In Menominee’s downtown historic district (1890’s)
Dear George,
From the time Katja and I
were first married (and even before) we made annual visits to my hometown of
Menominee, Mich., to get together with my parents and siblings. When our son J came of age, I’d take
him on a car tour around town and show him the places where I’d grown up. By the time J reached his teens he‘d
gotten that tour at least a dozen times, and he could practically recite it
verbatim. Though our visits to
Menominee aren’t as regular these days, I still enjoy making the rounds. On our recent trip in late summer I
spent some time each day taking photos of local landmarks. Here’s how my annual tour used to go.
Love,
Dave
St. Joseph-Lloyd Hospital (former)
All the kids in our family
were born in the St. Joseph-Lloyd Hospital, brought into the world by Dr.
Sethney. Nowadays I don’t remember
my mother ever being pregnant or any of my siblings being born, even though I
was eight years old for Peter’s birth, ten for Vicki’s. The only time I remember visiting the
hospital was when my brother Steve fell out of the oak tree during an acorn
fight and broke his arm. Some
years ago the local hospitals consolidated, and St. Joseph-Lloyd is now a
retirement home.
Dr. Sethney’s Office and House
Dr. Sethney had his office in
his home, right next door to the drugstore on Sheridan Road. He made house calls in emergencies, but
we’d go to the office for more routine care. The most frequent reason was shots. They didn’t have measles or mump shots
back then. I think tetanus was the
main thing. The needles were huge,
and they left you with a red welt that hurt for the next few days.
Our family home on Ogden Avenue
This was our first
apartment. My mom was 27 and my
dad was 29 when I was born. It was
the midst of the Great Depression.
We lived on the second floor of this wood frame house on Ogden Ave. near
the foot of the Interstate Bridge.
Sally F. lived on the first floor with her parents. Sally and I were one another’s earliest
playmates and walked together each day to kindergarten at Boswell School.
The Tourist Information Lodge
We were a half block away
from the Tourist Information Lodge which featured the longest hill in Menominee
(maybe twenty yards high). My mom
and Sally’s mom would take us there in the winter for sledding. It’s the most hair-raising thing I
remember from early childhood. The
log cabin burned down sometime after I left for college, but they rebuilt it to
be exactly the same.
Our house on Sheridan Road
In 1943 I entered first
grade, and we moved to Sheridan Road (now First St.) which ran along the
bay. Menominee was relatively
danger-free, and we were allowed the run of the neighborhood. We swam in the bay, played cops and
robbers in the back yards, and shot pool at the D.A.R. Boys’ Club. My neighborhood friends included
Skipper B., Frank and Mary S., Sam W., Darl S., Dooley W., and Jimmy J.
Triangle Park
Triangle Park was at the
north end of State St., one block west of Sheridan Road. It was our best neighborhood location
for playing softball and touch football, though an errant ball could wind up on
Highway 41.
Lloyd Manufacturing Company
Menominee is a manufacturing
town, and the Lloyd Co. has been one of the major local firms for many
years. The Lloyd plant is on
Highway 41, heading north toward the city limits. They make wicker and aluminum furniture. Its founder, Marshall Burns Lloyd,
invented a wicker weaving process in the 1910’s that revolutionized the
industry.
Electric Square, looking south on Sheridan Road (now
First Street)
Electric Square is at the
heart of Menominee’s business district, with stores and offices located to the
south on Sheridan Road and to the east on Ogden Avenue. I think it was named Electric Square
because it was the first place in the twin cities to get electric lights on the
street. Washington Grade School
was a half block away. The
magnificent First National Bank building, now sadly vacant, is on the southeast
corner (at the left of the photo).
The Menominee Drugstore
My grandfather’s Menominee Rexall
Drugstore was located on Electric Square kitty-corner to the bank and the
breakwater. My Uncle Kent was the
head pharmacist there during my childhood, and I was eternally grateful to him
for allowing me to come in and read comic books off the rack whenever I wanted. After our family had moved out to the
river, Steve and I ate our lunch in Uncle Kent’s drug store office every school
day, an arrangement that became storied in family history because of Steve’s
throwing all of his bread crusts behind Kent’s desk and eventually attracting a
large population of rats.
Cooney’s Gas Station (former)
Cooney’s Standard Oil Station
was next door to the drug store, and my dad had a running account there, which
meant that I could pull in and get gas “for free” once I started driving. My high school friends were bitter
about my good luck. The gas
station attendants never checked the oil level on our family car, and the
engine eventually burned out (much to my father’s dismay).
Ogden Avenue
Ogden Ave. (now 10th Ave.)
runs from the Green Bay shore to the town’s west end and is one of Menominee’s
main thoroughfares. When we turned
16 we spent a lot of nights driving up and down the strip, as well as cruising
through Marinette. A friend of my
dad’s told him that he’d seen me drag-racing on Ogden Ave. My dad was initially upset, but, when I
explained that I had to do that as a male teenager in Menominee, he became more
accepting.
The Ogden Club
There were lots of taverns in
Menominee and Marinette, and the Ogden Club was a local favorite. Kids were allowed in with their parents,
so we’d sometimes get to fraternize with the grown-ups while they drank Silver
Cream beer and talked about the Packers.
Once we reached young adulthood, the Ogden Club was one of my brother
Steven’s favorite hangouts. I
wasn’t as much of a barfly myself, though I’ve made efforts to improve.
Stan’s Barber Shop
I’d swear that this barber
shop was named Stan’s back when I was a teenager, but maybe my memory is
playing tricks on me. I always
felt uncomfortable getting a haircut because of the felt necessity of
conversing with the barber.
However, Stan always took care of that by carrying on the entire
conversation by himself.
The Menominee Marina and breakwater
Menominee was and is a big
boating town. Several of our
family friends, namely the O’Haras and the Caleys, owned power boats which they
moored at the Menominee Marina, and occasionally the kids would get to go on
trips across the Bay to Door County.
I was a dismal sailor – 100% prone to seasickness.
Marina Park and beach
Menominee’s Marina Park on
the Green Bay Shore featured a good swimming beach and a bandstand which was/is
the site of regular summer musical concerts and community events. It’s now the location of the annual
Waterfront Festival in early August.
Our teenage gang would get together there on the lawn, laying on
blankets, working on suntans, and listening to Doris Day and Bing Crosby on a
battery-operated radio.
The Spies Public Library
My dad had great reverence
for the public library and served as one of its trustees for years. Our grade school was a block away, and
our classes made frequent trips to the library for stories, reading, and
checking out books. As adults, we
always visit the library and its handsome interior when we come to
Menominee.
The Lloyd Building
The Lloyd Building was
Menominee’s largest. In my
childhood there was an A&P grocery store in the basement. I was impressed by the very thought of
being in an “Atlantic and Pacific” store.
Montgomery Ward, the town’s major department store, was on the first
floor -- a frequent site for clothes shopping. The Lloyd Theater was in the rear of the building, and I
spent many happy hours there at kids’ matinees. I saw my first night-time movie at the Lloyd – “Meet Me in
St. Louis” with Margaret O’Brien.
The American Legion
The American Legion was
booming in the years following the war.
My dad was belonged to the Legion, but it was my Uncle Kent who was the
most active participant from our family, becoming the local commander and then
being elected the Michigan State Commander.
So those are some of the
highlights of Menominee’s downtown area.
There’s lots more to see, but I’ll save that for another occasion.
Love,
Dave
G-mail Comments
-Gayle C-L (12-9):
David, OMG talk about memory
lane :). Pretty Good'
Really Good. My oh my how
the world turns :) Thx for the
memories
Lots of love:). G
