Roscommon Sesquicentennial Celebration

Village of Roscommon, Michigan SeSquicentennial celebration!

A history of Roscommon

Information compiled by Mark Constance

Roscommon was founded about 1845, according to records at the Roscommon Historical Society. It has been the county seat of Roscommon County since 1875 and became incorporated as a village in 1882.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 1.66 square miles. The current population is 963, down from 1,100 in 2010

Roscommon County was formed when it separated from Midland County in 1875. The area which included Roscommon County was originally called 'Mikenauk' for Chief Mikenauk, a member of the Ottawa Indian tribe. He was referred to as a “chief of the first class” in the 1836 Treaty of Washington.

Mikenauk was officially changed to Roscommon County in 1843 by

State Rep. Charles O’Malley and / or Jim Nolan, who collaborated with the surveyors. Each man had ties to Roscommon County, Ireland.

It was later settled by Detroit’s George Robinson.

In 1872, the Jackson, Lansing Saginaw Railroad established the Roscommon Station and lumber was the leading freight. The old railroad depot was torn down in 1969. Lake State Railway is the current owner of the rail line, and the depot was eventually replaced by what is now the AuSable River Center.

Roscommon was founded in part because of its proximity to what was at the time, prime stands of White Pine. The Mackinaw Branch of the Michigan Central railroad ran a line through the village to take advantage of the resource.

In the 1800s Roscommon was

One of Roscommon’s original drug stores was AuSable Drugs.

Roscommon was located on the Mackinaw Branch of the Michigan Central railroad. The old depot was torn down in the 1960s. The rails are now owned by Lake State Railroad.

History

a large lumbering area and, in its heyday, the village boasted one hotel and 14 saloons. “Green’s” located at 107 N. Fifth Street, is the oldest tavern in the county. It opened shortly after the end of prohibition in 1933.

The Roscommon post office was established on January 9, 1873 with Alfred Bennett serving as the first postmaster. In 1876, Robinson donated block 11 of the village to be used as the site of the original county courthouse. It was accepted by the county in 1879 and Roscommon became the county seat and incorporated as a village in 1882.

Churches

The oldest church in Roscommon is the First Congregational Church, founded in 1875. The original church building was constructed in 1880 at a cost of $500. That building burned down in 1926 and was replaced with a stone church in 1928. That building was torn down in 1961. The current church is located at 105 South Main Street.

Good Shepherd United Methodist Church is currently located at 149 West Robinson Lake Road. The original church was built in 1880 and dedicated on Dec. 12 of the same year.

St. Michaels Catholic Church is currently located at 104 Sixth Street. The church began in 1885 as a mission, changing its name to St.

The original Lutheran church was founded in 1910 with services exclusively in Swedish. In 1935 it became Messiah Lutheran and services were held in English. The church is located at 1470 Maplehurst.

Education

The first school in Roscommon was established in 1880. Isaac Silsby constructed the building. The first teacher was Ellen Moiles.

In 1882, a new school was built on Lake Street in Roscommon. It held students in first-tenth grade.

History told through photos

A box of old negatives, stored in hundreds of envelopes, found its way to the office of the Up North Voice a number of years ago. They came from the old Roscommon Herald News building. Theresa Ekdom scanned these negatives into digital photos, then searched the archives of the Roscommon Herald to determine who and what was pictured. Two years of these negatives, 1980 and 1981, were compiled into two Snapshots of Roscommon books. Theresa added some national news along with some current updates to people and

buildings.

“These books show the history of Roscommon County through the pictures the reporters took,” Theresa said. “A snapshot in time, if you will.” She hopes these photos and information can assist those who are looking into the genealogy of their family, as well as provide a look into what was happening in the county over 40 years ago.

Snapshots of Roscommon County 1980 and 1981 are available at Art-YFacts in Roscommon or on Amazon.com.

