and my uncle were
hired
to take three boats out into different sections of the lake to pick up
the balloonists if they happened to descend into the lake. You could
also have an airplane ride at the fair in an old fashioned two wing
airplane that would land and take off on the circle inside the horse
racing track. As I remember the rides were one dollar.
Where the Ann Arbor railroad viaduct is now, the railroad tracks
were
level with the roadbed on E. Grand River, so you had to proceed
with
caution at the crossing. At the top of the hill, where Golf Club Road
is, Grand River turned left here and went a short distance north and
then turned back to the east and went down the hill in front of the
Wilbur Charles Itsell farm, then came back to Grand River beyond the
low
ground east of the Pizza Hut. The reason for this was a sink hole at
the
bottom of the hill. Back in those days it was easier to bypass a sink
hole than to try to excavate it and fill it with sand to make a
substantial road bed. Another example of this is M-59. The road
turned
left at Eager Rd. and down the hill you went, across the creek, up
the
hill and down Bigelow Rd. and back to M-59 Just west of Latson Rd.
On the north end of the island the ice fisherman of Howell built a
shack. This shack had large windows on the west, north and east
sides.
Lots of men had only summer time jobs, so when winter came they
needed
something to occupy their time. In those early days I do not
remember
seeing any ice spearing shanties but I believe you could put out as
many
"tip ups" as you wanted. We didn�t call them "tip ups" but were
called
"bobs". You could walk the full length of the island at that time so
the
men would gather firewood from the dead trees and when this ran
out they
would go across the lake to the northeast and bring back wood
from this
wooded area. There was a nice wood burning stove in the shack, so
when
the men would get this stoked up, it was nice and warm inside. The
men
would play cards and watch their bobs through the windows.. If one
was
tipped up they would hurry to see what kind and how big a fish
they had.
To keep the fish alive they would cut a square hole in the ice,
perhaps
3 ft. by 3 ft., but this hole would have two or three inches of ice, in
the bottom. They would make a small hole in the bottom and in
would come
the water and fill the hole. I can remember seeing some pretty good
sized Pike in these "keep alive holes".
I mentioned the woods on the northeast side of the lake,
because that
is exactly what it was, no houses or buildings, but on the other side
of
the woods, towards M-59, was farm land. Back in those days there
were no
T.V�s, very few radios, so we young guys had to make our own fun.
When.
the ice would freeze on the lake in the winter, it was time to get out
our ice skates. Usually the first ice was as smooth as a mirror and oh
what fun to speed skate and figure skate. Saturdays and Sundays a
lot of
us fellows would congregate on the ice and really get into some
good
hockey games. Many shins got banged instead of the tin can we
squashed
and used for a puck. Most of our hockey sticks came out of trees
that
had the right shaped branch to make the stick.
Sometime around the 1st of December it was legal to trap
muskrats and
quite a few fellows from Howell did this. They would stake out their
claim to their territory and there was very little argument over who
was
where. If the lake was not frozen and you saw a pile of weeds or
moss
that the muskrats were sitting on while feeding, you had to use a
row
boat to get out there.
Speaking about making our own fun, to the west of our house
was
another house which had a big red barn in back and an empty field
up to
Madison St. would get a gang together from the neighborhood and
play
"workup" softball. We also played hide and hunt in our block, the
curfew
time was 9:00 P.M. and you had better be home at this time. At one
time
this barn was used just like any farm barn. I remember it had a hay
loft, horse mangers, grain bins and the big door entrance was off
Bates
St.
To the west across Bates St. was a big field that took us from
Summitt St. to Madison St. This field had alfalfa hay on it. Not all the
businesses were uptown, as a Mr. McIntyre lived on the northwest
corner
of Summitt and Court. He was a fur buyer. At the end of Court St. on
the
east side a Mr. Monte Wilcox lived and he was a wool buyer. His
storage
barn was in the rear of the house. Today, in 1983, both Mr. McIntyre
and
Mr. Wilcox�s homes are still in the original spots.
