Northern Mich~Mash Preserve
Petoskey's Bear River
~ MITCHELL DAM ~
Mitchell Dam truck route connected Fulton Street to the corner of Ingalls and Charlevoix avenues;
removed in 1991.
The design and compilation of the text and photos on this site are copyrighted 2017.
Most posted items will enlarge by "clicking" on them.
"Clicking" on some color highlighted words may access additional information.
Most posted items will enlarge by "clicking" on them.
"Clicking" on some color highlighted words may access additional information.
Please do not copy the photos on this site, many of which have been submitted by private individuals...
just come back and visit the site often to view the photos.
just come back and visit the site often to view the photos.
Early Industrialists on the Banks of the Bear River...
(Near the Mitchell Dam)
[W.L. Porter > H.O. Rose > Birkett Bros. > Petoskey Fibre Paper Co.; also site of Hazen Ingalls mill]
(Near the Mitchell Dam)
[W.L. Porter > H.O. Rose > Birkett Bros. > Petoskey Fibre Paper Co.; also site of Hazen Ingalls mill]
Local historian Harriet Kilborn wrote: "In 1860 and '61 two small pieces of property were purchased from the Indians by relatives of Andrew Porter [the missionary]. Both were on the west side of Bear River, bordering the mission property. John Porter paid $175.00 for a 15 acre lot and Wm. H. Porter paid $40.00 for a two acre patch. This two acres was an excellent site for another mill.
Mr. Porter constructed a small saw-mill there, then sold it the next year and moved back to Pennsylvania. At the same time, John Porter sold an adjoining two and a half acres of his land to the same individual. The total cost to the buyer for the 4 1/2 acres was $500.00. According to Andrew Porter, the man who bought this land was 'a sober kind of man, we think.' The man referred to was H.O. Rose, Petoskey's founding father." This was what came to be known as the Mitchell Dam.
This saw mill site was leased from Rose by Hazen Ingalls, Sr., and later converted into a grist mill.
Mr. Porter constructed a small saw-mill there, then sold it the next year and moved back to Pennsylvania. At the same time, John Porter sold an adjoining two and a half acres of his land to the same individual. The total cost to the buyer for the 4 1/2 acres was $500.00. According to Andrew Porter, the man who bought this land was 'a sober kind of man, we think.' The man referred to was H.O. Rose, Petoskey's founding father." This was what came to be known as the Mitchell Dam.
This saw mill site was leased from Rose by Hazen Ingalls, Sr., and later converted into a grist mill.
Photo Below Labeled: "First saw mill erected by Ingalls Bros. in Petoskey, 1879"
Record Below: This Emmet County Register of Deed record shows that H.O. Rose and his partner Amos Fox purchased a "Warranty Deed" from William H. and Jane Porter on 20 September 1863... very likely this water power site...
Article Below: The Ingalls Brothers had a Saw Mill and then a Grist Mill at the site of the Mitchell Dam.
~ Birkett Brothers Factories ~
William Birkett of Petoskey and Thomas Birkett of Dexter, Michigan, opened their Petoskey wood pulp mill in 1885. They connected in furnishing power for Mr.Bauerle, an inventor of woodworking machines. The Bull, Bauerle and Jones mill burned in 1890, to reorganize as the Armstrong Company. On 23 March 1893 the Armstrong Company was bought by Hankey and Forman; the same year that Thomas Forman and Morgan Curtis formed a partnership in Forman and Curtis Floor Company. This was the largest industry on Bear River. This floor factory burned in the early 1900s.
Photo Below: Flume at Birkett's Mill
Photo Below: Birkett Mill
Photo Below was labeled as: Birkett Mill with the Hankey Mill on the Right Bank
Photo Below: Petoskey Paper Mill...
Photo Below: Michigan Pulp Company dam on the Bear River at Ingalls Avenue
with the West Side Hose (Fire) Station in the Center.
with the West Side Hose (Fire) Station in the Center.