Theresa Ekdom

Fishing has always been a common activity of Roscommon resident. Agove: Lester Royce is pictured in his canoe. Below: These men show off the results of a great fishing day on the river.

History

11th grade was added to the school in 1910 and 12th grade in 1912. It later became the Masonic Temple.

The Richardson School opened in 1914. It closed in 1955. The building is now located on the grounds of the Roscommon Historical Society, where it holds desks, books and other artifacts from the period.

The Gerrish-Higgins Consolidated District was formed in 1931, The school was located in what is currently the CRAF Center, located at the town square on Lake Street.

In 1951 a new elementary school was built on County Road 100. It was followed by Roscommon High School (1974) and Roscommon Middle School (1993) near the same location.

In 1966 Kirtland Community College was established to serve Crawford, Ogemaw, Oscoda and Roscommon Counties. Classes began at the St. Helen campus in the Fall of 1968. That campus was abandoned in 2019 when the college built a new campus on 4 Mile Road in Grayling.

The West Branch satellite center was closed as well.

Civilian Conservation Corp

The Higgins Lake Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Museum and Nursery is located across the street from North Higgins Lake State at 11747 North Higgins Lake Drive.

The museum tells the story of CCC during the Great Depression. The site was home to thousands of young men enrolled in the federal Depression-era CCC.

The nursery portion was established in 1902 with the goal of reforesting the state.

Newspapers

Multiple newspapers have covered Roscommon over the past 150 years.

The first was the Roscommon News, established in 1875 by Robert Ward. It was followed by the Roscommon County Pioneer, owned by Amedius Zahn in 1885; The Democrat, owned by Albert

History

Sly in 1894; and the Roscommon Herald, founded by Eugene and Ray Matheson in 1907. The Roscommon News and Roscommon Herald merged in 1907.

There are currently two newspapers located in Roscommon County: Up North Voice (formerly the Roscommon County Voice) was established in 2010 by Mark and Tracy Constance; and the Houghton Lake Resorter, first printed in 1940.

The Resorter was purchased by Robert and Alice Hamp in 1961 and has remained in the family since. After the retirement of Robert’s son, Tom, in 2012, his sons, Eric

(publisher) and Bryan (production manager) became the third generation of the Hamp family to oversee the operation.

Resources:

The story and photos in this 150th celebration of Roscommon were gathered with the assistance of the following:

• Roscommon Historical Society

• Carol Garlo

• Linda Cherven

• Pure Michigan

• Arthur Rosenau

• Ned Curtis

Wikipedia

Michigan.gov

• Up North Voice

A 1920s photo of downtown Roscommon.

Roscommon Area Historical Society

ROSCOMMON – The Roscommon Area Historical Society, is located at 404 Lake Street.

The source for everything about Roscommon, It’s comprised of three separate buildings, including the Gallimore House, which is decorated with household items and furniture from the 1930s. It also features the Richardson School and another smaller building used as a visitor resource center, where people can research their families or the community at large. There is a vast array of photos, documents and oral histories available, including items such as this old Sears catalog.

to “gather, preserve & protect for present & future generations, historical items & data pertaining to the exploration, settlement & development of the Roscommon, Higgins Lake and St. Helen areas; & to create public awareness of the area's history & to co-operate with the Michigan Historical society in collection & preservation of significant materials & information.”

Pharmacy collection

The society is open on Saturdays from Memorial DayLabor Day, and all day during the Christmas in the village celebration held the first Saturday in December.

The mission of the society is

Meetings are held the third Tuesday of the month at 7:30 p.m.

Roscommon Area Public Schools, or RAPS, was originally knows as GerrishHiggins. The CRAF Center, located on Lake Street was the old high school before the current building was constructed just off County Road 100 in Higgins Township. This photo of the 1944 includes (front, l-r) are Cliff Anderson, Roger Hartman, Forrest Wycoff, Ralph Ostling, Cal Zettle, (back) Fred Campbell, Bob Meyer, Dan Knapp and John Steele. Photo was donated to the Roscommon Historical Society by Mr. Champion.