As we go west on Summitt St. to Michigan Ave., on the right
hand
corner, where Emory Garlock�s house now stands, was a fenced in
apple
orchard, the trees were large enough to have their limbs reach over
the
fence to Summitt St. and in the fall what a place to pick apples off
the
ground and eat them. Across N. Michigan Ave. from the end of
Summitt St.
south, there were no houses, this was all swamp, but later it was
filled
in as we see it today. Across the tracks to the north at the Ann
Arbor
railroad depot is a pond. My father told me to not go near this pond
as
there was no bottom in it. He said a railroad locomotive derailed
and
went in this pond and just sank out of sight. A sounding to see how
deep
this locomotive is, was taken a few years ago. It is down some 40
feet
and talk was to try and raise it and put it on a siding track by the
depot. This project would cost too much money for a few
interested
citizens to do.
Just up the street on Walnut St., on the right hand side, stood a
good sized grist mill, which eventually the Howell Co-op. owned. To
the
south of this, on the same side of the street, was the Marr Hotel and
it
was told to me, besides having regular roomers, salesmen would
come on
the train, get a room and stay until they had covered their sales
territory and then back on the train to wherever they lived. There
was
also such a building on the south end of Fleming St. This was called
the
Richardson Inn and took care of the needs of the passengers on the
Pere
Marquette railroad, as it was known in those days.
We had four grist mills in Howell. There was one on South
Michigan
Ave. on the left hand side north of the tracks where the parking lot
is
today, behind the Baldwin Hardware Store, Mr. Homer Peavy
operated this
mill for many years. Behind Mr. Peavy�s mill on the south side of
Clinton was another mill. These mills were all serviced with a railroad
siding, because in those days the big semi trucks were not invented
yet.
To the east of Peavy�s Mill, across Walnut St., was the livery barn
and this took in from the alley to Clinton St. When the farmers came
to
town this is where they left their horses while they transacted their
business. We didn�t call it the Livery barn, it was called the lOc barn.
To the south across the alley from the livery barn was a nice looking
little brick building and in those days it was known as Hovey's
Bakery.
Bill Hovey was the baker and I believe he weighed 400 lbs., but this
did
not detract from the quality of his baking.
On the southwest corner of McCarthy and E. Crane St. was the
Evangelical Church. This was a cement block building and its bells
on
Sunday morning were a delight to hear. This church was torn down
quite a
few years ago, and the members merged with the Methodist.
In the winter time, when a good snow had accumulated, the City
would
block off E. Washington, from McCarthy St. on the west, to Barnard
St.
on the east, and children riding down hill on their sleds were like
ants. In those days the roads were scraped but not salted, so the
snow
stayed on the street for a long time.
On the southeast corner of McCarthy and E. Sibley St. was a
brick
building and this was the old chicken hatchery. This building was
torn
down many years ago. On the northeast corner of Washington and
Michigan
Ave., lived a Mr. Bennett and north of his house, where the Laundry
stands today, was his farm implement display yard. Sometime later
he
sold the display lot and a building was erected to house the Howell
Tire
Co. This building burned and the Tire Company moved to E. Grand
River,
and a new building was erected for the Laundry.
On the northeast corner of Sibley St. and Michigan Ave. was a
two or
three story wood building which was the business place of a Mr.
Barron.
He, also, sold farm equipment. His display yard was across Michigan
Ave.
where a Howell City Parking Lot was built. On Michigan Ave. to the
north
of Mr. Barron's building were some wood buildings, and I well
remember
in the first store was a plumbing shop and in the next two buildings
were Youngs Brothers. One store was a harness and bike repair shop,
this
was a pretty good business in the early 30�s, as everyone didn�t
own a
car as they do today. Bicycles were called wheels by a lot of people
back then.
I bought many tire repair kits and bike parts from Mr. Young. His
brother had a meat and poultry market next to him, which would be
where
the 1st. National Bank parking lot is now. There was an alley in
those
days that went from Michigan Ave. east to Court St. I can remember
going
into Youngs meat market and seeing the huge wooden tables that
were used
to cut the meat on, and the cleanliness under these tables and in
front
of their display counter. The floor was covered with sawdust or
wood
shavings.
Across Michigan Ave. back of the D& C Store was the Nash
Garage
and this was run by Mr. Smith and Bert Hoff. They also sold gas here
and
the gas pumps were on the curb near the street. On East Grand River
on
the south side of the street, where the Howell House is now, Norm
Larkin
operated a grocery store and this is hard to believe, but you could
call
your grocery order in to Mr. Larkin and he would deliver your
groceries.