Photo Below Labeled: "Paper Mill Petoskey 1910"
Petoskey Fibre Paper Company
Old Postcard Below:
In the background is the Petoskey Fibre Paper Company with smoke spewing from its stacks
(Note the railroad trestle).
Later that was the site of the Mitchell Dam.
Photo is looking south and in the foreground is the Hankey Dam.
In the background is the Petoskey Fibre Paper Company with smoke spewing from its stacks
(Note the railroad trestle).
Later that was the site of the Mitchell Dam.
Photo is looking south and in the foreground is the Hankey Dam.
Photo Below: The description for this photo is the same as for the photo above showing the paper mill
with the Hankey Dam in front.
with the Hankey Dam in front.
Photo Below included the following description: "This paper mill was built in 1899-1900 by the Petoskey Fibre Paper Co. Later it became the Bear River Paper & Bag Co. In October of 1916 the mill was destroyed by fire. Part of the plant was repaired and it continued operations as the Northern Michigan Pulp Co. On May 7, 1923 a second fire struck and the plant closed (Photo courtesy of Elmer Carter)." The train tracks and trestle both are visible in the photo below, plus train cars.
Photo Below Labeled: "Northern Michigan Pulp Co. before conflagration Monday morning"
Photo Below: 1915 ~ Train engineer was A.B. Moeller and Fireman was O. Jones. The railroad trestle led across the Bear River north of the paper mill. Hankey Milling is in the background on the east riverbank.
Photo Above...
~ Train Track Trestle Just Below Paper Mill and Near the Hankey Mill ~
(Stories Abound)
~ Train Track Trestle Just Below Paper Mill and Near the Hankey Mill ~
(Stories Abound)
Photos Below: The Petoskey Fibre Paper Company was built in 1899
on the location where the Mitchell Dam was eventually located.
on the location where the Mitchell Dam was eventually located.
Petoskey Fibre Paper Company
Organized into Bear River Paper & Bag Company.
Later, the facility was leased to the Wheat Paper Company.
Organized into Bear River Paper & Bag Company.
Later, the facility was leased to the Wheat Paper Company.
The 1913 Sanborn Map below shows the location of the Bear River Paper Company
with its building footprints, and the railroad with its spurs as shown in photos above.
with its building footprints, and the railroad with its spurs as shown in photos above.
1916
Paper Mill to Resume Operations Once More
15 February 1916
Paper Mill to Resume Operations Once More
15 February 1916
THEN... 16 October 1916
FIRE
FIRE
Photo Below: The Label only states "Paper Mill Fire" and is undated,
so it is not known if this was the result of the 1916 or the 1923 Paper Mill Fire.
so it is not known if this was the result of the 1916 or the 1923 Paper Mill Fire.
The Pulp Company was taken over by the Allied Paper Companies. On 7 May 1923 the plant was again destroyed by fire... never to be rebuilt. In 1951, the tall tower was taken down by the City of Petoskey.
The Historical Glimpses Petoskey book put out for the Little Traverse Historical Society told: "Each attempt to manufacture paper was punctuated by running battles with the public because of odorous fumes incident to paper making. A huge smokestack only called attention to the problem."
When the paper mill ceased, for various reasons, the Birkett or paper mill site remained undeveloped, leaving unsightly buildings on the landscape, with its tower protruding into the sky. By 1933, the City of Petoskey had purchased the paper mill location for purposes of an electric power source as noted farther below on this web page. The lowering of the extinct paper mill's Chimney/Stack/Tower was often the topic of conversation. Until, finally...
When the paper mill ceased, for various reasons, the Birkett or paper mill site remained undeveloped, leaving unsightly buildings on the landscape, with its tower protruding into the sky. By 1933, the City of Petoskey had purchased the paper mill location for purposes of an electric power source as noted farther below on this web page. The lowering of the extinct paper mill's Chimney/Stack/Tower was often the topic of conversation. Until, finally...
Ione Street (big red marker) ~ Home of The Incredible Pulp Pile on Ione Street
Ray Lewis grew up on the West Side of Petoskey, on Ingalls Avenue;
so the old Pulp Pile was one of his playgrounds.
