August 6, 2025 • 6 mins
The History of Tower, Michigan (1900–1950)
In this episode of End of the Road in Michigan, we travel to Cheboygan County to tell the story of Tower, a northern Michigan village built on timber and the railroad. At the turn of the 20th century, Tower was a booming lumber town — home to busy sawmills, the Stratton Handle Factory, and a thriving Main Street lined with shops, hotels, and saloons.
But Tower’s fortunes changed quickly. In 1911, a massive wildfire destroyed much of its industry and infrastructure. Just over a decade later, the Black River flooded, threatening to destroy the Tower Dam and washing out sections of railroad track. Through fire, flood, and economic decline, Tower adapted — from a bustling mill town to a quiet rural community.
Using rare historical accounts, this episode traces the rise, trials, and survival of Tower, Michigan, from 1900 to 1950. It’s a story echoed in small towns across the state — places built by the forest, changed by time, and held together by the people who stayed.
In this episode of End of the Road in Michigan, we travel to Cheboygan County to tell the story of Tower, a northern Michigan village built on timber and the railroad. At the turn of the 20th century, Tower was a booming lumber town — home to busy sawmills, the Stratton Handle Factory, and a thriving Main Street lined with shops, hotels, and saloons.
But Tower’s fortunes changed quickly. In 1911, a massive wildfire destroyed much of its industry and infrastructure. Just over a decade later, the Black River flooded, threatening to destroy the Tower Dam and washing out sections of railroad track. Through fire, flood, and economic decline, Tower adapted — from a bustling mill town to a quiet rural community.
Using rare historical accounts, this episode traces the rise, trials, and survival of Tower, Michigan, from 1900 to 1950. It’s a story echoed in small towns across the state — places built by the forest, changed by time, and held together by the people who stayed.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
This is the end of the road in Michigan, where we bring to life the stories of small towns,
(00:05):
their people, and the moments that shaped them. Today we journey to a village in Chaboygan
County, a place once alive with the sound of sawmills and train whistles. Now a quiet reminder
of Michigan's lumber past. This is the history of Tower Michigan, from 1900 to 1950.
(00:29):
At the turn of the 20th century, Tower was a new community, born of timber and the railroad.
The Detroit and Maconac Railway had only just pushed north. Its tracks reaching the Black
Rivers rich, hardwood forests. The village was named for Ellen May Tower, an army nurse who served
(00:49):
in the Spanish-American War and died of typhoid in 1898. She was the first American service woman
to die on foreign soil. By 1900, the whistle of steam engines echoed off the hills.
Logs floated down the Black River to sawmills clustered along its banks.
The Stratton handle factory turned out thousands of broom and tool handles each day.
(01:14):
The newly built tower dam backed up the river to form a mill pond, holding logs until the
saws were ready. Main street, known as Barkley Street, buscled with boardwalks, storefronts and
hitching posts. There was a bakery, a drugist, a pool hall, hotels, and a long line of saloons.
(01:35):
Horses clopped past the public schoolhouse where the children of millworkers learned their lessons.
The depot was the heart of it all. Trains came and went daily, carrying freight,
passengers, and the lifeblood of the town. Lumber. Tower was more than just a work site.
(01:55):
It was a community. By 1910, the population had swelled to nearly 800. There were three churches.
The telephone had arrived. And for a brief moment, it seemed the town might grow into a permanent
center of industry in northern Michigan. The Stratton handle factory was one of the most modern
(02:16):
in the state. In its big two-story building, rows of machinery-shaped hardwood into handles,
staves, and finished lumber. Workers lived in company-built houses nearby. All around tower,
logging camps fed the mills. In winter, the frozen pond was cut for ice. Blocks were stored for
(02:37):
use in rail cars and home ice boxes. It was a thriving self-contained economy, and everyone knew it
was tied directly to the forests. Then came the summer of 1911. Dry weather gripped
northern Michigan. On July 11, a wildfire swept toward tower. Flames moved fast through the
(02:58):
slashpiles and saw dust-laden yards. People grabbed what they could and fled. Some on foot,
some in wagons, others aboard an evacuation train bound for onaway.
The fire took the depot in freighthouse. Lumber piles went up in smoke. Several mills burned to
the ground. Thanks to the work of a handful of men who stayed behind, tower itself wasn't erased.
(03:24):
But its economy was gutted. The big mill companies couldn't justify rebuilding. The great cutover
had already thinned the forests. Without timber, there would be no second boom. A decade later,
tower faced another trial. In April 1922, heavy rains and a sudden snow melt sent the Black River
(03:46):
surging. The tower dam was in danger. Nearly every able-bodied man joined in to save it,
hauling timbers, rocks, and sandbags. 500 feet of railroad track washed away. A passenger train
derailed on weakened rails, tumbling down a 20-foot embankment. The water threatened to cut a new
(04:07):
channel entirely, leaving the dam high and dry. It was a desperate fight, but the dam held.
Still, the damage was done. Regular train service to tower faded soon after. The Detroit and
Maconac closed the station and stopped daily runs. Towers linked to the outside world grew quieter.
(04:28):
By the mid-1920s, towers saw mills were silent. Main Street storefronts emptied. The arrival of
US Highway 23 brought passing motorists, but not enough business to replace what had been lost.
During the Great Depression, the town changed again. Families from other parts of Michigan moved in,
(04:48):
looking for cheap land, and a way to make a living from it. They built small cabins, kept livestock
and planted gardens. It was a hard life, but it kept the community alive. World War II brought
modest improvement, a few logging jobs returned, this time cutting second-growth timber.
