Life in Omena

This is a customer reply card from Solle’s Bookstore from 1941. Solle named the local train “Maude” and credited her for delivering his books. Courtesy Leelanau Historical Society Rarely does death strike the same family twice within one week. But shortly after Carrie Solle was called to Chicago in March of 1949 to be with her sister whose husband had died, she got another call that her own husband had died as well. William H. Solle, “World Famous Omena Bookseller”, was home alone on that Sunday afternoon when he became ill. He called Dr Johnson of Northport, who found him… Read More »

William Craker with his egg basket. He brought eggs to the store and got groceries which he carried home every day. Photo courtesy Leelanau Historical Society It says a lot about a man’s character that he took care of an eagle for 14 years. William A. Craker, “Delly” to his many friends, captured the eagle while he and his family were living in Maple City in 1917. He named it “Megizzewas”, and kept it for 14 years until it escaped. What does it take to take care of an Eagle? First of all, an eagle isn’t a pet. The most… Read More »

This is a typical 1920’s dance band. It is uncertain which band it is, but it is probably playing at the Elks Hall, not Sunset Lodge. The University of Illinois dance band that the Wheelers brought up to play for their guests would have been composed of the same instruments. – Courtesy Tom Carter’s collection A rock sitting out in Omena Bay would have heard so many kinds of music floating over the water over the years. All through its history, music from dance bands, pump reed organs, pianos, gramophone’s, a famous “Cremona” violin, and John Van Holt’s beloved Viola,… Read More »

The farm horse Maude with Ole’s parents. – Courtesy Katja Sage The family had no electricity or running water in Ole’s early years. During the colder months baths were once a week. His mother poured kettles of hot water from the wood stove into a big laundry tub in the kitchen. The trips to the outhouse were cold, especially at night in the snow! They used candles and Kerosine lanterns for light. These could have been the cause of the fire which completely burned down the family home destroying all the childhood photos of Ole in 1956 while Ole was… Read More »

Putnam’s Gas Station with several additions ca. 1950 Courtesy of Ed and Caroline Oberndorf and Omena Historical Society In 1938, John Putnam looked around and saw that Omena had three competing gas stations, two general stores, two churches, two schools, two cemeteries, a bookstore and an ice cream parlor. What it didn’t have, and never had was a bar. He added on to his little gas station to change that. Putnam’s was now a full featured service station and a bar with seating for about 30 people. It was a success and for the next twenty years Putnam’s was the… Read More »

There was a big mulberry tree in my back yard when I was little. My brother was too small to climb it. I loved climbing into that tree and tossing things down on my brother just to get him mad. My mom had several clothes lines in the back yard and on wash day, the sheets waved in the breeze all day. One day I climbed the mulberry tree and to my delight found big purple berries there, a bit tart for eating, but just right for throwing. Looking down I spotted my brother playing with his trucks under the… Read More »

Vintage Light Bulbs Up until the early 1900’s Omena was in the dark. Arriving at a lamp-lit cottage, with hand-pump well and heat producing wood-stoves. With ice boxes for cooling food, and a thin walled out-house was a shock to early Omena visitors from the city. But improvement in basic utilities came at different times to the various homes and cottages. A Detroit firm constructed a dam in Leland sometime between 1906 and 1908, according to A History of Leelanau County. The dam provided electricity for Leland, Northport, Omena and Sutton’s Bay twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week… Read More »

Leo Pewash and Dorothy with their dog standing in front of the Ice Cream Shop. Not sure if this was in April, but since he is in shirtsleeves. and Dorothy has a coat on, it might have been. Courtesy Omena Historical Society April can be hard. It may be snowing or sunny and warm. The one thing for sure is that when April comes we are all so ready for it to be spring. It was even harder in the 1800s. Food and firewood were running low, the weather was still cold, and the grey skies were affecting peoples mental… Read More »

The coming of cars in the 1920s changed life in Omena for the old and the young. For the locals who made deliveries of ice and food, and the summer people who wanted their independence from train and boat travel. The passenger and steamers, as well as the smaller tourist vessels, gradually disappeared. Scheduled train service diminished too, as people grew to prefer the freedom that automobiles provided. Kids could get a drivers license when they were fourteen in Michigan. Driving provided a chance to expand their horizons for teens eager to leave the confines of their cottages and families…. Read More »

Vehicle stuck in the mud – Courtesy American history.si.edu Around 1900 if the road was in excellent condition, and the team of horses were as well, a stage could make the trip to Traverse City leaving Northport at 6AM, Omena at 7, and Sutton’s Bay at 8:15 and arrive at 11AM. Sometimes there was a lot of dust making it hard to see what was coming. There were no traffic laws, but the stage driver put a little bell on the neck yoke of the horses that could be heard for a quarter of a mile so people knew he… Read More »