Also there were numerous neighborhood grocery stores, so you did
not
have to walk up town for a pound of sugar. As I remember there
was Jones
Grocery on the southwest corner of Summitt and Court. On E.
Clinton, on
the north side between Barnard & Hesse was another store. On
W.
Clinton was another store owned by Mr. Horton. There were also
stores on
Jewett St. and one on Fleming St. between Brooks and Livingston.
Then came the chain grocery stores. Krogers was about where
Livingston Drug is today, and across the street was Byerly�s. A
& P
was located in the building where the Pool Hall is now. As these
stores
became popular with their lower prices, the neighborhood stores
soon
closed.
In those days the Post Office was on the east side of N. Michigan
Ave. where the City Police Dept. is today. The entrance to this
building
was at an angle and faced uptown. If you look today you will see
the
brick arch way where the doors were. On the northeast corner of N.
Michigan Ave. and E. Clinton, where the McPherson Bank now
stands, was a
beautiful old home owned by one of the McPhersons. This home
was turned
into the McPherson Hospital and was used many years for this
purpose. My
father worked at the remodeling of this building. An elevator had to
be
installed as the building had a basement and three floors above
ground.
As soon as the elevator was operable, my father took me for a few
rides
and what a thrill this was.
Farther north on N. Michigan Ave. on the east side, north of R. B.
McPherson�s house was the Ballard House. This was the summer
home of the
Ballards who lived in Detroit during the winter. They were vaudeville
actors. To the north of this house is a pond known as "Ballards Pond
".
The south side of this pond is very steep and when the pond was
frozen
and the snow came, what a place for all us kids that lived near by
to
slide down hill. The address of this home is 1015 N. Michigan Ave.
Then
we go on out N. Michigan Ave. to 1307. This house stands on the
northeast side of N. Michigan at the curve in the road before you
get to
M-59. Grant Walker lived here and he farmed the land to the south,
also
where the Howell Beach is, and across the river to the east of the
dam.
A wooden bridge crossed by the dam for Mr. Walker to go back and
forth.
One of my delights to watch, was the two boats in Mr. Walker�s
boathouse. The waves from the lake would make these boats jump
and
bounce. Can you imagine that in those days there were no on the
land
side of the boathouse, so all you had to do was open the door and
take a
look.
Just north of the Howell swimming beach house was Mr. Walker�s
fruit
orchard. In the fall another treat was to eat all the apples you
wanted.
At that time the north line of the beach property only went about
75
feet north.
There was a farm fence between the orchard and beach. In those
days
you did not go around the hill with your car, as there was a turn
around
north of the beach house and you came back on the same road you
went in
on. When it was 90o in the summer and half of Howell decided the
beach
was the place to cool off, parking was quite a problem on this road.
By the dam was Wiekinan�s factory, and the building still stands
there today. The Wickmans had a building built over the dam and
harnessed the water to turn their electric generators and supply their
own electricity. As we would cross N. Michigan Ave. to the west,
where
the Northwest School now stands, was the airport. In my young
days, the
only airplane there, was Jack Hall�s double wing "Waco." I would see
him
from my home at 522 E. Suinmitt flying around, so I would jump on
my
bike and ride over to the airport. When Mr. Hall would land arid see
me
standing there he would shut off the motor and ask me if I wanted
to go
for a ride. What a thrill for a boy of 13 or 14 years. There were no
hangers or buildings to store the airplanes in so Mr. Hall had covers
that would go over the two cockpits and motors to keep the rain
out. In
those days an airplane was an oddity and we always ran out of the
house
and would crane our necks to watch these airplanes.
Now we go back up town to the Jenny Ranney McPherson Park.
In this
park was a water fountain, which is still there. The City would turn
the
water on in the spring and we always stopped for a drink when we
crossed
through the park. There was a bronze plaque on the fountain that
said
"Jenny Ranney McPherson Park". The holes are still there but someone
absconded with the plaque. In this park was a pear tree. It still
stands
to the south of the fountain and I can well remember eating these
pears.
