Go to Graphic version.
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 them 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.
Mike Hagman was a life time resident of Livingston County. He loved our town and wanted to preserve its history. He gave his story to the Livingston County Library on Feb 19, 1984. It is in the Archive Room, at his request.