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STERLING HEIGHTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION
HISTORICAL ARTICLES
Interested in the history of Sterling Heights? Check it out on the City
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Sausage
Making Time by Historical Commission Wally Doebler |
For the families that lived in the Sterling Township area,
spring (sometimes fall of the year) was time to butcher the hogs they were
fattening all winter and process the meat. It was quite a production.
Grandma Doebler and Aunt Agnes Boening would come over to our house along
with my mother and dad and we would begin to make sausage. My mother would
clean the innards casings for the sausage and cut them to length. Dad would
carve the pieces from the pig to be ground at Merkle and Neumeier Butcher
Shop. They would also add some ground beef, which they bought from the
butcher shop. Into the washtub it would go. They would put the wash tub on a
bench so two people could mix and knead the ground beef and pork with their
hands and add the various spices hat Grandma Doebler prepared for them.
After they thought they had the beef and pork mixed
thoroughly, grandma Doebler would prepare a sample to see if the taste was
OK with all of us. Grandma would take out a little meat and put it in the
small 9-inch black iron frying pan to cook. When it had been cooked, they
would cut it into pie-shaped pieces and every one, including me, would get a
taste. Everyone had input. Not salty enough, a little more sage, too much or
too little beef. They would come to a conclusion and the ingredients were
added to suit the taste.
My job was to get the vouch (sausage preen) to put on the
end of the casings. They were the thorns on the crab apple tree. I would
break the thorns off and bring them into the house. We had a sausage
machine. A vouch preen would be put on the end of the casing and the rest of
the casing would be slipped over the spout. Then you started to crank the
handle of the sausage machine and the ground meat would come out of the
spout into the casing. When the casing was full, you put another preen on
the end, took binder twine, tied it around both ends, made a loop to hang on
a broom handle and laid the broom handle over the back of two chairs. You
also made a few samplers. They would be about 6 to 8 inches long and Dad and
Mom would take them with them as we visited friends or relatives on the
weekends.
On these weekend visits, cards and local gossip would be the
entertainment. The host would always serve lunch, which would be their
homemade bread and coffee cakes and sausage. Each person had their own
method of smoking their sausage. Grandma Doebler had a smokehouse and Dad,
Aunt Agnes Boening and Aunt Ada Glawe used it to smoke their sausage. Dad
liked his sausage smoked so there was little pink in the middle and not too
hard. Uncle Louie Bloss liked his sausage smoked through and quite hard. All
were good.
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Cemeteries are resting
place for city’s early residents by Historical Commissioners
Lorraine Ostrowski and Laura Szpont |
Long ago here in Sterling Heights, 90% of the land was
working family farms. Most likely your home is sitting on one of those
farms. Have you wondered about the people who lived here over 100 years ago?
Included in the city’s cemeteries are two historical cemeteries that are the
final resting place of many of these early residents: Sterling Grove
Cemetery located on Saal Road and 19 Mile and St. Paul Lutheran Church
Cemetery located on 18 Mile Road, west of Hayes.
Sterling Grove Cemetery: When the land was first deeded
to become a cemetery there were strict regulations. Hedges and shrubbery
were to be very well maintained; the beautifying of the individual lots was
to be undertaken by the owner. Approximately 237 people are buried in
Sterling Grove. Back in the late 1800s it cost $1.50 to dig a grave for an
adult and $1 for a child under 10. (Now the cost would be about $1,200.)
Among those buried there are members of the Saal family. Ages of those who
are buried there range from children who lived only a short time like Alvin
Schildt, who died at 1 month old, to the elderly Mrs. Stadler, who passed
away at 95. The earliest burial was in 1879, and most likely the family of
that 22-year-old young man is no longer around to take care of his grave.
There no longer is an association to take care of this land.
St. Paul Cemetery: This cemetery began
as a family burial ground for the Kukuk family. The land was part of their
farm until the owner donated the property to St. Paul Lutheran Church in May
1887. One of the earliest graves is that of Helene Kukuk, dated Dec.
10, 1883 with the most current resident being laid to rest in 1992. The
cemetery has a civil war veteran and Adolph Kukuk, a WWII veteran. There are
more than 50 residents buried there, many of them were parishioners of St.