Roscommon had several undefeated football teams over the years. Pictured are teammates celebrating in 1975.

Roscommon held a number of alumni football games in the 2000s with its cross-county rival Houghton Lake

Protecting Roscommonfor 150 Years!

Years in Office Sheriff

1876 Albert Denton 1877-1878 James McCabe 1879-1880 James Roach 1881-1884 Charles S. Blanchard 1885-1888 Thomas Mackin 1889-1892 Arthur H. Blanchard 1893-1894 Hugh L. Cox 1895-1898 Lawton W. Knapp 1899-1902 Alexander H. Johnston 1903-1904 George W. Sackrider 1905-1908 Frank H. Richardson 1909-1912 Leo D. Belleville 1913-1916 Walter Gardiner 1917-1920 Alexander H. Johnston 1921-1922 Jane Johnston 1923-1926 Robert Ogden 1927-1946 Francis T. Murphy 1947-1956 James Gardiner 1957-1962 Ralph L. Glassford 1963-1972 Oliver W. Britton 1973-1988 Garth A. Meyer 1989-2000 Thomas L. Mckindles 2001-2008 Francis “Fran” Staley 2009-2015 Randall Stevenson

2015- Edward Stern

Sheriff Britton

Sheriff McKindles Sheriff Staley

Sheriff Stern

Sheriff Glassford Sheriff Meyer

Sheriff Murphy

Sheriff Stevenson

Sheriff Pappy Glassford

Sheriff Ollie Britton

Office Counter

Snapshots

By Theresa Ekdom

AMES IGA - Formerly Ames

IGA, in 1980 Northern Supermarkets took over the building at 903 Lake Street in Roscommon. But first, the building was remodeled, included laying new flooring, painting, and repairing the roof. Northern Supermarket featured a full-service meat case, a delicatessen, fresh produce, beer and wine. The store was managed by Tim Laverty; the produce manager was Ron

Baerlocher

By 1983 the store had become Gavin’s Food Center. William Gavin had owned and operated Gavin’s Food Center in Lansing from 1968 to 1983 and Gavin’s Food Center in Roscommon from 1983 to 1993. After Gavin’s closed the building was sold and became the Lake Street Mall, a consignment store. It currently (2022) is the location of St. Vincent DePaul store.

OLIVERS - April 23, 1980

Oliver’s House of Carpet in Houghton Lake was completely destroyed by fire. Firefighters from Denton, Roscommon and Markey Townships battled the fire which was reported by a passing motorist who saw flames in the back of the building. During that spring and summer, the business was rebuilt.

The 10,500 square foot building was reopened in August, 1980. The business closed in 2013 and was listed for sale in 2014. It sold in 2017. In 2019 Morning Glory Mercantile rented a portion of the building and relocated there from 3269 W. Houghton Lake Drive.

POLICE - In May 1980, Richfield Township police confiscated 33 pounds of marijuana during a traffic stop. Estimated street value at the time was about $400/

pound for a total of $13,000. Pictured are (l-r) Richfield Police Chief William Massey, with Officers R. Wood and Holliday.

Snapshots

This postcard was sent to Blaine Rutledge, who was stationed with the United States Air Force in 1946. The back of the card didn’t have a specific message, but was signed by many people from the Roscommon community.

TERNEY HOUSE -In June 1980 there was excitement in the village of Roscommon as the office building of attorney Earl Townsend was designated as one of (at the time) only 700 historic sites in the state. Townsend was quoted as saying, “Roscommon has arrived. It’s got a history now.” Townsend researched the building in order to have it designated as a historic

site, and paid $800 himself for the metal sign. Unfortunately, in 2012 the Terney house was demolished, the sign disappeared, and by 2013 a Dollar General was erected on the site. The only remaining part of the Terney house is a section of the porch spindles which were installed in the pedestrian bridge by the (old) Village Hall.