Below, Ray tells of his memories of those days, as a "West Side Kid" and
The Incredible Pulp Pile on Ione Street...
so the old Pulp Pile was one of his playgrounds.
Below, Ray tells of his memories of those days, as a "West Side Kid" and
The Incredible Pulp Pile on Ione Street...
"The Bear River Paper and Bag Company fire of October 16, 1916, was devastating to many Petoskey families. The mill was huge and also the largest single employer in the community. Over night more than a hundred families were left without an income. My grandfather, Frank Lewis, had a job at the mill at the time of the fire. My uncle, Harold Lewis, once told me that 'things were tough for a lot of folks after that fire.'
The fire had started in a work room in the basement part of the mill. The gale force winds of that fall night quickly whipped the flames into and through half of the structure. The fire destroyed the paper production part of the mill. The wood pulp production part of the complex remained and that reopened as the Northern Michigan Pulp Company. When that part also burned a few years later, the company was completely out of business. All that remained standing was the huge stack by the north end of the burned down complex. Remaining on the ground were the concrete walls of the buildings with grass and shrubs growing through what had been doors and windows. Up the hill, on the flat field by Ione Street, there remained one more thing. On the east end of that field was a huge pile of unprocessed pulp wood.
That pile of wood pulp was just a few hundred steps east of Ingalls Avenue on Ione Street. The pile was about fifty feet wide, more than a hundred feet long and at least eight feet deep in the middle. For many years this pile of wood chips would be a wonderful gift from the past. This pile would be enjoyed by toddlers to high school age Westsiders. It reigned as The Incredible Pulp Pile on Ione Street.
Moms would bring their tots to the pulp pile to play. The whole north side of the pile provided a slope where the little ones could climb and roll down, jump and land, and have fun in the soft pine wood pulp. Parents could sit and watch the little kids enjoy the day using their sandbox shovels to dig holes or maybe do some somersaults down the side of the pile.
The pulp pile was always changing. Older kids would constantly be digging new foxholes and ditches to play army and sometimes King of the Hill games. A bicycle pedaled real fast, while dodging craters and bumps, could go clear down the length of the pile.
A short distance from the east end of the pile was a wooded area with a few forgotten old apple trees. In the fall it was fun to pick a bunch of apples and have apple battles on top of the old pile. Sometimes we would get sticks from the woods, sharpen them, and stick an apple on the end. By holding the end of the stick and using it to throw the apple, the swinging length and arc were lengthened so that apple would go twice as far as it would have just by using your arm. The pile was high above the river and we could stand at the top of the pulp pile and launch the apple all the way beyond the river, almost to the mill ruins remaining on the other side.
In the spring, the pile was a great place to fly kites over the Bear River valley. In the winter most older kids would be over at the West Side Winter Sports Park skating or sliding. The pulp pile was still a popular place. Parents would bring their little kids over to Ione Street so they could slide their toboggans and sleds down the north side of the pile. Sometimes a snowman or two would be standing at the base of that snow covered pulp pile.
I recall that during the fifties my Dad had rented a small house to Jack and Ann Behan. Jack was great with kids. Neighborhood kids of all ages loved coming to see and play sports with Jack. One Saturday morning we decided to build a high jump pit in the back yard near our barn. Jack saw us working on it and came out to help. He told everyone to go home and get a wagon. A half hour later a parade of kids of all ages (and sizes) pulled wagon loads of wood pulp down Ione Street. We made a fine pit. We had contests and most of us learned the art of high jumping from Jack Behan. Jack got us a pole for pole vaulting. I usually came down the same way I went up; but some guys cleared the bar and landed in the soft pulpwood pile below. The Incredible Pulp Pile on Ione Street was indeed a wonderful gift from Petoskey’s industrial past.
After more than thirty years the pulp pile was finally removed. A parking lot for Bear River trail walkers has been put in its place. For many years, though, Petoskey’s West Side mothers all had the same warning for their kids. 'Brush off your clothes and shake out your pockets before you come in. You have been getting wood chips all over this house.'”
