Elmwood Township
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Elmwood Township |
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A schooner arrives at the shores of Elk Rapids, Michigan, on June 12, 1851, bringing Seth Hall Norris from Racine, Wisconsin. The schooner drops anchor but without having a dock built there yet, the family and their household goods have to be taken ashore in an Indian boat. Preceding them, on the Indian trail going around the bay, were their cattle. The Northport-Newaygo Road, was the first State Road into the region from the south in 1862. Meanwhile, other families coming into the area include the Robert Pott family; Henry Campbell family; Godfrey Greilick family; Fowles, Cutlers, Bryants, and Carmichaels, all these families had settled in Elmwood Township before 1856. Seth Norris built and opened a tannery in the fall of 1858. Seth also built the first bridge over Cedar Creek. Charles and John Norris built a grist mill around 1862. Charles built the first grocery store in Norristown in the 1870's with Ebenezer Cobb as clerk. Albert Norris bought 40 acres from John in 1864 and built a brickyard. Adjunct to the brick factory Albert also opened a small pottery plant; little is known about it today. The same being true of a carding mill for processing wool into yarn that Charles Norris opened in the 1870's. James W. Markham bought the brick yard in 1874 and expanded in greatly. The first brick building in Traverse City, Frank Brosch's grocery store was built of Markham bricks in 1879. Traverse City went from a "wooden city" to "brick city" thanks to Markham. The largest single project was the Northern Michigan State Hospital buildings started in 1882 and continued until 1885 for, just, the first sections. All the old Gothic buildings were made of Markham brick. Norristown's first village postoffice was opened, on 17 Jan 1879, at Elm Rock with Ebenezer as the first postmaster in Elmwood Township. The 1881 Leelanau County atlas puts the location of Elm Rock, on what is now County Road 616, about a third of a mile north of the corner of present Grandview Road. For many years around the 1900's the second floor of the grocery store was used as a dance hall. Young people came from miles around in buggy and many times even on foot from as far away as Bingham. The Gotlieb Greilick family left Bohemia in 1848, spending the next six years in New York. Followed by two years in Chicago where they were joined by a group of other Bohemian immigrant families. Gotlieb along with Joseph Shalda and Frank Kratochvil were the three men chosen by the group to scout for a good place to homestead in Northern Lower Michigan. They came to North Unity in Leelanau County by boat sometime in the fall of 1855. Shalda stayed in the North Unity area with his family. Kratochvil, went with Greilick to the Cedar Lake area where Gotlieb was so captivated by the beauty of West Bay shore that he bought land and settled on the west side of Cedar Lake. Frank then headed to land south of the Traverse City settlement (Silver Lake Road) and created a large farm and family. In 1862, Greilicks built a brewery on a road later to be named Brewery Creek Road. (Now Grandview Road) The location was just a short distance west of the Manistee & Northwestern railroad tracks. Greilicks operated the brewery for two years and then sold it to John Smith, who in turn sold it to Frank Kratochvil Jr., in 1886. Frank developed the business into an 'emporium' of buildings and grounds known as the Palm Garden. He damned the creek, forming what came to be known as Brewery Pond, (which was large enough for rowing your sweetheart) and piped the water down to the brewery to make his beer, which quickly became the most popular brew in the area. The main building was many things: A gymnasium in the basement; bedrooms on the second floor; bowling alley; dance hall and saloon. Patrons, by choice or by necessity could spend the night. Traverse City "sports" like Wild Bill Germaine (mother, Anna Kratochvil) went weekends playing cards, dancing, bowling, not to mention drinking the brew. Frank was a big, clean-shaven, burly man who loved animals and kids. In 1898 he attended the World's Fair in Chicago and brought back an Indian pony for the kids, who rode, and taught the pony tricks. The only trick the kids did not teach the pony - but someone did - was to pick up a bottle of beer and chug-a-lug the contents. Frank bought a bear from the Gypsies that he would often wrestle with, not to mention the other numerous wild animals on the grounds. One of the earliest hospitals in the Grand Traverse Region was established in 1901 in Elmwood Township by Dr. Victor H. Sturm. The setting was on a hillside facing the bay with beautiful views. Fire destroyed all in 1915. (newspaper photo before fire available) It appears the majority of people in Elmwood Township came from Bohemia. Other pioneer families: Michael and Julia Corrigan Frederick and Elizabeth (Aimmerman) Heimforth Leopold and Petronilla Kroupa Wenzel Lautner John and Antonia Rokos John and Mary Stanek Peter and Emma Swan (changed from Swanson) Wenzel and Teresa Fisher This article was created 10 Jan 1996. Subject to additions and or corrections. |