Time for a treasure hunt! Can you guess where this photograph, related to a historical story in the Grand Traverse Region, was taken? Come back for next month’s issue and check your answer!
Ready to submit a mystery photo from your community? Send it to the editors of the Journal at gtjeditor@tadl.org. Remember to include the answer to your photograph in your email!
If you’ve missed the peals of the great bell at the historic Grand Traverse County Courthouse as much as your editors have, you’ll be pleased to know that we once again have a bell to be proud of!
A Restore the Bell rededication ceremony will be held this Saturday May 2, starting at 11:15am at the Courthouse building, corner of Boardman and Washington. The bell will ring for the first time since 2008 at noon. Please gather at the north lawn and bring your own chairs. Event is free and open to the public, and will include a number of speakers.
Preservation is all about Perseverance and Patience; Grand Traverse Journal salutes the success of that fine group of citizens who got the bell ringing again!
So here’s this month’s mystery: What decade was the Courthouse built?
Perhaps you’ll attend the ceremony and find out!
Image courtesy of photographer Jimmy Emerson, https://www.flickr.com/photos/auvet/14734511549/
An ornate lightning rod appears in Traverse City on a building that was formerly a church. It now serves a different function entirely. Do our readers know on what building or street this lightning rod can be found?
The lightning rod appears on one of the two churches that make up the Probate Court building on Washington Street behind the Park Place. At the turn of the twentieth century the lightning rod market was hot, salesmen visiting farmers, churches, schools, and businesses to sell their products. Not just adding flair to the architecture, the most ornate ones were said to work better than simpler models. There is no evidence to support that selling point, however.
An ornate lightning rod appears in Traverse City on a building that was formerly a church. It now serves a different function entirely. Do our readers know on what building or street this lightning rod can be found?
For the benefit of the customers, we assume this business uses a “security system” now, as opposed to the Burglar Alarm pictured here. On what building in downtown Traverse City does this alarm box remain?
Thanks to Betsy for her masterful location of this Burglar Alarm! The alarm is hanging on the Fifth-Third Bank on the corner of Front and Union, on the north side of the building; The alarm has a twin in this city, found on Bijou by the Bay (formerly the Con Foster Museum).
The O.B. McClintock company of Minneapolis was the most prolific in alarm company sales to banks from the early 1900’s to 1947 when it was taken over by Diebold. You’ll find evidence that thousands of these alarms were in use at banks all across the country, as many are now for sale online. According to Diebold, these boxes were operated by a control panel enclosed in the vault and triggered by a switch just inside the vault door or push buttons at each teller cage. If the vault door was opened before the opening hour in the morning or any teller would push the button during the day it would send the current from dry cell batteries within the panel to the bell inside the alarm box. Those alarms were intended to get the police running their way, and could be heard for blocks.
We’ve identified the location, so this month, we want to hear what you know about the glass shown here below the arch of Federico’s. The rectangular squares- what name is applied to them, and what is their purpose?
Congratulations to Julie of Traverse City for her correct response! The glass you will see in the windows of Frederico’s is prismatic glass, intended to bring the brightness from outside to inside the building, in an era when electric lights weren’t very effective. The glass is smooth on one side, and the interior side has triangular ribs that refract light rays deep in to a room. They were originally made only in tile form and later in larger sheets. Prismatic glass (or American 3-way Prism) was produced from 1896 to about 1940.
Follow this link for a more thorough look at this architectural marvel: http://files.umwblogs.org/blogs.dir/7608/files/glass/prismatic.pdf
For the benefit of the customers, we assume this business uses a “security system” now, as opposed to the Burglar Alarm pictured here. On what building in downtown Traverse City does this alarm box remain?
This plaque is located on one of the bridges over the Boardman River. It uses the term “trunk line”, a reference to the main roads that connect one city to another. When this bridge was constructed (1931), the south entrance to the city was not Division Street (M 31S) as it is now. Instead, travelers came down Rennie Street (Veterans Drive), turned right onto Fourteenth Street and proceeded to Front, turning east to leave town. Upon what bridge–Union Street north or south, Cass Street north or south—can you find this plaque? By the way, it seems to be in a state of terrible disrepair.
In a dramatic turn of events, your editors finally stumped the readers! Next time you’re crossing Union Street south, take a look for this plaque, and astound your friends with your new-found knowledge!
We’ve identified the location, so this month, we want to hear what you know about the glass shown here below the arch of Federico’s. The rectangular squares- what name is applied to them, and what is their purpose?
You can find this piece of history better in the spring than now… or with the use of a snow shovel! Where and when was this memorial installed? Do you remember the controversy surrounding this particular section?
Thanks to reader Sue, who correctly identified the location of this sidewalk near Traverse City’s Open Space and Clinch Park area. When this sidewalk timeline was first installed, no mention of the original Anishinaabek settlers was made. Luckily, we have history activists in the region who care, and the sidewalk was revised! It’s never too late to make amends.
If you wish to read more about this controversy, you can explore back issues of the Traverse City “Record-Eagle” at the Woodmere Branch of Traverse Area District Library, or online with your TADL account (if you live in the taxing district of Grand Traverse County, Elmwood Township in Leelanau County, and Almira and Inland Townships in Benzie County) with the digital service “Newspaper Archive”.
This plaque is located on one of the bridges over the Boardman River. It uses the term “trunk line”, a reference to the main roads that connect one city to another. When this bridge was constructed (1931), the south entrance to the city was not Division Street (M 31S) as it is now. Instead, travelers came down Rennie Street (Veterans Drive), turned right onto Fourteenth Street and proceeded to Front, turning east to leave town. Upon what bridge–Union Street north or south, Cass Street north or south—can you find this plaque? By the way, it seems to be in a state of terrible disrepair.
Locally-produced digital magazine featuring nature and local history from the Grand Traverse Region.