Paul Lutheran Church. The entrance is almost completely blocked off as 18
Mile Road is not maintained at this time.
In both these cemeteries there has been much destruction,
especially at St. Paul’s, due to the desolate location and the difficulty in
accessing the area. Many stones are missing, some stones have been moved and
no longer rest in their family plot, some are defaced to the extent that
names and dates cannot be read, others knocked over and smashed. It is our
responsibility as the new tenants of Sterling Heights, to show respect to
those who were here before us. We must make sure that where they rest is not
neglected.
So keep a watchful eye there, visit once in a
while, maybe pick up a piece of paper that was blown in or a bottle or can
that was dropped. Let us show the future generations that we care and have
respect for these final resting places.
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Harvey family part of
Sterling Heights history by Historical Commission Douglas Harvey |
My Uncle Burtwill (1889-1950) took the photograph (on this page) of the
Harvey Farmhouse on Clinton River Road south of 19 mile in 1904. Burt was
attending Utica High School at the time and several of his photographs were
taken in and around the school building. My Grandmother Fannie (1864-1942)
is next to the flag.
My Grandfather Burt (1856- 1926) met Fannie Leggett while
working at a clothing store in Grand Haven, Mich. Their family moved into
the farmhouse when my father, Jack Harvey (1895-1987), was 3 years old.
Previously, the family lived in a farmhouse across Utica Road from what is
now the Sterling Heights Nature Center. Jack is the young lad in the picture
under the large window. The farm was one of a number owned by my
Great-grandfather William Henry Harvey (1829-1901) who lived on Cass Street
in Utica.
As part of an estate settlement, my Grandfather Burt
obtained a life lease of the property, which was to be passed on to Burt and
Fannie’s five children. William Henry’s home, now Willmar Convalescent Home,
still stands much as it was when built. William Henry, son of Samuel Harvey,
came to Clinton Township in the 1830s from New York. He was involved in
various businesses such as lake boats, sawmills, and a hotel before buying
farms around the Utica area. My Uncle Ross (1897-1974) is sitting on the
porch just below the hammock. Ross served on the battleship Texas in World
War I. The two young ladies are Helen (1887-1920) (standing) and Margaret
(1892-1976) (sitting on the porch). Grandfather Burt was most likely working
somewhere on the farm. Providing for a family of seven was certainly a
challenge. Some food came from the farm, but many things had to be
purchased.
Farming in 1900 was all done by muscle power. Horses were
used for the real heavy work such as plowing and pulling harvesting
implements. Men and boys did all the other farm work. Gasoline and steam
engines were around at that time but not in general use. Harvesting farm
crops was usually done by neighbors helping neighbors. Labor trading was as
much social as economic. Wright, Heide, Kidd, Pinow, Faulman, Marotz,
Schuldt, DeCook, Vokes, Curtis, Drake and Doebler were the family names of
the neighboring farms all on the East Side of the Clinton River. All of the
Harvey family seen in the picture, with the exception of my father Jack,
moved away from Sterling. Jack inherited 1/5 and with his wife Marjorie
(Mayhew) Harvey (1897-1956) purchased the remaining interest in the farm
from his four siblings in 1922. My father was primarily a dairy farmer.
Typically he had 30 Holstein cows and shipped bulk milk to a dairy in
Detroit.
The farm buildings were located in the area where the M-53
freeway now crosses Clinton River Road. All were demolished with the
exception of the farm and tenant houses that were moved to Harvey Court. My
sister Helen Browning and her husband Bill live on Mayhew, which is part of
the Harvey farm. My wife Dottie and I live on Clinton River Road also on
land that was part of the farm. The fifth and sixth generation children have
scattered mostly to other areas in Michigan.
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I Remember
Christmas by Historical Commissioner
Wally Doebler |
My Christmas before I was a teen, I could hardly wait until
the magical two weeks would come.
My parents had an artificial tree that burned candles.
Christmas tree lights, as we know them, were not available at that time. The
tree was about 4 to 5 feet high and had little metal things (candle holders)
on the end of each limb that would hold a candle.
My dad would go to
Kraft’s Hardware
store in Utica and buy a box of candles that
would fit the size of the candle holder.
