Suttons Bay History

Northern Lumber
1480 S. West Bay Shore Drive
P.O. Box 307
Suttons Bay, MI 49682
888-271-3804 • 231-271-3804 • 231-271-6370 fax
www.northernlumber.com

Northern Lumber Co. - Who They Are Today

Today Northern Lumber Co. is a full service retail lumber and hardware store serving all of Leelanau County and beyond. Northern Lumber’s large selection of name brand building materials and home improvement supplies serve homeowners, builders and contractors alike. Our commitment to provide quality products at competitive prices along with exceptional customer service has enabled us to serve as Leelanau County’s premier lumber and retail supplier for almost 20 years.

As a PRO Hardware Retailer, Northern Lumber was selected in 1992 and in 2003 by PRO Hardware and The Bostwick-Braun Company to receive their “Retailer of the Year Award.” This award is presented annually to independent retailers who have proven their initiative to succeed, ability to provide the right mix of products and services to their customers, and superior sales performance.

Northern Lumber was honored again in 1993 as a Paul L. Cosgrave Memorial Award Finalist. This award is presented to PRO Member Retailers in recognition of outstanding commitment to the principles and ideals of the “Six Pillars Of Success” as originally developed by PRO Hardware founder Paul L. Cosgrave in 1956.

It is with this experience and commitment that Northern Lumber hopes to serve you into the future.

Northern Lumber
1480 S. West Bay Shore Drive
P.O. Box 307
Suttons Bay, MI 49682
888-271-3804 • 231-271-3804 • 231-271-6370 fax
www.northernlumber.com

Tags: Buildings / Commercial, Businesses, Industries, People, Shipping, Suttons Bay History by Suttons Bay History Contributor
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The Inland Seas Education Association building on Dame Street used to be the old lumber mill. When you visit the building be sure to stop in and visit their store, all the exhibits about the quality of the Great Lakes water, and if open, visit their boat shop in the lower level of the building.

Two business partners named Carr and Fox built the original sawmill in the 1870s. Ownership passed to the Greilick Brothers, already running a sawmill in the village of Greilickville, who were trying to monopolize the local timber industry.

The brothers owned the mill until 1902, when it was purchased by E.R. Dailey and operated as a stave and heading mill (packing barrels). Then the mill was sold again and refitted to produce excelsior by Carron and Diepenbrock.

Excelsior was a wood product used like today’s packing peanuts. The excelsior factory burned down in 1907.

In 1914 Oaf Olson and Charles Chadsey dismantled a large mill in Thompsonville and moved it to Suttons Bay by railroad. The building was reassembled and used as a planing mill until 1944.

Gerald Selby bought the mill and converted it into a lumberyard. He sold the business to the Beuerle family in 1970. In 2002 the Beuerle’s (Northern Lumber Co. www.northernlumber.com) sold the property to Inland Seas Education Association to house the Inland Seas Educational Center and The Schoolship.

Some information from “A Walking History Tour of the Village of Suttons Bay”

Tags: Boats, Buildings / Commercial, Families, Industries, Organizations, Shipping, Suttons Bay History, What it Was, What it Is Today by Suttons Bay History Contributor
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The first fire chief of the first volunteer fire department in Suttons Bay in 1907 was Con Lather. Equipment for the first Suttons Bay Volunteer Fire Department was stored in his blacksmith shop.

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The first sewer system in Suttons Bay in the 1930s was a WPA project. H.H. Brehmer laid out the first Suttons Bay sewer system.

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The Village of Suttons Bay had seven gas stations in 1936. In 2008 there is one gas station, BP Oil located on the corner of Dame Street and St. Josephs Ave. across from Roman Wheel Pizza.

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In 1946 Frigid Foods Corporation built one of the most modern fruit processing plants in the United States in Suttons Bay. The plant was torn down in 2004 for the residential development Bay View Condominiums.

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Water was the main highway in Suttons Bay for the first fifty years. All freight and the many visitors to Suttons Bay came by water. When the lake froze over in the winter, and ice fishing became an important source of food (www.tipups.com) the Village of Suttons Bay became landlocked until springtime.

The Missouri was the luxury cruise ship of that time. The Missouri was built in Chicago in 1904 for the Michigan Transportation Co. The Missouri was 225 feet long and 40 feet wide with a capacity for 1,500 tons of freight and had room for 250 passengers.

Regularly scheduled service from Chicago to Mackinac Island included stops at Frankfort, South Manitou, Glen Haven, Leland, Northport, Suttons Bay and Traverse City.

There were three other boats in this fleet which operated until 1931.

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The schooner O.M. Nelson was built by Lars Bahle on the shores of Suttons Bay in 1882. To see the builder’s model of the O.M. Nelson schooner, stop by Bahle’s Department Store in Suttons Bay - it sits on a shelf in the store.

Tags: Boats, Buildings / Commercial, Families, Industries, Marina, People, Recreation, Shipping, Stores, Summer People, Suttons Bay Facts, Suttons Bay History, Tourists, What it Was, What it Is Today by Suttons Bay History Contributor
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Tags: Buildings / Commercial by Suttons Bay History Contributor
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