In the days I am writing about, the farm land was different than
today. If you went W. Grand River to Prospect St., from there on you
were in the country. This was farm land owned by the McPhersons
and it
was quite a good sized farm. This had a big dairy barn and some of
the
best Holstein cattle around these parts. On N. Michigan Ave. there
was
one wood frame house on the west side just north of Riddle St.,
after
this there were no buildings until you came to the Walker Farm.
On E. Grand River, National St. was the end of the city and the
beginning of the country. S. Michigan had homes pretty much as
they are
today, except there were farms on each side of the road before you
get
to I-96.
The Fire Department, Police Station and City Hall were all in the
building where City Hall is now, at 121 N. Michigan Ave. In those
days
the Fire Dept. had two trucks and their garage was in this building,
facing east on Clinton St. As I remember, we had one policeman for
the
day shift and a night watchman at night. A Mr. Pearson was the
night
watchman for many years. In each ward, spaced every two or three
blocks,
were fire alarm boxes and if you had a fire you got to one of these
boxes as fast as you could and pulled the lever and right away the
fire
whistle would blow. The Fire Dept. would come and if you were
standing
by the fire alarm box, this helped, as you could tell them exactly
where
the fire was. At times kids got pretty interested in pulling these
handles creating false alarms. Until about 1980 the fire whistles
could
be heard all over town, but now the firemen have monitors and do
not
need the whistle.
The Bruce Products Co. which stands on the southwest corner of
West
and Factory Streets went to work at 7:00 A.M., lunch at 12:00
Noon, and
quit work at 3:30 P.M. They had a steam whistle that could be
heard all
over town and you could set your watch by the accuracy of this
whistle.
In those days the Bell Telephones were not in use as much as
today. I
can remember a Mr. Thomas with his Bell Telephone truck with the
ladder
attached. He was the only repairman for the City of Howell. He lived
in
back of where Spartan Tire is today.
Now back to Howell Lake. In the late twenties, I can remember
in the
spring and summer, on a calm night, you could look down at the
lake and
there would be lights on the boats. These were called jack lights
and
were fueled by either kerosene or gasoline. These fellows in their
boats
were spearing fish. In a few years the Game Warden told them they
could
not do this anymore. We had a set of these lights sitting in our
woodshed for many years. After this was kibashed, the men turned
to ice
fishing shanties.
These shanties had two by three foot holes cut in the ice and
the
shanty set over the hole. The shanties were heated with small
kerosene
stoves and each shanty had at least one spear and some had two.
These
shanties pretty well covered the lake where the water was not too
deep.
Back in my boyhood days, as I mentioned before, my father had
boats
to rent. Men would come and rent these boats to go casting. They
would
give me 50c to row them while they casted. The 50. was a huge
sum of
money back then for a boy of my age.
When I was about 15 years old my father bought me a 20 gauge
single
barrel shotgun. We had a real good dog that would only yip on hot
tracks. I could step out the back door of our house at 522 E.
Summitt
St. and load my gun and begin to hunt. There were lots of rabbits in
the
Howell City Park and I sure got my share of them. I didn�t do this,
but
my brother, before I was old enough to hunt, would go all the way
around
Howell Lake, no houses were built around the lake at this time.
About
where the Fairlane Trailer Park is now, a Mr. Tom Calvert lived. He
had
a trap shoot arrangement and on Sundays it was a popular sport
and many
men came to shoot these traps.
About 1932 or 1933 an extensive black topping of the streets
was
undertaken. Most all of the streets were gravel except Grand River
and
Michigan Ave. I had a bicycle and I rode on the gravel streets many
times. How well I can remember going up to the Cemetery entrance
and
riding my bike down Roosevelt Street past the boat launching site
and up
the hill to the Motors. It was just like being, on air, as the streets
were so smooth.
Somewhere in this time span, a fellow by the name of Charles
Vincent,
who lived on the southeast corner of Roosevelt and Summitt,� got
this
street renamed from Elm to Roosevelt. He did this in honor of
President
Franklin D. Roosevelt. This memorial to this president still remains.
Also Mr. Vincent had a small gas station on this corner and a gas
delivery truck. He called his company "The Roosevelt Oil Co.", and
hauled his gas and oil from Detroit.
