Just north of the
Michigan-Indiana border, is the city of Sturgis. If you are looking for a small
downtown full of personality, history, and local businesses with charismatic
owners and employees, this town is a must. Thanks to an invite from Amy York, of
York Mercantile, we had the pleasure of spending the day meandering
Sturgis.
York Mercantile is a
distinctive shop full of treasures offering home décor, furniture, custom
quilts, soaps & other bath & body products, kitchenware and food, candles, and many items
made in Michigan and Indiana. You can also find artwork and books by local
artists and authors. As we visited the other stores and locations, the praise
for Amy and her dedication to their town was a common conversation. She is
responsible for some very popular events in Sturgis and organized a great visit
for us as well.
When walking up to
Great Lakes Chocolate & Coffee Company, you can smell the aroma before you
open the door. We are tea and cocoa girls, so we had chai tea, some tasty baked goods and of course purchased enough
chocolate treats for our ride home. Locals may be familiar with Great Lakes as
they've been around since 2002 with small kiosks in local malls and stores in
Michigan and Indiana. Owners, Paul and Jared Smith, opened the Great Lakes
Chocolate & Coffee Company in Sturgis where they offer a large selection
with most of their coffee grown on small farms, picked by hand, and all roasted
in Sturgis. You can also purchase their
coffee and chocolate from their website:
https://myglcc.com/collections
Willer's Shoes is a long-time Sturgis staple, in
business since 1934. There have only been two owners in that time, Harry Willer
and Todd Maynard. While shopping at Willer's you will find shoes by
Bed Stu,
Brooks,
Aetres,
Taos
and
Pikolios just to name a few
of their most popular brands. The boutique-style clothing is carefully
selected with a small but nice offering.
They also carry jewelry by
Brighton and
Uno de 50.
We were very excited
to find an artist's co-op in Sturgis. The non-profit co-op is located in one of
the town's oldest buildings, that was home to Purdy Grocery Store in the
1940's. One of the most unique things
about the building is an original pulley elevator, still in working condition.
The co-op is located on the first floor. Renovations are being done on the
second floor and the goal is to eventually renovate the entire building with
artists work on every level. The gallery is completely ran and maintained by
volunteers, as is the restoration. There
are currently over 20 local artists featured, offering pottery, paintings,
jewelry, wood-work, videos, fiber - paper art, and more.
The Craftsman's
Daughter, a charming boutique is a mix of new, vintage, and hand-crafted
merchandise. Owned by Sturgis local, Ellie Patrick, Craftsman's offers stylish
clothing, jewelry, home décor, and some locally made items as well. This store
can't be missed when visiting Sturgis.
If you are looking
for antiques, vintage items, or something unique as Laura Jean's store name
suggests, you should stop by and see her. Laura Jena's has consigned clothing
and accessories, a wide-selection of jewelry both antique and modern,
furniture, and many other great finds as
well as locally made candles, soaps, and lotions.
Before leaving town,
we stopped at Boundary Waters for a late lunch. We had the spinach dip and a
gyro. The food was excellent. The dip was cheesy and the gyro was authentic in
flavor with well-seasoned beef and lamb and tzatziki sauce - my favorite. Their
menu has a wide-variety of pastas, steaks, sandwiches, burgers, fish, and other
entrees. Boundary Waters also features a large selection of craft beers and
fine wines.
An
important piece of Michigan history, the Sauk trail, now US
Highway 12, played a large part in the
establishment of the town of Sturgis as
well as other towns in the area. Originally traveled by Native Americans, the
trail started in the Detroit area continued through what is now the heart of
downtown Sturgis and then toward Chicago. Sauk Indians, were part of the Eastern
Woodland group, native to the area. The path they followed was used by
wildlife, like deer, explaining some of the curvy, winding roads.
The
Sturgis Rail Depot, originally built in 1895, is a reconstruction of the
original wood building from 1852. In 2014, the depot, weighing over 300
tons, was moved to it's current location. Construction of the site,
moving the building, and renovations were made possible from grants, donations
and the hard work of volunteers. The original design was kept with every
section and detail of the Depot as it was moved and restored. The Depot is
now home to the Sturgis Historical Museum.
While
small in size, the museum is packed with history including interactive
displays. We were greeted by Bonnie Mort, museum board member, for our tour.
Bonnie's husband, Mike Mort, is the president of the historical society and has
produced several movies about Michigan which can been seen and purchased at the
museum.
We started with the Native American exhibition of authentic
items including hand-woven baskets and
pelts. Next we moved to the civil war area, with a several interactive pieces
including a mini-movie. We progressed to
an attractive construction of a full size setting -room
belonging to Judge John Sturgis. Being one of the first to settle in the
area, the city was named after him. The picture on the wall of the room, comes
to "life" and "John" tells a story of the history of the
town.
The tour
continued with the railroad station master's office where the station master
also appears to tell his story. The last room included Sturgis-area history
with a piece of Sturgis's oldest tree, dating back to the 1730's, the story of
a Sturgis women who was on the Titanic, and tickets from a 1974 Duke Ellington
concert in Sturgis. Each of the museum's
displays included well-maintained, original items as well as a
great selection of photography. At the end of the tour, you can sit and watch
short , rotating films in the "The
Electric City Theater." Volunteers are continuously updating displays and
coming up with new ideas. This is by far one of the most interesting and unique
city museums in the state.
The City
of Sturgis was selected as a venue for the Detroit Institute of Art’s 2017
Inside|Out program. While visiting Sturgis, we had the pleasure of viewing some
of the reproductions that were still in
town.
Hype Brand
Management, of Sturgis, made a great video to show the fifteen pieces that
were on display throughout town:
Sturgis
Street Paintings Movie.
While at
the Depot Museum, we noticed a picture of a Hot 'n Now Restaurant. Hot 'n Now
is a Michigan-based hamburger restaurant
chain that started in Kalamazoo in 1984. This was a popular lunch choice
for some of us in high school … not to date myself! Sturgis is home to the last
Hot n' Now in the World.
Langley
Covered Bridge just outside of town, near Centreville, is the longest remaining wooden bridge in
Michigan. Hard to believe this one-lane bridge was built in 1887. It is
named for Thomas W. Langley and family, who helped establish the Village of
Centreville in the 1880s. In 1965, the bridge was designated as a Michigan
State Historic Site. We loved the covered
bridge, keep an eye out for more posts as we are continuing to visit other
Michigan Covered Bridges - hopefully visiting them all eventually.
Sturgis - The Electric City
Going
back to the early days of Sturgis, the city approved the construction of the
Sturgis Hydroelectric Dam.
Close to Centreville and the Langley Bridge the dam is still in use. Sturgis
was named the "The Electric City" because it was the first city in
the area to have electricity. At that time, a city the size of Sturgis having
electricity, was extremely rare. The
town celebrates with an Electric City Night Parade during
Sturgis Fest.
We want
to thank the business owners and volunteers in Sturgis for inviting us and
welcoming us to their town. We had a great time and will surely be back.
More to come from the mind of ...