Rural electrification finally reached tower. For the first time, homes had electric lights and
(05:15):
radios. School buses carried farm kids to class. Returning veterans brought young families and a
brief renewal of Main Street. But tower would never again be the booming lumber town it was in 1910.
The dam still produced power. The black river still ran past the old mill sites, but the sound of
(05:36):
the big saws and the constant whistle of the train were gone. Today, tower is a quiet place along
M-68 in northern Michigan. If you stand by the dam and look upstream, you can picture the mill pond
crowded with logs, the mill yard alive with work, and the depot platform lined with freight.
(05:57):
The story of tower is the story of many Michigan lumber towns built by the forest,
changed by fire and flood, and carried forward by the people who stayed.
This has been the end of the road in Michigan. Thanks for listening.
This is the end of the road in Michigan, where we bring to life the stories of small towns,
(00:05):
their people, and the moments that shaped them. Today we journey to a village in Chaboygan
County, a place once alive with the sound of sawmills and train whistles. Now a quiet reminder
of Michigan's lumber past. This is the history of Tower Michigan, from 1900 to 1950.
(00:29):
At the turn of the 20th century, Tower was a new community, born of timber and the railroad.
The Detroit and Maconac Railway had only just pushed north. Its tracks reaching the Black
Rivers rich, hardwood forests. The village was named for Ellen May Tower, an army nurse who served
(00:49):
in the Spanish-American War and died of typhoid in 1898. She was the first American service woman
to die on foreign soil. By 1900, the whistle of steam engines echoed off the hills.
Logs floated down the Black River to sawmills clustered along its banks.
The Stratton handle factory turned out thousands of broom and tool handles each day.
(01:14):
The newly built tower dam backed up the river to form a mill pond, holding logs until the
saws were ready. Main street, known as Barkley Street, buscled with boardwalks, storefronts and
hitching posts. There was a bakery, a drugist, a pool hall, hotels, and a long line of saloons.
(01:35):
Horses clopped past the public schoolhouse where the children of millworkers learned their lessons.
The depot was the heart of it all. Trains came and went daily, carrying freight,
passengers, and the lifeblood of the town. Lumber. Tower was more than just a work site.
(01:55):
It was a community. By 1910, the population had swelled to nearly 800. There were three churches.
The telephone had arrived. And for a brief moment, it seemed the town might grow into a permanent
center of industry in northern Michigan. The Stratton handle factory was one of the most modern
(02:16):
in the state. In its big two-story building, rows of machinery-shaped hardwood into handles,
staves, and finished lumber. Workers lived in company-built houses nearby. All around tower,
logging camps fed the mills. In winter, the frozen pond was cut for ice. Blocks were stored for
(02:37):
use in rail cars and home ice boxes. It was a thriving self-contained economy, and everyone knew it
was tied directly to the forests. Then came the summer of 1911. Dry weather gripped
northern Michigan. On July 11, a wildfire swept toward tower. Flames moved fast through the
(02:58):
slashpiles and saw dust-laden yards. People grabbed what they could and fled. Some on foot,
some in wagons, others aboard an evacuation train bound for onaway.
The fire took the depot in freighthouse. Lumber piles went up in smoke. Several mills burned to
the ground. Thanks to the work of a handful of men who stayed behind, tower itself wasn't erased.
(03:24):
But its economy was gutted. The big mill companies couldn't justify rebuilding. The great cutover
had already thinned the forests. Without timber, there would be no second boom. A decade later,
tower faced another trial. In April 1922, heavy rains and a sudden snow melt sent the Black River
(03:46):
surging. The tower dam was in danger. Nearly every able-bodied man joined in to save it,
hauling timbers, rocks, and sandbags. 500 feet of railroad track washed away. A passenger train
derailed on weakened rails, tumbling down a 20-foot embankment. The water threatened to cut a new
(04:07):
channel entirely, leaving the dam high and dry. It was a desperate fight, but the dam held.
Still, the damage was done. Regular train service to tower faded soon after. The Detroit and
Maconac closed the station and stopped daily runs. Towers linked to the outside world grew quieter.
(04:28):
By the mid-1920s, towers saw mills were silent. Main Street storefronts emptied. The arrival of
US Highway 23 brought passing motorists, but not enough business to replace what had been lost.
During the Great Depression, the town changed again. Families from other parts of Michigan moved in,
(04:48):
looking for cheap land, and a way to make a living from it. They built small cabins, kept livestock
and planted gardens. It was a hard life, but it kept the community alive. World War II brought
modest improvement, a few logging jobs returned, this time cutting second-growth timber.
Rural electrification finally reached tower. For the first time, homes had electric lights and
(05:15):
radios. School buses carried farm kids to class. Returning veterans brought young families and a
brief renewal of Main Street. But tower would never again be the booming lumber town it was in 1910.
The dam still produced power. The black river still ran past the old mill sites, but the sound of
(05:36):
the big saws and the constant whistle of the train were gone. Today, tower is a quiet place along
M-68 in northern Michigan. If you stand by the dam and look upstream, you can picture the mill pond
crowded with logs, the mill yard alive with work, and the depot platform lined with freight.
(05:57):
The story of tower is the story of many Michigan lumber towns built by the forest,
changed by fire and flood, and carried forward by the people who stayed.
This has been the end of the road in Michigan. Thanks for listening.
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