~ Ray Lewis
The fire had started in a work room in the basement part of the mill. The gale force winds of that fall night quickly whipped the flames into and through half of the structure. The fire destroyed the paper production part of the mill. The wood pulp production part of the complex remained and that reopened as the Northern Michigan Pulp Company. When that part also burned a few years later, the company was completely out of business. All that remained standing was the huge stack by the north end of the burned down complex. Remaining on the ground were the concrete walls of the buildings with grass and shrubs growing through what had been doors and windows. Up the hill, on the flat field by Ione Street, there remained one more thing. On the east end of that field was a huge pile of unprocessed pulp wood.
That pile of wood pulp was just a few hundred steps east of Ingalls Avenue on Ione Street. The pile was about fifty feet wide, more than a hundred feet long and at least eight feet deep in the middle. For many years this pile of wood chips would be a wonderful gift from the past. This pile would be enjoyed by toddlers to high school age Westsiders. It reigned as The Incredible Pulp Pile on Ione Street.
Moms would bring their tots to the pulp pile to play. The whole north side of the pile provided a slope where the little ones could climb and roll down, jump and land, and have fun in the soft pine wood pulp. Parents could sit and watch the little kids enjoy the day using their sandbox shovels to dig holes or maybe do some somersaults down the side of the pile.
The pulp pile was always changing. Older kids would constantly be digging new foxholes and ditches to play army and sometimes King of the Hill games. A bicycle pedaled real fast, while dodging craters and bumps, could go clear down the length of the pile.
A short distance from the east end of the pile was a wooded area with a few forgotten old apple trees. In the fall it was fun to pick a bunch of apples and have apple battles on top of the old pile. Sometimes we would get sticks from the woods, sharpen them, and stick an apple on the end. By holding the end of the stick and using it to throw the apple, the swinging length and arc were lengthened so that apple would go twice as far as it would have just by using your arm. The pile was high above the river and we could stand at the top of the pulp pile and launch the apple all the way beyond the river, almost to the mill ruins remaining on the other side.
In the spring, the pile was a great place to fly kites over the Bear River valley. In the winter most older kids would be over at the West Side Winter Sports Park skating or sliding. The pulp pile was still a popular place. Parents would bring their little kids over to Ione Street so they could slide their toboggans and sleds down the north side of the pile. Sometimes a snowman or two would be standing at the base of that snow covered pulp pile.
I recall that during the fifties my Dad had rented a small house to Jack and Ann Behan. Jack was great with kids. Neighborhood kids of all ages loved coming to see and play sports with Jack. One Saturday morning we decided to build a high jump pit in the back yard near our barn. Jack saw us working on it and came out to help. He told everyone to go home and get a wagon. A half hour later a parade of kids of all ages (and sizes) pulled wagon loads of wood pulp down Ione Street. We made a fine pit. We had contests and most of us learned the art of high jumping from Jack Behan. Jack got us a pole for pole vaulting. I usually came down the same way I went up; but some guys cleared the bar and landed in the soft pulpwood pile below. The Incredible Pulp Pile on Ione Street was indeed a wonderful gift from Petoskey’s industrial past.
After more than thirty years the pulp pile was finally removed. A parking lot for Bear River trail walkers has been put in its place. For many years, though, Petoskey’s West Side mothers all had the same warning for their kids. 'Brush off your clothes and shake out your pockets before you come in. You have been getting wood chips all over this house.'”
~ Ray Lewis
Photo Below: Ione Street is in the background behind the Paper Mill's last smoke stack beside the "incredible pulp pile" that Ray Lewis recounted in his memories above.
~ Chimney Silo Stack Tower–Coming Down ~
Text/Photos Below: The chimney was one of the chimneys of the paper mill of the Mitchell Dam location... coming down in 1951. The concrete stack was formerly used in the making of paper. Chemicals were filtered through limestone down the center of the huge stack.
