Castle Blog

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

“One of Michigan’s Finest Hostelries – The new Hotel Bancroft, recently completed, supplants and succeeds the old Bancroft House, which was founded in 1859, and which earned an enviable reputation for its atmosphere of hospitality, comfortable appointments and excellent table, The ambition of the management to continue-the old-time cordiality and to perpetuate the standard of cuisine is reflected in the sincere efforts of the organization to please all patrons. In modernized

Part I – Random Discoveries “The most famous item on the hotel’s menu is Bancroft Corned Beef Hash of which 6,000 pounds are served each month. The dish was originated in 1872 when Chef George Cobb had a surplus of cold boiled potatoes. He diced four cupfuls of them, added four of diced Corned Beef, a cup of coffee cream, a pinch of nutmeats [Sic.], and salt. Next, he browned the patties on both sides in butter and served.” “Today Bancroft Hotel Hash is severed at the Waldor

“We have always enjoyed Jacobson’s. Whenever I go to a shower, someone almost always comments [on] the box from Jacobson’s is my gift because all showers, graduations, weddings, and of course Christmas gifts are from Jacobson’s. Weichmann’s, Heavenrich’s and Seitners are next. “We have walked from one end of Fashion Square Mall to the other and did not find what we wanted.” –Anonymous letter to The Saginaw News, September 26, 1976. Sometimes anniversaries are right before yo

“Mrs. J.M. Brogan and daughters, Misses Janet and Edith Brogan pleasantly entertained a party of about thirty friends Saturday at the house boat ‘Yosemite,’ near Carr’s Landing. The party went up the river on the steamer Josie. The excellent fishing was enjoyed and one of the features of the day was a fish dinner in the ‘Yosemite’.” –The Saturday Evening News, October 31, 1898. By the 1890s, the great logging boom was over. With the end of logging, the Tittabawassee, Shiawa

“Fire destroyed the Parkway Inn popular night club on Veteran’s Memorial Parkway (US-23) early today. The loss was estimated by the owner at more than $75,000.” -The Saginaw News, December 15, 1959. THE SAGINAW NEWS, October 13, 1947. THE BAY CITY TIMES EXTRA, December 19, 1941. At this point, the earliest advertisement we have found for the Parkway Inn appeared in The Saginaw News on December 5, 1941. Proclaiming it “Saginaw’s Newest Night Spot[,] under the management of