Castle Blog

“Higgins lake beyond Roscommon, a pretty inland lake, is the summer home of many Saginawians. The lake is divided into camps, Lakeside and Cottage Grove. At the former are cottages owned by M.N. Brady, E.D. Church, Dr. J.N. Kemp, R.S. Montague, George L. Burrows, Jr., Mrs. Grace Britton, C.E. Powell and Frederick Carlisle. At Cottage Grove are those owned by Mrs. Flora B. Vincent, Newell Barnard, James G. Macpherson, Mrs. Violet B. Brand, Gilbert M. Stark, Roger R. Hill, Geor

“A steady stream of people stopped Sunday for a look into Saginaw’s past and what should be a page from its future. Our family was among many who got a close look at the Montague Inn in the Grove. We were shown the class and elegance that has been resurrected on Saginaw’s East Side.” -“Touring Montague Inn Like finding buried treasure.” The Saginaw News, May 31, 1986. Since 1986 – for forty years, the Montague Inn at 1581 South Washington Avenue has been a landmark and desti

Last week’s history of Saginaw’s AT&T building inspired us to search for the early history of telephone service in Saginaw. We did not have to look far, a July 12, 1931, feature section in The Saginaw Sunday News, celebrating the completion of the new telephone building, included the following: “Details of the origin and early history of telephone service in Saginaw are somewhat uncertain. A few newspaper clippings, and a copy of the city’s first telephone directory, bearing

“One’s first impression and one’s final impression on a visit to the new telephone building is one of vast modernism” -The Saginaw Sunday News, July 12, 1931. Since its dedication in 1931, the Bell Telephone Building, now the AT&T Building, has defined the southern portion of Saginaw’s downtown business district. Its dedication, in the midst of the Great Depression, marked both the completion of a major new landmark and the transformation of Saginaw’s telephone system. The b

Sometimes an empty bottle is simply a container void of its contents. However, there are exceptions. And in this case the inscription on the bottle’s side: “Pure Horse Radish*, From L.M. Lyon, Market Gardener, East Saginaw, Michigan” provides a link to numerous Saginaw stories. Lucius M. Lyon, was born in New York. He moved to the Saginaw area by 1870. Initially, after his arrival, he worked in the lumber and salt industry. The 1870 census notes he was a hoop maker, and the

As happens sometimes, we were looking in the collection for items related to one Mershon and found a lovely collection of typed recipes saved by a different Mershon. In this case, the recipe belonged to William B. Mershon, Jr. The pancake recipe we selected, Mershon noted, was from his father’s private train car chef, Albert W. Marden. Marden seems to have done well for himself. His first notation in city directories labels him a cook, while he later moves closer to downtown

Decidedly newer than some of Saginaw County’s earliest taverns and inns, the subject of this week’s Castle Test Kitchen once offered Hemlock residents a place to eat, drink, celebrate—and, if the evening ran particularly late, even spend the night. For much of the twentieth century, the Hemlock Hotel was one of the community’s most recognizable gathering places. Today, however, you won’t find its brick façade along Saginaw Street. Instead, the site serves up a very different

Thanks to the beloved Beans Bunny that used to grace Saginaw’s skyline, locals are no strangers to the importance of beans to Michigan’s agricultural industry. We have shared the Michigan Bean story before, so today we are going to briefly look at a state institution centered right here in Saginaw County - the Michigan Bean Commission. May 8, 1947 advertisement published in the Flint Journal. MSU Archives. The Michigan Bean Commission was formed by an act of the state legisl

“In 1865 George Cobb, chef at the Bancroft Hotel, originated the now nationally famous Bancroft corned beef hash. This delicious dish is listed on the menus of leading hotels in this country and in Europe. Whenever you order Bancroft corned beef hash you can be sure of a treat. Especially here at the Hotel Bancroft where the chef uses the same recipe developd in 1865.” -From a mid-twentieth-century table display card used in the Bancroft Hotel’s restaurants. The Bancroft Tod