He would set the tree up and
we would start decorating. We then would put the candles in their respective
candle holders on the end of the limbs. Next would come the various
decorations. As we finished decorating, the final step would be the lighting
of the candles. We had to be quiet, and were not allowed to run around so
that the flame would not blow on the limbs or they might catch on fire.
Many a house burned down
because of fires caused by a Christmas tree fire. Then the candles were all
lit, and we three would sit there motionless watching the candles burn. The
lights were out and it was a pretty sight. Dad would wait until they were
half burned, which would be about 15 to 30 minutes, and we would put the
fire out on the candles so we could burn them the next night.
You see, we were in a
depression and money was scarce, and the box of candles would have to last
until Christmas. Needless to say, we never had a problem with fire as we
were very cognizant of the destruction that a fire could cause. Another
Christmas legend was the Christmas bag we kids received on Christmas Eve at
Trinity Lutheran Church. St. Lawrence and the Utica Methodist Church did the
same thing. After the Christmas Eve church service, all of the kids would
come to the front of the church to get their Christmas bag from the elders
of the church.
In the bag was a variety of
nuts, an apple (usually a snow apple which had white meat), an orange, and
sometimes a banana. The other churches used the same method of disbursing
their bags. Bananas were seldom in the bag. Very few were being shipped into
the U.S. at that time. Sometimes the elders of the church had a little more
money and we would get one in the bag.
As I got the bag home, I
would dump its contents on the kitchen table to see what I had received. The
first thing I would grab was the orange. I would peel the orange and we
three, Mom, Dad and I, would share the orange. You see, there was no money
to buy oranges and this would be the last one until next year at Christmas
time.
My how times have changed.
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Historical Markers in Sterling Heights by Historical Commissioner Jenni
Ferro
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 History,
Arts and Libraries, strives to document historical sites and spark new interest in the local history of one’s own community.
The City of Sterling Heights and the immediate surrounding area have several
historic sites for residents to enjoy.
Within the City of Sterling
Heights, there are two Michigan Historic Sites, Holcombe Beach and the Upton
House.
Holcombe Beach is located on Dodge Park Road North of Metro Parkway
near the site of Heritage Junior High. The location is recognized because
archeologists uncovered evidence of an early Paleo-Indian settlement in
1961. About 11,000 years ago, the area near Heritage Junior High was a
lakeshore. Bones and other artifacts from the settlement were found,
revealing the Paleo-Indians’ likely food sources. As the marker indicates,
the site is “a reminder of the basic changes in Michigan’s physical and
biological environment over the ages.”
The Upton House, located at the corner of Dodge Park and Utica Roads, is
also designated as a Michigan Historic Site. The home of William Upton was
constructed between 1866-1867, and represents one of the oldest surviving
nineteenth century brick dwellings in the City. The house reflects the
Italianate style of architecture. William Upton farmed the land surrounding
the house and sold fish caught in the nearby Clinton River. The use of brick
as a building material, rather than wood, indicated the affluence of the
homeowner.
By 1891, William Upton’s farm consisted of 138 acres, encompassing the
area that is the present site of City Hall, the Police Department, 41-A
District Court, Sterling Heights Public Library, Senior Citizen Center and
Stevenson High School. The Upton House is also listed on the National
Register of Historic Places.
Numerous other historic sites can be found in neighboring communities. In
Utica, St. Lawrence Parish and the Utica Cemetery are both recognized with
Michigan Historical Markers. Likewise in Warren, the Detroit Arsenal Tank
Plant and Warren Township District No. 4 School, also known as the Bunert
School, are commemorated with markers. Nearby Clinton Township and Shelby
Township also have historic sites to offer.
Whether you are just driving around Sterling Heights or headed to a
different area of Michigan on vacation or business, stopping to read a
historical marker can be a valuable lesson in local history.
The Michigan
Department of History, Arts and Libraries Web site and
The Michigan
Historical Marker Web Site both provide excellent search options for
locating historical markers wherever you are headed. So next time you pass a
green and gold Michigan Historical Marker, take a moment to read the history
and find out just what happened on the spot where you stand.
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Rhubarb History by Commissioners Lois Krawczyk & Mary Pawlowski
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Although many Sterling Heights
residents are aware of the city's farmland past, few know that this area was
once known as the "Rhubarb Capital of the United States." The soil and the
climate were considered excellent for growing rhubarb. Around five million
pounds of it were produced in the Sterling Heights and Utica area in 1961.