On the southwest corner of Elm and North Streets stood a
beautiful
brick building, this was known as the Detroit Edison sub-station. I
believe this was operated 24 hours a day, seven days a week, as
this
substation controlled the electricity to our homes. We did not have
electric eyes or mercury lights. Our Howell City street lights were
turned on at night and off in the morning by switch from this
building.
I can remember how well lit the building was inside and out.
In the summer on Saturday night on the Court House lawn, band
concerts were held. The lawn in front of the Court house would be
filled
with people. The stores stayed open until mid night to take care of
the
shoppers� needs as many farmers would come to town for this
event. I can
remember the barber shops staying open, also as many men would
get
shaved in the shop.
On the east side of the Court House were wooden benches
between the
sidewalk and street. In the summer time, I can remember the old
timers
sitting on the benches in the shade and taking a nap. Back in the 30
�s
the cars did not park parallel. All the parking was angle as the cars
in
those days were about the size of a compact today. The angle
parking
seemed to work very well, even the block from Grand river north to
Clinton was used for parking. While we are in this block, I would like
to mention Charlie Henderson�s hot dog and popcorn stand, which
stood on
the corner of N. Mich. by the Drug Store. Charlie would bring this
stand, which was on wheels, uptown in the spring and be open until
fall.
His hot dogs and popcorn were very good. Charlie made enough
during the
summer to take him through the winter After Charlie died, I do not
believe the City of Howell wanted anyone else to have a stand on
this
corner.
Now I need to go back out to the intersection of M-59 and N.
Michigan
Ave. M-59, coming from the east, ended at N. Michigan and
everyone had
to turn left and come uptown M-59 ended at the main four corners.
A
narrow dirt road from where M-59 ended on N. Michigan went to
the west,
but this only went as far as Tooley Rd. and was not for a large
volume
of traffic.
At this time I would like to mention the gas stations as I
remember
them. One was a Mobil Station on N. Mich. just as you turned off M
-59 to
come into Howell. This burned down and was never rebuilt. There
was also
one on the corner of N. Mich. and Clinton St., this was a Cities
Service
Station. Across the street on the other corner was a station which in
those days sold whit Rose gas and eventually changed to Leonard.
Going
out W. Grand River from the main four corners was Don Main�s Olds
and
Cadillac Garage, he also sold gas. This building stood on the
northeast
corner of W. Grand River and Center St.
Immediately across the street on the southeast corner of Center
&
Grand River was the McPherson Oil Company station, and this was
three
station in Howell. It was open 24 hours a day, did lube jobs, oil
changes, washed cars, repaired tires, etc.
As we go west on Grand River, on the southwest corner of
Grand River
and Chestnut Street, was the Russell D. Smith Ford Garage, he also
sold
gas. As we turn around and come back to east Grand River on the
northwest corner of Grand River and Barnard was another McPherson
Oil
Company station. On the northeast corner of Grand River and
Almond
Street was a Sunoco station. On the northeast corner of Grand River
and
Elm St. was a Standard station. Just beyond on the north side of E.
Grand River was the "Timbers Restaurant", they also sold gasoline.
To
the east of this, where the Drake Station is today, a Mr. Perry
Banghart
had his gas station. At the time I am writing about, only Mr.
Vincents
and Mr. Banghart�s stations were not major oil company stations.
They
were independently owned and sold gasoline that was not a major
brand.
On the northeast corner of Grand River and National St. was another
station. As we come back uptown on E. Grand River, on the
southwest
corner of Grand River and S. Court St. was another Standard station.
As
we go out S. Michigan on the northwest corner of this street and
Mason
Road was a Shell station. Some of these stations have been
converted to
other uses, some have been torn down and still others have been
remolded
into new super stations.
Also, back in the 30�s, many things were delivered to your home.
I
can remember a fellow by the name of Wilbur Arnold who lived on
the
corner of E. Washington and Bush St. He had a large garden and as
soon
as his produce became ripe he would go all over town with his
horse and
wagon, selling fresh vegetables from door to door.
Milk was also delivered to your home and in those days glass
bottles
were used in both pints and quarts. You bought milk tickets and
whatever
amount of milk you wanted, you put the tickets in the bottles and
placed
them on your front steps, then the milkman would leave this
amount. I
can also remember herds of cattle being driven on Madison and
Roosevelt
St., and although I can�t remember exactly but I think the cattle
were
going to and from the fair- grounds.
