Castle Blog

“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

“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