Photo Below: Paper Mill Smoke Stack...
not certain what is happening??? |
Bear River problems existed not only with the paper mill's tall tower, but at times, ponding behind a dam would back up on to property upstream. Fish ladders were inconvenienced by the dams. The biggest Bear River problem existed because of W.L. McManus who owned both sides of the Bear River at the Bear River's Walloon Lake inlet. McManus used the Bear River for his own personal transportation system for his logging pursuits from Walloon Lake to his sawmill, close to the McManus dam area in Petoskey. Lawsuits entailed for years. Read about the damn dam suits on the Walloon Lake Wanderings webpage of "flowing waters".
Article section below asking
"Do You Remember?" |
The photo below was taken by Leah (Ridings) Lewis whose business "Ray Lewis Signs", with her husband Ray Lewis, lived close by to the toppling of the paper mill stack. Their family had been witness to the paper mill's demise for many years, with relatives having worked there and their children having made forts in the pulp piles.
Two Clippings/Text Below published in June 1951 AND December 1951: The photos are the same, but the text is different with a description of how the stack was taken down in sections.
Photo Below: Mitchell Dam Millpond
1955
1955
The clipping below is mislabeled as McManus Mill Pond, when it really was the Mitchell Dam Mill Pond. Ray Lewis Jr. has recognized his family's Charlevoix Avenue home directly across the street, in the background. Their living room window overlooked the Mitchell Dam Mill Pond. The McManus Mill Pond was farther south, and under the McManus Bridge (Bridge Street) of this Mitchell Dam Mill Pond.
~ EARLY Years of the Mitchell Dam ~
(Electric Power Source)
(Electric Power Source)
The 30 June 1938 Northern Michigan Review reported:
"The city [Petoskey] is one of the pioneers in the field of municipal administration. As early as 1916 the city manager form of city government was adopted, and in 1924 the charter was revised which made it compulsory for the city manager to possess a civil engineer’s degree. The first city manager hired under the new arrangement was P.T. Mitchell, who still holds that position after a term of thirteen years.”
The 30 June 1938 Northern Michigan Review also reported: "In 1933 the need for additional electric power was seen by the [Petoskey] City Council followed by orders for the construction of a new hydro-power plant on the site of the old paper mill on Bear River. The property had been acquired in the McManus purchase of 1929" when the city purchased McManus property including 35 acres of Bear River Frontage at a cost of $175,000; including the power dam from which the city had purchased electricity.
"The city [Petoskey] is one of the pioneers in the field of municipal administration. As early as 1916 the city manager form of city government was adopted, and in 1924 the charter was revised which made it compulsory for the city manager to possess a civil engineer’s degree. The first city manager hired under the new arrangement was P.T. Mitchell, who still holds that position after a term of thirteen years.”
The 30 June 1938 Northern Michigan Review also reported: "In 1933 the need for additional electric power was seen by the [Petoskey] City Council followed by orders for the construction of a new hydro-power plant on the site of the old paper mill on Bear River. The property had been acquired in the McManus purchase of 1929" when the city purchased McManus property including 35 acres of Bear River Frontage at a cost of $175,000; including the power dam from which the city had purchased electricity.
In 1933 a modern, automatic operating hydro-power plant was installed on the site of the old paper mill on Bear River, at a cost of $45,000 and named 'Mitchell Dam', in honor of our present city manager. This power plant is capable of producing 1,000,000 kilowatts per year." (This Mitchell Dam was removed in 1974... see farther below for dam removal information)
P.T. Mitchell, the namesake for the Mitchell Dam was involved with many accomplishments for the City of Petoskey as noted in the obituary article below upon his death in 1962.
1933
"Mitchell Dam" NAME
"Mitchell Dam" NAME
City Manager Peter T. Mitchell
Petoskey's Winter Sports Club was organized in September 1927 and a two day program was planned. P.T. Mitchell, city manager, was temporary chairman. More information on this same web site about the Petoskey Winter Sports Park may be accessed by clicking HERE.