This was sixty-five percent of the world's hot-house rhubarb.
Urban sprawl
has replaced all of the hot-houses that were once prevalent in the Sterling
Heights area. These hot-houses were heated by steam which was fired by coal.
Rhubarb was a very profitable crop, but it required much time and extreme
effort to get it to market.
Small nursery plants were grown for two years then transplanted to a
larger space for two more years. In the fall after the first frost, the rows
of rhubarb plants were plowed out and laid out on top of the furrows until
they froze into hard clumps of dirt-covered rhubarb weighing fifty to
sixty-five pounds each. These clumps were loaded onto wagons and taken to
the hot-houses. After six weeks in the houses which were heated to
sixty-three degrees, the "forced" rhubarb was ready to pick. The rhubarb was
picked all at once so farm families often worked around the clock to get the
job done.
Is rhubarb a fruit or a vegetable? It is a vegetable. The stalk or stem
is the only edible part (the leaves contain poisonous levels of oxalic
acid). Because the flavor is very strong, it is usually cooked with sugar or
other types of sweetener. It can be made into pies, jam, or compote. If you
have never eaten rhubarb, give it a try! Try the recipe below.
Rhubarb Kuchen
1 cup flour 1 tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. salt 2 Tbsp. sugar
1/3 cup margarine 1 Tbsp. milk
1 egg 3 cups cut rhubarb
1-3 oz. package strawberry jello
Sift dry ingredients. Cut in margarine, combine egg and milk. Add to
flour mixture and press into greased 9” square pan. Cover dough with
rhubarb. Sprinkle jello evenly over rhubarb and sprinkle the following
topping over jello.
Topping: ½ cup flour, 1 cup sugar, ½ tsp. cinnamon, 1/3 cup margarine.
Combine dry ingredients. Cut in margarine to form crumbs and sprinkle over
top of jello. Bake at 375 for 45 minutes.
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Tiling Farm Land in Sterling Township by Historical Commissioner Wally Doebler
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 As
Sterling Township was being populated with Europeans, mostly Germans, in the
late 1800s and early 1900s, it was a common thing to see the clearing of
trees for the development of the fields. This was accomplished by logging
and removal of stumps, filling the stump holes, and then plowing the fields
to get them ready for farming.
The logs were used to build their cabins. The limb wood would be split and
corded to be used for fuel for the cooking range in the kitchen and for the
potbelly stove in the living room.
When the fields were being fitted and
planted, it became quite obvious that the fields with excess water from the
rain were not being drained. The water was not being absorbed by the ground
as the ground was already full of water and had no where to go. To seek
temporary drainage, the farmer would plow furrows toward ditches, creeks, or
streams to help drain the fields.
Macomb County also saw this problem of water filled farming land. They
established a Macomb County Drain Commission. It was their job to keep
streams, creeks, and ditches clean and clear so the water could flow freely
to the Clinton River.
This would help drain the fields for earlier planting and eliminate the
possible drowning of the seeds or plants that the farmer had planted. It
would make for a longer growing season which would be more profitable for
the farmer.
The county realized the ditches, streams, and creeks had to be cleared of
grass, weeds, and brush so the water would flow and not back up. The county
would hire farmers in the fall and spring to clean out the county ditches.
Bill Malow and my dad, Herb Doebler, were buddies and lived across from each
other on Canal Road. These two young guys went into business cleaning
ditches. Bill would get the jobs from the county and together they would
clean the ditches and their banks.
They would use a team of horses and a board scraper, one driving the
horses and the other using the scraper. After about an hour, they would
trade off driving horses and using the scraper. A board scraper was about
four feet wide and about three feet high with a heavy piece of steel on the
bottom and two handles on the top to guide the board. The piece of steel was
sharpened on the bottom so it would cut into the earth. The horses pulled
the scraper and the holder would force the scraper into the ditch bottom to
scrape the debris, grass, weeds, sludge, etc. and pull it up onto the
opposite bank They would repeat this procedure along the ditch until it was
finished. With the bottom of the ditch clean and clear of debris, the water
would flow freely to the Clinton River.
