West Michigan Pike Route but Is Most Visible Between Whitehall and Shelby

Oceana County Historic Resource Survey 198 Oceana Drive, Rothbury New England Barn & Queen Anne Residence Hart-Montague Trail, Rothbury The trail is twenty-two miles of the former rail bed of the Pere Marquette Railroad. It was made a state park in 1988. The railroad parallels much of the West Michigan Pike route but is most visible between Whitehall and Shelby. New Era New Era was found in 1878 by a group of Dutch that had been living in Montague serving as mill hands. They wanted to return to an agrarian lifestyle and purchased farms and planted peach orchards. In 1947, there were eighty-five Dutch families in New Era. 4856 Oceana, New Era New Era Canning Company The New Era Canning Company was established in 1910 by Edward P. Ray, a Norwegian immigrant who purchased a fruit farm in New Era. Ray grew raspberries, a delicate fruit that is difficult to transport in hot weather. Today, the plant is still owned by the Ray family and processes green beans, apples, and asparagus. Oceana County Historic Resource Survey 199 4775 First Street, New Era New Era Reformed Church 4736 First Street, New Era Veltman Hardware Store Concrete Block Buildings. New Era is characterized by a number of vernacular concrete block buildings. Prior to 1900, concrete was not a common building material for residential or commercial structures. Experimentation, testing and the development of standards for cement and additives in the late 19th century, led to the use of concrete a strong reliable building material after the turn of the century. Concrete was also considered to be fireproof, an important consideration as many communities suffered devastating fires that burned blocks of their wooden buildings Oceana County Historic Resource Survey 200 in the late nineteenth century. Consumers could purchase concrete block forms that enabled them to mix the concrete and make the blocks on site reducing construction costs. Some of the earliest concrete block forms were rusticated so that the finished product would resemble stone, hence the term “rock face” concrete block. 4723 First Street, New Era Trailside Restaurant Barrel Roof Building, New Era Built in 1951 as the New Era Fire Department Building. Though utilized in Europe, barrel roof construction was not introduced into the United States until the 1930s. German structural engineer Anton Tedesko designed a barrel roof dairy barn exhibit building for the Century of Progress in Chicago in 1933. He also constructed America’s first large scale barrel roof building, the Hershey Arena in Hershey, Pennsylvania in 1936. Also called thin shell construction, barrel roofs were utilized by the military during World War II. Oceana County Historic Resource Survey 201 Quonset Hut, New Era The Quonset Hut is a unique architectural resource that that is on the verge of extinction though it represents a short but deeply affecting period of our history The lightweight, portable, metal buildings were designed to meet the shelter needs of the military during World War II. Over 153,000 of the corrugated metal pre- fabricated buildings were produced during the war years. A number of Quonset huts were found along Oceana Drive, this one is adjacent to the Hart-Montague Trail 4646 S First Street, New Era Tri-County Feed Service The first grain elevator was a steam-powered elevator reportedly built in Buffalo, NY in 1842 by Joseph Dart. The purpose was to speed the loading and unloading process of grain, which had previously been moved by hand and some times took days to complete. 3476 S. 80th Street, New Era Country Dairy Farm Store The farm store was established in 1983. Oceana County Historic Resource Survey 202 3475 Oceana Drive, New Era Extreme Collision Quonset Hut Oceana Drive, New Era Abandoned Fruit Stand Oceana Drive, New Era Barn Oceana County Historic Resource Survey 203 Shelby 168 Lincoln, Shelby Oceana Foods (Cherry Central Inc.) A fruit drying facility that processes cherries, blueberries, cranberries, apples, etc. Member of the Traverse City based Cherry Central Cooperative established in 1973. Third Street, Shelby Concrete Block Garage Fifth Street, Shelby Loading Dock This building is part of a complex of railroad buildings in Shelby. Oceana County Historic Resource Survey 204 Fifth Street, Shelby Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad Building 100 E. Fifth Street, Shelby Great Lakes Ice Railroad related building 1949 Ray Street, Shelby Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) Statue, New Era Cemetery The Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) was established after the Civil War by veteran Benjamin Franklin Stephenson of Springfield, Illinois. By 1890 the organization had four hundred thousand members. The GAR developed its own uniform and held regular meetings at local posts. The organization adopted three goals: fraternity, charity and loyalty. Its objectives under loyalty were to preserve Civil War sites and to ensure that those that died during the war were remembered. To that end it placed memorials, such as canons in courtyard squares and statues in cemeteries and parks, around the country. Oceana County Historic Resource Survey 205 Sixth Street, Shelby Former Texaco Gas Station 298 N. State Street 34 E. Third, Shelby Van’s Body Shops This concrete block building was constructed in 1947. Oceana County Historic Resource Survey 206 267 N. Michigan, Shelby Harris Funeral Home Victor Cooper purchased an existing undertaking business in 1909 and moved the business to this Queen Anne residence, the former Fred Llewellyn home, in 1924. 