In 1923, Stanley Newton published “The Story of Sault Ste. Marie and Chippewa County.” This is part thirty-four of a continuing series about the history of Sault Ste. Marie and the area in its early years. I have left punctuation and grammar intact. – Laurie Davis
Points of Historic Interest
Historic landmarks include the old warehouse of the American Fur Company; the site of Father Marquette’s chapel; St. Lusson’s hill, where the French asserted dominion over the land, and where as well Governor Cass demonstrated it for America; the semi-Centennial obelisk; the Indian Agency of Schoolcraft; and the old Johnston home.
A Real Tourist Camp
The tourist camp on East Portage Avenue is a delight to the automobile visitor. Many conveniences are provided by the city, and there is an excellent bathing beach close at hand.
A Famous Saulteur
The man or woman bent on fishing, may take counsel from Pete Vigeant, prince of fishermen, who knows every rainbow trout in the rapids by its first name. Pete is an accredited Soo institution and a charter member of The Ancient and Honorable Fraternity of Fishermen. He has been the subject of countless magazine articles and is a frequent contributor to sporting journals.
Near By Beauty Spots
Favorite resorting places near the city, easily reached by car, are Les Cheneaux Islands, Cedarville and Hessel (The Snows), with a dozen or more hotels; Alcott Beach and the Pierce Inn, Brimley; Ladd’s Beach, with excellent bathing in the back bay, at Bay Mills’; Dollar Settlement and Mission Hill on the shore beyond the Chippewa blueberry plains; The Shallows, up the river; Harmony Beach, below the city; Birch Lodge at Trout lake; Detour and A’bany; and the Seaman Inn on Drummond Island. Mackinac Island and St. Ignace are a short sixty miles away, via excellent roads, or a little farther through the loveliest waterway on the continent. Pleasant Park and Wilwalk are reached by boat from the Soo, Oak Ridge Park and Encampment by boat or car. The state park will be opened at Brimley in 1924, and it is hoped that another will be in readiness a year later at Hulbert Lake.
The Canadian Soo
No one ever visits the American Soo without seeing its Canadian twin, or vice versa. A trip over the Algoma Central Railway past Montreal Falls and through Agawa Canyon is one to be remembered for life. There is nothing else to compare with it east of the Rockies.
One may see in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, an 800 foot lock, the largest paper mill and the greatest steel plant in Canada. The first lock built in Canada has been restored and is on view to visitors. Nearby, at Garden River, is an Indian village, a bit of old Canada. There are many splendid drives back of the city, to Gros Cap, Bellevue, Crystal Falls and the Landslide, Sylvan Valley, Gordon Lake, Rock Lake, Basswood Lake, Bruce and Thessalon, and St. Joseph’s Island. There is excellent steamer service to all points on the north shore of Lake Superior, and to the Thirty Thousand Islands of Georgian Bay.
A Great Summer Menu
Good hotels in both cities and an out-of-the-ordinary tourist camp in the Michigan Soo, complete a list of ingredients which ensure a feast to the summer visitor. Both communities are famed for their hospitality, they are wide awake and progressive, and duly appreciate the rapidly expanding tourist trade.
The Soo Changes Its Government
Dissatisfied with the old ward and aldermanic system under which the city government had functioned from the eighties, the electors of Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, voted in 1917 for a new charter and a change to government by commission.
A Charter Commission was appointed, consisting of the following representative citizens: Francis T. McDonald, chairman; A. J. Eaton, clerk;
Frank P. Sullivan, John P. Connolly, Wm. M. Snell, Edward Stevens, Geo. P. McCallum, and J.L. Lipsett. These gentlemen drew up the new charter, and at the election following, Mark Tymon became the first Mayor under the new form. Two years later he was succeeded by Francis T. McDonald. Commission government was proved a success, and few Saulteurs would consider a return to the old regime.
City Officers in 1923
The present city officials, elected and appointed, are: Mayor, George O. Comb; City Manager, Henry A. Sherman; Commissioners, J.N. Adams, R.R. Beyer, Phil. Jacobs, Robt. Nimmo. Board of Education: Dr. Geo. P. Ritchie, president; Chas. G. Clarke, secretary; Isaac De Young, treasurer; Jos. MacLachlan and Chas. G. Lampman. Superintendent of Schools, Geo. G. Malcolm. Officers and heads of departments appointed by the city manager: City Engineer, V. B. Redfern; Superintendent of Streets, Samuel Horry; Water Works Superintendent, Kenneth McLay; Engineer pumping station, B.F. Kelly; Sexton, Andrew Sayres; Health Officer, Dr. J. J. Griffin; Sanitary Inspector, Dan O’Connell; Visiting Nurse, Eithleen Rowe; Director City Band, Thos. H. Hanson; Chief of Police, Capt. J. F. Young; Chief of Fire Department, Frank Trombley.
Board members appointed by the City Commission; Carnegie Library Board, T. R. Easterday, chairman; K. Christofferson, secretary; John P. Wessel, L. C. Sabin, Stanley Newton. Librarian Alice Clapp. Park Commission, L.C. Sabin, chairman; W. S. Chapin, secretary; Geo. S.Wescott, Chas. E. Chippley, V. R. Conway.
County Officials in 1923
The present county officials are: Hon. Louis H. Fead, Circuit Judge; Hon. Chas. H. Chapman, Judge of Probate; Arza M. Swart, Sheriff; Sam C. Taylor, County Clerk; John A. France, County Stenographer; John A. Colwell, and F.B. Kaltz, Circuit Court Commissioners; Anna E. McDonald; County Treasurer; Edward Thompson, Register of Deeds; M. M. Larmonth, Prosecuting Attorney; F. H. Brown, County Surveyor; George J. Dickison, and A . E. Lemon, Coroners; J. W. Sparling, R. B. Holmes, and Jas. A. Troutt, Superintendents of Poor; Thos. B. Aldrich, School Commissioner; A. J. Short, R. R. Reinhart, and T. J. Watchorn, Road Commissioners; Louis Levin, County Engineer.
The Supervisors of the various townships in 1923 are: Bay Mills, C. R. Ladd; Bruce, John A. McKee; Chippewa, Geo. W. Warner; Dafter, A. E. Curtis; Detour, John F. Goetz; Drummond, Earl E. Bailey; Hulbert, Chas. Johnson; Kinross, Albert Curtis; Pickford, George Watson; Raber, F. X. Schuster; Rudyard, John Bergsma; Soo, Wm. H. Miller; Sugar Island, Wm. Walker; Superior, John Gleason; Trout Lake, Wm. Hayward; Whitefish, Thomas H. Savage.
Homecoming Week
In July, 1922, Commissioner John N. Adams, offered a resolution at a meeting of the Commission, sponsoring a Homecoming Week in 1923 for all Saulteurs throughout the world. The idea was enthusiastically adopted and energetically carried out by the people of Sault Ste. Marie.
Fourth of July Week, was selected for the welcome. The Civic & Commercial association under President Arthur Dawson, functioning through its Publicity Committee with Norman H. Hill, as Chairman, sent 5,000 invitations to former Soo-ites and Chippewayans, soliciting their presence, Homecoming Week. Lists of names were obtained from many sources, one country store alone sending 400 addresses of former residents.
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- Points of Historic Interest - February 19, 2026
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