Rose City / The Big Fire Historical

Rose City / The Big Fire Historical (HM1WM3)

Location: Rose City, MI 48654 Ogemaw County
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Country: United States of America
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N 44° 25.487', W 84° 6.972'

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Inscription
Rose City

Named for the Rose family which came to Ogemaw County around 1871. Rose City originated as Churchill and was located one-half mile west of here. During the 1870s, Churchill consisted of a post office, a general store, a boardinghouse and settlers' homes. William Rose had come from New York State, drawn to the pines and hardwoods available for lumbering, and built a sawmill along Houghton Creek. Rose's son Allan, a Churchill merchant and the first postmaster, formed a lumber company with M.S. French of West Branch. In 1892 he persuaded the Detroit and Mackinac Railroad to build a branch line to serve the area's lumbering operations. The entire Churchill settlement relocated here that year and was platted as Rose City. The community was officially incorporated as a city in 1905.

The Big Fire

In the early morning hours of April 3, 1910, the booming lumber town of Rose City went up in flames as fire raged through the commercial district. Starting in D.W. Benjamin's grocery store on the south side of West Main Street, the fire quickly spread. Despite the efforts of a bucket brigade, the fire jumped across the street and swept down the north side. As most of the buildings were of frame construction, it took less than an hour for the entire business
district to burn. The town lost over thirty buildings. Property losses, attributed to the fire and looting, totaled an estimated $175,000. Two concrete buildings on the Main Street, those that housed Bell's Store and Naylor's Store, were the only businesses to survive the fire.
Details
HM NumberHM1WM3
Series This marker is part of the Michigan: Michigan Historical Commission series
Tags
Year Placed2002
Placed ByMichigan Historical Commission - Michigan Historical Center
Marker ConditionNo reports yet
Date Added Tuesday, January 24th, 2017 at 9:01pm PST -08:00
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Locationbig map
UTM (WGS84 Datum)16T E 729552 N 4923099
Decimal Degrees44.42478333, -84.11620000
Degrees and Decimal MinutesN 44° 25.487', W 84° 6.972'
Degrees, Minutes and Seconds44° 25' 29.22" N, 84° 6' 58.32" W
Driving DirectionsGoogle Maps
Area Code(s)989
Which side of the road?Marker is on the right when traveling North
Closest Postal AddressAt or near 410 N Williams St, Rose City MI 48654, US
Alternative Maps Google Maps, MapQuest, Bing Maps, Yahoo Maps, MSR Maps, OpenCycleMap, MyTopo Maps, OpenStreetMap

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