Station: Chatham, MI

LS&I Chatham Depot

Chatham DepotChatham Depot Chatham Depot

Chatham, located in Alger county, was founded in 1896 around a lumber camp.  It was a station on the Munising Railway (later the Lake Superior & Ishpeming) and the village was developed by the Cleveland Cliffs Iron Company which used wood from the forests for supports in the underground mines of the Marquette iron range.

Chatha Sawdust Loader

Photo info: Top, an early photo of the depot with a hand cart nearby.  Note the wire insulators hanging from below the depot roof [Alan Loftis collection]. 2nd photo, the same LS&I depot and right-of-way in 2002.  [Dave Fulkerth photo].  3rd and 4th photos, the depot has been restored in these 2022 views. [Dale Berry]. Bottom photo, a sawdust loading device still in position in Chatham in 2002.  [Dave Fulkerth]


Notes

The DSS&A Chatham Station was located at Rocky River Road and was built about 1900. [UPM]

The State of Michigan Experimental Farm was located here. [LSMI/1903]


Time Line

1925. A fire started by children playing with matches, virtually wiped out the small village of Chatham, 30 miles east of Marquette. The Alger county infirmary, the Chatham school, a hotel, the LS&I station and section house, a garage and the residence of C.C. Brown are the only buildings left standing undamaged by the blaze. Fifteen buildings now being in ashes. Two stores, a pool room, a bakery, a barn, apartments, the post office and two warehouses were burned. [BCE-1925-0408]


Industry

Hale & Nevins mill plant - (xxxx ← 1906 → xxxx) - owns considerable timber in the vicinity and manufactures pine and cedar shingles and hemlock and hardwood lumber. [AML-1/6/1906]

Bibliography

The following sources are utilized in this website. [SOURCE-YEAR-MMDD-PG]:

  • [AAB| = All Aboard!, by Willis Dunbar, Eerdmans Publishing, Grand Rapids ©1969.
  • [AAN] = Alpena Argus newspaper.
  • [AARQJ] = American Association of Railroads Quiz Jr. pamphlet. © 1956
  • [AATHA] = Ann Arbor Railroad Technical and Historical Association newsletter "The Double A"
  • [AB] = Information provided at Michigan History Conference from Andrew Bailey, Port Huron, MI

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