SPIES HERITAGE HALL

CHEBOYGAN HISTORY   

The name “Cheboygan” is of unknown origin.  There are many different possibilities, but it could be a Native American name meaning “Through Passage,” referring to the Cheboygan River and the Inland Route.   The Cheboygan River, site of numerous camping grounds and entrance to the Inland Route, was the traditional boundary line between the Ottawa (Odawa) and the Chippewa (Ojibwa) tribes long before the first European settlers arrived.

Cheboygan was settled as a lumbering community.  A boomtown by any sense of the word, Cheboygan grew as an important place for lumbering and milling.  It was full of intrepid and courageous men and women with zeal and dedication to make their home in a remote area far to the north of most other substantial places of civilization. 

Captain Samuel Robertson and his wife, Catherine, were the first European settler in what would later become Cheboygan.  Arriving in the late 1770s, Captain Robertson set up a small dwelling on the river and engaged the natives in trade, especially for maize (corn) and furs.

The first permanent settler in the area was Alexander McLeod who came from Mackinac Island in the fall of 1844.   He went up the river about half a mile and built a small shanty and sawmill.  The following year Jacob Sammons, a cooper by trade, built a more permanent dwelling just up the river from McLeod’s.  Others soon followed, and by the 1850s it was clear that Cheboygan was destined to experience a boom, the likes of which had not been experienced before or since.

To the east of town, entrepreneur Jeremiah Woolston Duncan set up a large mill and lumbering operation in the early 1850s on what today is known as Duncan Bay.  This area soon grew up and became the village of Duncan City.  In 1850 the first bridge and tramway were built across the Cheboygan  River to carry logs to Duncan Bay. In December 1850 a Post Office was established in Duncan City. 

Until the dredging of the river in 1874, Duncan City was more significant than Cheboygan.  After the last major mill burned there in 1898, Duncan City quickly became a ghost town.  Today there is virtually no evidence that this prosperous community ever existed.

 Cheboygan was platted in 1871.  The first school was built in 1873 and  the first doctor arrived to care for the residents.   In 1889 Cheboygan  became an incorporated city and boomed until the late 1890’s.  It was a  regional center of land and water transportation.  Stagecoach, steamship  and railroad lines all stopped regularly in Cheboygan.  In addition to    lumbering, other businesses such as flour milling, fishing, and tanning also  became successful ventures for the community.  
 When the lumber industry began its decline in the region, residents either  left or sought new means of making a living. Tourism emerged as the most successful business for the town. Today, Cheboygan has several diversified industries, but tourism continues to flourish.

SPIES HERITAGE HALL DISPLAYS

Duncan City Exhibit: Includes a map and photographs of old Duncan City.

Court House Judge’s Chambers: Contains artifacts and photographs of the brick Cheboygan County Courthouse that was demolished in the 1960’s and some of the Judges who presided there and at City Hall.  Photographs of the Duncan City courthouse and jail and several old Cheboygan county courthouses as well as the current courthouse are displayed.

Military Exhibits: Civil War, Spanish American War, World War I, World War II, Korean Conflict, Vietnam War, and Gulf War artifacts, and uniforms.  Pictures of many of the Cheboygan citizens who served our country are displayed on the walls and in photo albums.

Maritime Exhibit: This exhibit includes a mural of the early Native American camps on the Cheboygan River, a birch bark canoe, various fishing boats and nets, a U.S. Coast Guard surf boat used for rescuing, paintings and photographs of light houses, ships and crew members.

Railroad Exhibit: Artifacts from the railroad stations in Cheboygan, a model train and several documents are highlighted in this exhibit.

Woodworking Exhibit: Antique wood working hand tools are featured.  This is an exhibit in progress expanding as tools are refurbished.

Opera House Exhibit: Showcase of items pertaining to the historic opera house built in 1888 to replace the original 1877 structure.

 Newspaper and Printing Exhibit:  Typewriters, paperboy and printing items. 

 Buerger’s Pool Hall Exhibit: Photographs and artifacts of Cheboygan’s most popular pool hall.

 Business Exhibit: Features three local businesses founded in the late 1800's and early 1900's still operated by  descendents of the founders, Johnsons Studio, Cheboygan Lumber Company, and Schwartz Boiler Works.  Also  featured are artifacts from M.D. Olds - Lumber baron who stayed on and diversified his business interests.  Hotels  housed business people and vacationers prior to cabins for rent and motels.

 Lumbering Exhibit: Many artifacts from lumbering camps, tools, a tree cross-section, photographs and a mural

 General Store and Post Office Exhibit: A model of a general store from 100 years ago stocked with mostly antique  items.  The post office was often located in the general store as displayed here.