Castle Blog

“The camping season at Higgins Lake has opened, and many Saginaw people are prepairing [sic] to leave for that popular resort. Mrs. C.W. Ellis again has charge of the dining hall at Lake side [sic] camp. Mrs. James Hay and family, Mrs. M.N. Brady and daughter, and G Geo. F. Williams were among the first arrivals. Maj.  N.S. Wood and family will leave in a few days for the Lake.”  - The Evening News , July 13, 1892. While the spelling of “prepairing” in this 1892 article may b

Last year, we received a donation of archival material – an intriguing and enigmatic mixture of photographs and documents. As we studied and pondered, we realized this diverse collection opened a window into the life of Eleanor Richardson Gage, a woman of whose accomplishments–we are embarrassed to say–we were unaware.  For an eloquent summary of her life, we turn to an article published at the time of her passing: “Long, Fruitful Life Ends for Eleanor Richardson Gage Mrs. El

“I really should go down in history and I won’t dare tell it while I am still around. A full page ought  to be devoted somewhere, sometime to the woman who stayed home to run a broken-down washing machine when she could have been making a very private social call on the President’s wife. Here’s how it happened.”   -A letter from Mrs. Kenneth A. Lord to her mother and father, dated November 22, 1936. K.A. Lord home Last summer we featured a glimpse into the lives of Emily Pack

“The Holidays have been marked by many teas, outstanding among them the one that took place Saturday afternoon at the home of Mrs. Grace Sample McClure, 1415 South Jefferson, where the Saginaw chapter of the American Association of University Women entertained many Saginaw young women home from their respective colleges and universities.”  - The Saginaw News , December 31, 1939. Born in 1881, Grace Sample was the daughter of Emma Leeke and Dr. Chester H. Sample – her childhoo

Married on April 20, 1918, Grace Thompson and Herbert C. Fisher’s farm and home were located on the northwest corner of Mackinaw and Tittabawassee Roads in Kochville Township. Herbert’s obituary noted he was born “May 21, 1887, in Kochville Township, where he resided his entire life. He married Grace Thompson in Saginaw.”*  Farming was central to their lives – Herbert’s father’s farm was a little over a mile north of their home, and his maternal grandparents’ farm was on the

In Saginaw County, traditions that nourish the spirit often begin around a shared table—food, art, music, and conversation blending into something lasting. Few examples capture that spirit better than the Saginaw African Cultural Festival, the oldest ongoing Black arts festival in the country. The festival’s roots stretch back to February 14, 1969, when the Inner City Arts Exhibit (ICAE) opened in the old St. Rita’s building on Narloch Street for a single-day event. ICAE was

“If you’re going to sell Red-hots and frankfurts sell the ‘As You Like It’ kind. They’re good and will make you money.” - The Saginaw Evening News , August 13, 1907.   The story of the development of the hot dog and their companion bun is complex and shrouded in myth and legend. For an outline of the history of the hot dog, we defer to the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council website .   The hot dog’s first appearance in Saginaw is encumbered in tall tales. However, we know t

September 2, 1984. “After Almost four decades of serving authentic Greek cuisine in Saginaw, Zorba’s Lounge on the city’s West Side is closing.   ‘I want to thank everybody. I appreciate all these years,’ said a sometime tearful Tom Veremix. ‘And I know it hurts you guys, but it hurts me more.’   Veremis immigrated from Greece 70 years ago and has operated Zorba’s for almost 40 years.” - The Saginaw News , March 30, 2021.   It has been nearly five years since Zorba’s Lounge a

“Restaurants come and go but when goes after more than a half a century on the Saginaw scene its passing deserves more than causal chronicle.   Such a one was Vlassis Restaurant at 411 Court in the shadow of the Saginaw Courthouse. It was a perennial favored eating place of county employes[sic], supervisors and uncounted numbers of visitors from throughout the county when they had business at the Courthouse.   It was started in 1913 by Theodore A. Ted Vlassis and his brother,