Before World War II we had an "A" & "B" fast pitch softball
league. The teams were all sponsored by local merchants and this
was
another form of entertainment. Paul Bennett was the Recreation
Director
and I can remember so well how the dirt infield would be as smooth
as
cement and the outfield would be mowed like a lawn. These games
were
played five nights a week and the bleachers would be filled with
spectators rooting for their favorite team. We had to start the
games at
6:30 P.M. as there were no lights on the field, so we started early to
finish before dark.
On the west side of West St. just before the railroad tracks was
the
Livingston County Road Commission Office and Garage. I don�t
believe the
County had over a half dozen trucks. This facility became too small
so
they moved to their present location on North St. After the County
moved
Consumers Power Co. rented this garage for the storage of their
trucks
and equipment. The Consumers Power Company�s office was on the
west side
of State St. where a beauty salon is now.
The Bell Telephone Company�s garage was on W. Clinton on the
south
side where the County Circuit Courts today. I mentioned the Edison
sub-station, and to the west of this on the same side of the street
was
their truck garage. The garage still stands and is used by the
Livingston County Ambulance Service.
We also had some greenhouses in town. On S. Michigan Ave. on
the east
side, across the tracks, was August Schmitt�s place of business.
How
well I can remember going into the greenhouse in the winter time
and
smelling the fragrance of the flowers. On E. Washington on the south
side of the street, between Fleming and Fowler Streets, was another
greenhouse. This was owned and operated by a fellow called "Posie"
Brown. Both the Schmitts and the Browns had residences at their
place of
business.
Lets go back uptown again to the southwest corner of Michigan
Ave.
and East Sibley. Today the State Farm Insurance Office is located
here,
but when I was going to school a Mr. Bergin operated a shoe repair,
a
small shoe store and a candy store. If we school kids could
scrounge up
a few pennies we would go in and buy his penny candies. You
would think
Mr. Bergin would have gotten tired of us and our pennies, but he did
not
and we were always welcome. To the south where the barber shop
is now,
was Sam Platt�s monument works. I can remember so well going in
and
watching Mr. Platt engrave the markers. Directly across the street on
the west side of Michigan Ave., about where Livingston Business
Machines
is now, was the Howell Home Dairy. Mr. Russell Cooley and his sons
ran
the store. The farmers would bring their cream and milk to the back
door
and Cooleys would buy it. They would then pasteurize the milk and
deliver it to our homes. They also made their own ice cream and had
a
soda fountain and ice cream bar.
Now lets reminisce about our churches. On the southeast corner
of E.
Grand River and Fowler St. stood the Catholic Church. This was a
beautiful brick building with very large stained glass windows. A
grocery store stands there now. Across Fowler St. to the west was
the
church rectory and school. A Bell Telephone building stands there
today.
On the southeast corner of W. Sibley and Walnut Streets was a
beautiful
old Methodist Church. On the east side of N. Michigan, where the
McPherson Bank parking lot is today, was the Lutheran Church. All of
these buildings are gone, because as the City and the surrounding
outskirts grew, these churches became too small and are now
located on
new sites.
On the Court House lawn facing Grand River and State St. stands
our
War Dead Memorial. Originally this had just the center spiral, but
after
the Vietnam conflict we woke up to the fact there was no decent
place to
put the names for the Korean War or the Vietnam War. In 1969 a
concerted
effort was made to place the new wings on this memorial as they
are
today. The money came from many citizens� donations and
Livingston
County picking up the tab that was not raised by donations.
On July 4, 1970 a dedication program was held. We had a huge
parade
consisting of many drum and bugle corps. with other bands and
many other
units. We also had a Marine Corps General from Texas as our
honored
guest and speaker. A jet fly-over was provided by the United States
Air
Force. This 4th of July event was carried on until 1981, when the
cost
became more than the money that could be raised.
In closing, I sincerely hope you find this story and cassette tape
interesting. I could probably talk about many more things, but as we
tape other old timers� memories, some of the things I have
mentioned
will be mentioned again, also many different ones will be
remembered. My
memories are mostly before World War II, but some are after.
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