The Higgins Lake-Roscommon Chamber of Commerce held its Annual Winterfest the second Saturday of February. Events included a fishing contest. chili cookoff, kids games, a silent auction and much more. Pictured (l-r) are Izzy Valentino, Tony Valentino and one of the winners ~ Photo courtesy of Traci Smith from the fishing contest.
Fairview Eagle Voice B 6-7 New Grayling 'Relay' forms B-8 Toad's Stool B-11 Laughing Buck B-14 Out & About A 2-5 Roscommon rec plan A 10-11
What's in this issue:
Strengthening the communities of Northeast Michigan Vol. 11, Issue 3
Voice
March 2020
Free Up North
Don’t forget Lovells By Jim Smith LOVELLS - Lovells can quote its origin as 1889. That was when the Michigan Central Railroad established a station at that particular location on the North Branch of the AuSable River. The Michigan Central spur line, (Jackson, Saginaw & Lansing Railroad), ran from Grayling to Lewiston and serviced a host of logging communities along the way. Kneeland, Bucks Siding and Judge came and went with the tall trees. Against all odds Lovells still exists. Much of Lovells success can be traced back to the foresight of Thomas E. Douglas. Douglas moved from Saginaw to Grayling in 1893 to work for R. Hanson as a bookkeeper in the Hanson Lumber Company. In 1898 Douglas built a sawmill and general store in Lovells. In 1902 fire destroyed the store. Douglas rebuilt the store in 1903. By 1903 the logging industry started to wind down. Douglas realized that the Lovells area had more to offer than just logs. The North Branch of the AuSable River, offering car loads of the fish identified as the Grayling and Brook Trout, ran through the center of the settlement and just to the east a bit were the small waters at the head of the Big Creek watershed, another premier although lesser known, trout stream. The new growth, covering the logged over areas, provided excellent cover for deer and other small game and the spring fed rivers ran clear and
cold. Recognizing the areas potential attraction to hunters, fisherman and tourists, Douglas built the Douglas House in 1916. The hotel offered fare and lodging to sportsmen and visitors from all over the United States. At first the railroads brought in visitors by the train load. Private railroad cars and huge refrigerator cars were parked on the siding waiting to be filled with deer and trout. Seeing the growing success of the hotel, Douglas formed the North Branch Outing Club in 1916 and housed it in the hotel. The hotel attracted such famous people as Henry Ford, Harvey Firestone and Charles Nash. Guests of the hotel also included Detroit’s Mayor Marx and Thomas Edison. Henry Ford was one of the originators of the famous AuSable Trout and Game Club. Douglas’s daughter Margaret, according to one source, reported her mother frying as many as 500 trout in one night in addition to baking 12 to 14 pies per day to feed the guests. In 1913 automobiles began to arrive following the old logging trail to Lovells. In 1925 the railroad tracks were removed, thus signaling the close of one era and the opening of another. Lovells is more than a town. It’s a township created by a petition in 1911 that split Maple Forest Township into two pieces, one of See LOVELLS on page 9
Built by Ed Kellogg and a Mr. Ernst in 1913, the school was officially the Lone Pine School but called the Kellogg School since there was almost always a member of the Kellogg family in attendance. (Mr. Ernst was the great, great grandfather of Sheryl Biggs who generously provided resource material for this story).
In continuous operation since 1916, the Douglas Hotel still caters to fisherman and hunters as it has for more than one hundred years.
