Identified as the “Queenie Smith cottage” by Vin Moore in 1996, this cottage still exists but is much changed.
Its current owners would rather its previous history not be made known.
Courtesy Omena Historical Society

Once there were two Omena businesses that came, tried hard to succeed, and failed after a short time, disappearing without a trace, no photos, no one remembering them, only mentioned in passing in history books, fading into the mists of yesterday. Except for their short duration, they are about as different as could possibly be from each other.

Letter from Geneva Smith to Betty Armstrong, 1985 Courtesy Mark Frank

The first, Bidlemans’ gas station, all but forgotten except for a mention in a letter from Geneva Smith which says only that a “building was built for a gas station in 1935 by Mrs. Charles Bidleman”. It was located “just below the Presbyterian Manse on the “corner-curve where the cordwood once stood” (from a mention in A History of Leelanau Township).

Competition

There was unexpected competition. John Putnam opened his gas station during 1935 also, and when Anderson’s store across the street put in a gas pump out front of the store, it was too much. Bidlemans gas station was open barely 4 years, when, after a succession of relatives and others doing the day-to-day operations, it closed and was made into a cottage. Today, after quite a transformation over the years, it is a weekly rental cottage owned by Omena Village Preservation Association.

Putnam’s small gas station – Courtesy A History of Leelanau County

Putnam’s small gas station, located across from Anderson’s Store, was the only remaining station after a few years. It expanded into a full-featured service station in 1938, adding a service bay for mechanical work, a bar that would seat about 30 people, and living quarters facing the bay. It would go on to become the Leelanau Wine Cellars tasting room and Not Just A Bar restaurant in later years.

“Resort Hotel”

The second was Queenie Smith’s “special kind of resort hotel,” a brothel established around 1949 in the prosperous days following World War II. Male visitors would arrive for a week at a time from Chicago or Detroit, and were picked up at the train station in Traverse City.

Somehow during their week long visits, they never interacted with anyone locally. No one knows what Queenie looked like, how many women she employed, or why she choose Omena for her business. What is known is that Queenie was rather admired for her ingenuity and her discretion, as well as for being a “enterprising working woman”.

Anderson’s Store with the newly installed gas pump out front. – Courtesy Omena Historical Society

Young Oli Kiersey, who as a boy worked at Kimmerly’s Grocery in downtown Omena and noticed things like a group of young girls coming around once in a while, remembered, “They would walk down, and after looking around in the store, walk back. They were quite private” he said.

Queenie was Smart

Cottagers were naturally curious about the enterprise, but they kept a polite distance. Queenie was careful not to call attention to herself and even the police, though aware of her business, “didn’t have the time or energy to bother with her.”(anonymous quote).

Queenie quietly left the area sometime after 1950. It is said some kind of “raucousness occurred”. No one knows what happened, only that she succeeded quite well for a time, “adding a little spice to the Omena scene.”

It’s interesting to think of past Omena Residents: Queenie and her establishment putting up a valiant effort to succeed, while to the north of her 15 years earlier Mrs. Charles Bidleman struggled with her new gas station. To the west, 20 years before that Andrew Anderson of the very successful Anderson’s Store, was elected to the State Legislature. Even earlier out on the point General Benjamin Grierson enjoyed the whistled salutes of passing steamers from his cottage on the water. He had retired from his celebrated career in the military and moved to Omena in 1896.

Some found success, others failed, but all were folded into the fabric of this little town with a heart.

Courtesy Omena Historical Society, A History of Leelanau Township, and Mark Frank