25 Third, Shelby Fire Station The three garage addition was completed in 1948. Sixth Street, Shelby Veteran’s Park Oceana County Historic Resource Survey 207 114 E. Fourth, Shelby This distinctive style home known as “Hungerd” was the residence of H.M Royal a local printer that established the “Oceana Herald” newspaper in 1888. 508 N. State Street, Shelby Work of Life Prophetic Prayer This Quonset Hut was formerly used as the Shelby Pavilion. Oceana Drive, Shelby Pentwater Brick Farmhouse The house was constructed around 1891. Oceana County Historic Resource Survey 208 Oceana Drive, Shelby Farmstead Oceana Drive, Shelby Charles Schmeiding Roadside Fruit Stand and Gas Station According to a March 12,1927 article in Michigan Farmer, this was the first roadside fruit stand on the West Michigan Pike (M-11). It was established by Schmeiding in 1919 after he received requests from auto tourist to purchase fruit from his farm. The stone gas station was built in 1924 and the bungalow style building with “Kelly Stone gables on the second floor” was built in 1926. 3333 W. Weaver Road, Shelby Oceana Country Club The golf course was established in 1962. Oceana County Historic Resource Survey 209 Crystal Lake Boat Access Crystal Lake, which is just west of Oceana Drive, appears in West Michigan tourist guides of the 1920s as a resort destination. Scout & Water Street, Shelby Fruit Stand Water Street was part of the original route of the West Michigan Pike. This fruit stand is on the road to Crystal Lake. Star Hill Road, Shelby South Hart Cemetery Oceana County Historic Resource Survey 210 Hart 1025 State Street, Hart Oceana County Fairgrounds The Ocean County Fairgrounds was built in 1871. The original Community Exhibition Hall was destroyed by a storm in July 2006. During World War II, the fairgrounds housed German prisoners of war that worked at the local canning plant and on local farms. 300 Griswold Street, Hart John Gurney Park The park was established in 1914 by former state Senator Theron Gurney to honor his son, John, who was killed in the Battle of Santiago de Cuba during the Spanish American War. The park was one in a chain of early auto tourist camps that provided camping sites to those traveling on the West Michigan Pike in the 1920s. State Street, Hart World War II Military Plane U.S. Air Force TR-073 Oceana County Historic Resource Survey 211 106 Water Street, Hart Depot Insurance Agency Originally this building was the Pere Marquette Railroad passenger depot. Wood Street, Hart Commercial Building This building is probably affiliated with the railroad. Water Street, Hart Gas Station A vernacular version of the streamlined gas stations developed by Texaco. Oceana County Historic Resource Survey 212 State & Church Street, Hart United Methodist Church 204 N. State Street, Hart Hodges Pontiac This Art Deco style automobile dealership and gas station was built of fireproof tiles around 1930. 27 S. State Street, Hart The Flower Bin The building on the left was the Hart theater. Oceana County Historic Resource Survey 213 Prairie Style Home State Street, Hart 135 S. State, Hart Hart Post Office Built in 1940, the post office includes a mural entitled “Boy Rounding up the Stock” painted by Milwaukee, Wisconsin artist Ruth Grotenrath. The post office mural program was housed under the U.S. Treasury Department’s Section of Fine Arts and was one of Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal programs during the Great Depression. 50 State Street, Hart Huntington Bank The building was originally constructed as the First National Bank. Oceana County Historic Resource Survey 214 114 Dryden, Hart Ottawa Historical Society The Chadwick-Munger House was originally built by Harvey Chadwick. It was purchased and improved by Dr. L .P. Munger, who experimented with fruit growing in Oceana County. His wife, Edith Munger, was the only woman of eleven delegates appointed by Governor Green, to serve on a commission to select the first Director of Conservation for the state of Michigan. Edith Munger was active in many fields from food conservation to women’s rights and was a strong conservationist long active in the Michigan Audubon Society. She later served as the first president of the Michigan Conservation Council and vice president of the Michigan Forestry Association. Edith Munger actively worked to have a strip of dune land to the north of Little Point Sable designated as a state park called Golden Dunes, which later became Silver Lake.

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