36 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



INDUSTRIAL CADILLAC 



HISTORICAL. 



The very name Cadillac is pregnant with 

 historical reminiscence. It is a far cry from 

 the year 1701 — when with fifty settlers and 

 fifty soldiers Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac 

 founded Detroit — to the year 1907, when 

 that community has become the metropolis of 

 a great state, and has sent its intluenee out 

 in all directions, so that even far to north- 

 ward thrives an enterprising city, of 9,000 

 inhabitants, which perpetuates his name. An 

 a|)])ropriate choice it was, for the noble 

 Frenchman was the first commander of that 

 vast and indefinite region lying north and 

 west of Detroit, known to the early settlers 

 ;ui<l exj}lorers as Michiliniackinae. 



The city of Cadillac, in Wexford county, 

 is now about thirty-five 

 years old. In Feb- 

 ruary, 1872, the north- 

 ern extension of the 

 (trand Rapids and In- 

 diana Railroad was 

 completed as far as 

 the twin lakes in Wex- 

 ford county and the 

 primitive village of 

 Clam Lake, afterward 

 known as Cadillac, 

 was founded. 



At an early date the 

 fine agricultural lands 

 of Wexford county at- 

 tracted the settler. In 

 September, 1S62, B. 

 VV. Hall located land 

 in this county lying 

 on the main trail to 

 the Grand Traverse 

 country. The follow- 

 ing spring he settled 

 on the lands he had 

 acquired, and others 

 soon followed. In 

 1865, J. H. Wheeler 

 came from Western 

 New York and the 

 settlers willingly sub- 

 scribed their labors to hel]) him build a saw- 

 mill. Until that time all the houses had been 

 built of logs, the nearest sawmill being that 

 of Hannah, Lay & Co., at Traverse City. 

 The new mill was located on Wheeler's creek, 

 a branch of the Manistee river, one mile 

 north of the present village of Sherman and, 

 difficulty being experienced in building the 

 dam, was not completed until the summer of 

 1867. It was the first saw-mill in Wexford 

 county and was equipped with a mulay saw. 

 In later years this old site was occupied by 

 several successive mills, of which two were 

 destroyed by fire. Wheeler's frame house, 

 built in 1867 out of lumber cut by his mill, 

 was the first of its kind in Wexford county. 



FOR.EWOR.D 



//aH.s Andersen once uTOte a series of tales 

 lehieh he named, " Bilderbuch ohne Bilder" — o 

 picture hoot: icittiout pictures. The accom- 

 /Himiiftu sl^-rtrh. in dirrct 'tntithr.'^is, is intended 

 to fir u stnni told /'>/ pictures. It is the story of 

 i'liililtni'. ttic rulcrprisini;. injtucndnl. beautiful 

 unit linniitil:c cilij of norllicru Michiiian, u]itbi 

 coiled "the bii/ficst liltic cittj in tlic countrii," 

 The le.rt cutploijcd herein is used simpty to 

 I nii'liosize the facts told by the illustrations. 



It was the original intention of the Craud 

 Rapids and Indiana Railway Company to 

 build its lines between Little and Big Clam 

 lakes, but George A. Mitchell, the founder 

 and real father of Cadillac, a sturdy, forceful 

 pioneer lumberman who became owner of a 

 large tract of pine contiguous to the lesser 

 lake, saw that a choice mill and town site lay 

 on its east side, and induced the railroad com- 



riTY HALL, CADILLAC. 



pany to build its line along that shore. The 

 utilitarian reasons that induced him to urge 

 this route were that the prevailing winds were 

 from the West, which would hel|) to float 

 logs across the lake to his mill, and that tlie 

 gradually rising ground on that side afforded 

 a good location for a town. The lesser of 

 these two pretty lakes is called Lake Cadillac, 

 and the larger and westerly one Lake Mitchell, 

 in honor of the late George A. Mitchell. 



In 1871, previous to the advent of the rail- 

 road, J. W. Cobbs erected a small mill on the 

 present site of Cadillac, and in 1S72 another 

 was erected by Shaekelton & Green. In 1878 

 the latter was purchased by J. Cummer & Son, 

 who became prominently identified with the 



manufacture of hunber at Cadillac, and their 

 house has continued an important factor up 

 to the present day. 



The real inauguration of the lumber indus- 

 try in Wexford county, however, was in 1S72, 

 when, in addition to the heavy timber opera- 

 tions which found an outlet for logs by way 

 of the Manistee river, four sawmills were 

 erected with capacities varying from 2.5,000 

 to 75,000 feet daily. These four sawmills were 

 soon cutting 4,000,000 feet of lumber a month. 

 Thus, between the logging operations on the 

 ri\er and the sawmill enterprises in its midst, 

 the village rapidly became an important lum- 

 ber town. Other mills were soon erected at 

 Haring, Long Lake, Bond's Mills and Mc- 

 Coy's Siding, all in the vicinity. The oriyinnl 

 Haynes' planing mill 

 was built in 1872. .1. 

 W. Cobbs soon after- 

 wards became asso- 

 ciated with W. W. 

 Mitchell in the firm of 

 Cobbs & Mitchell, 

 which house has lieeu 

 incorporated and per- 

 petuated under that 

 name, its interests 

 now being largely held 

 by Mr. Mitchell and 

 Frank J. Cobbs, son 

 of the founder. 



Among the other 

 pioneer lumber manu- 

 facturers of Cadillac 

 w ere .1. E. Hale, 

 Shaekelton & Green, 

 Harris Brothers, Mc- 

 Coy & Ayer, Combs 

 Brothers, and M. J. 

 Bond. As time pro- 

 gressed, these various 

 operators cut out their 

 pine timber and re- 

 tired from activity in 

 the hmiber affairs of 

 the district. The two 

 real pioneer interests 

 remaining are those of Cobbs & Mitchell. 

 Inc., and the Cummers. 



Today almost the totality of the splendid 

 white pine and Norway of the Cadillac region 

 is exhausted, and present operators inter- 

 ested almost exclusively in the production of 

 hardwoods and hemlock are Cobbs & Mitchell, 

 Inc.; Mitchell Brothers Company, operating 

 a largo mill at Jennings, twelve miles east 

 of Cadillac ; Cummer-Diggins Company ; Mur- 

 phy & Diggins; Cadillac Handle Company, 

 and Williams Bros. ' Co. Other institutions de- 

 pending directly on the forest resources of the 

 region are the Cadillac Veneer Company, man- 

 ufacturers of veneers and panels; Cummer 

 Manufacturing Company, manufacturers of 