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1933 Article Below Left tells City of Petoskey arrangements with the Petoskey Portland Cement Company with the new Mitchell Dam: "It [the new dam] will harness the water in Bear River at the old paper mill site and give the city three hydro-electric plants on the this river. With the completion of the third dam the city will be able to generate its own electrical energy during all the summer months of each year. In the summer the additional energy needed will be purchased from the Petoskey Portland Cement company. It has been stated that during the winter season when this company's plant is idle that the city will be able to sell the company its require amount of electricity for lighting and machinery operation of its shipping department which operates year around."
1945 Article Below Right tells the cement company's electrical production arrangement with the City of Petoskey is not working. "Due to the increased demand the the city of Petoskey has drawn from the Cement plant there is not, at the present time, sufficient power to give uses all of the kilowatt hours needed."
1945 Article Below Right tells the cement company's electrical production arrangement with the City of Petoskey is not working. "Due to the increased demand the the city of Petoskey has drawn from the Cement plant there is not, at the present time, sufficient power to give uses all of the kilowatt hours needed."
1933 Photo Below: Regarding the bronze table, the article above stated: "At the conclusion of his address Mayor Levinson unveiled a bronze tablet carrying the information that the dam is dedicated to P.T. Mitchell and is to be known as the Mitchell dam. The tablet also bears the name of the mayor and the four councilmen, R.E. "Rick" Miller, Lacy Sergent, Thomas Bailey, and E.C. Switzer"... all in the photo below.
Photo Above: 1933 MItchell Dam Dedication Tablet Names...
Dedicated to Peter T. Mitchell (City Manager), Mayor Charles Levinson;
Councilmen: Richard Miller, Thomas Bailey, E.C. Switzer, Lacy Sergent
Dedicated to Peter T. Mitchell (City Manager), Mayor Charles Levinson;
Councilmen: Richard Miller, Thomas Bailey, E.C. Switzer, Lacy Sergent
1945
P.T. Mitchell was replaced in 1945 by Howard Kramer who was in charge of building the diesel plant. Kramer was replaced, as city manager, in 1950 by Ernest Neumann
who directed the building of the new Petoskey dock,
additions to the sewage plant and the making of Magnus Beach, Pioneer Park,
rebuilt the softball park, several playground areas, improvements to winter sports Park
and an expansive street paving program.
who directed the building of the new Petoskey dock,
additions to the sewage plant and the making of Magnus Beach, Pioneer Park,
rebuilt the softball park, several playground areas, improvements to winter sports Park
and an expansive street paving program.
1949
1955
August 1967
Cleanup of Bear River Between Mitchell Dam and the Former Hankey Dam
Cleanup of Bear River Between Mitchell Dam and the Former Hankey Dam
November 1968
Bear River Truck Route Located on Top of Mitchell Dam
Bear River Truck Route Located on Top of Mitchell Dam
March 1974
Bear River's Mitchell Dam
Bear River's Mitchell Dam
December 1974
Mitchell Dam Removal Under Discussion
Mitchell Dam Removal Under Discussion
1975
Looking Back...
Looking Back...
1976
Mitchell Dam
Mitchell Dam
1978
* This Mitchell dam was located closer to Fulton Street and off the end of Charlevoix Avenue where it begins its curve into Ingalls Avenue. Mitchell Dam is not the same dam that one might think as located in 2019 on Lake Street near the Petoskey City buildings, and closer to the Mitchell Street BRIDGE. It is verified that in 2018 the dam beside the city building on Lake Street is called the "Bear River Low Head Dam/Weir".
1979
Article/Photo Below: Mitchell Dam Being Considered for Use as a Footbridge
Article/Photo Below: Mitchell Dam Being Considered for Use as a Footbridge
March 1991
Mitchell Dam Demolition
Mitchell Dam Demolition
May 1991
Mitchell Dam Demolition
Mitchell Dam Demolition
Role of the Lake Street Dam AFTER the 1991 Mitchell Dam Removal
1992