With the development of motors and engines a new idea was formed to drain
the fields - field tile. Field tiles were round clay-baked, usually reddish
in color, cylinders about 4 ½” in diameter and about 8” long, and ¼” thick.
A tile digger was invented to dig the trench about 3-4’ deep. The tile would
be laid end to end on the bottom of the trench. The trench would be about
18-24” wide and would be the length or width of the field and would empty
into a ditch, creek, or stream. After laid, the trench would be filled and
leveled with the farm land.
During the summer when the crops were growing, it would drain the fields
after heavy rains to stop any cooking or drowning. In the fall it would help
the harvest as they could get on the fields with machinery and would not get
stuck in the mud.
The farmers saw the advantages of tiling their fields. Soon many of the
farmers were tiling their fields as money became available. After the war,
beginning in the 50s, the entrepreneurs came in with their housing
developments. There went the farm land and also the need for tile as sewers
were laid.
Now, most all of Sterling Township (Heights) has been developed with a
sewer system covering all of the city. Only the north end of Macomb County
is still using the tile system.
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Windmill Use on the Farm by Historical Commissioner Wally Doebler
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 During
the 1890s, the windmill became popular for the farmers. There was no
electric at that time so the windmill would do various jobs around the farm.
In the picture on the left, John Doebler with the beard is standing by the
buzz platform, on the left side of the picture. His brother-in-law standing
on the platforms by the wheel is Arthur Schultz. The children are their
families.
My dad, Herb Doebler, told me then his dad (John Doebler)
purchasd a 14-foot Star windmill on March 31, 1989, from Star Windmill. It
was mounted on the west end of the roof of his large barn. This windmill
saved him a lot of work or "elbow grease" as he called it. He told me that
it used to take him an hour in the morning and evening to pump water for the
cattle and horses. With the widnill, all he had to do was shift a little
lever and the windmill did the pumping.
He also said that in the spring and fall, many hours were saved plowing.
By putting the mill on a belt driven grindstone he could sharpen the plow
point very quickly and he could plow for four hours without resting their
three horse team. If the point was dull, the horses had to work harder and
they had to be rested more often. I asked how old he was and he said around
12-years-old. Dad said he was too small to harness the horses so his dad
John would do it, then my dad would plow all day. Child labor? Sure,
according to today's standard. In his time you worked the farm to eat and
make a living. When there was no work on the farm, bad days and winter, you
went to school.
No more using a cross cut saw to make cord wood. (No chain saws in those
days.) Put the mill on the buzz saw platform and buzzed the buzz wood (buzz
wood is what remains after small limbs have been removed) trees into cord
wood for the stoves to heat the house. A cord is wood that has been cut 16"
in length, and piled in a row 8' long and 4' high, 4 x 8 x 16.
About 20-25 years later, along came a guy named Tom. He made the mill
obsolete. His name was Tom Edison.
Listed below is a copy of the memo John Doebler wrote to his Star dealer.
"Flint & Walling Mfg. Co.
Kendallville, Indiana
Dear Sirs:
Allow me to express my entire satisfaction with the 14-Star power mill
purchased from your agents, Ameis, Gerlach & Houghton, last fall. I can do
much more with my outfit than I expected, and certainly a good deal more
than you advocate. The photograph above scarcely does the outfit justice. I
have sawed more than one hundred cords of wood (photo shows about fifty
cords), ground all my feed, cut my fodder, pumped water, shelled corn, sawed
wood, and run a grindstone. One thousand dollars would not buy my outfit if
I could not get another. Anybody wishing reference.
Yours truly,
John Doebler"
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History of Maple Lane Golf Course by Historical
Commissioner Laura Szpont
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 Maple
Lane Golf Course is located on 14 Mile Road and Maple Lane Drive in the
city. It consists of 296.8 acres that encompasses the current standing club
and the links. However, a portion of the property has historic roots in the
community as an operable farm. During 1834, the Stickney family, consisting
of two brothers, David and Jonathan, purchased 160 acres of property. David
bought 80 acres on the east side of Maple Lane, commonly known as section
35, and Jonathan purchased the other 80 acres on the west side, known as
section 34.
Eventually, David purchased his brother’s interest and owned
the property until turning it over to his son Levi. Not much is known about
the Stickney farm; however, records for the community show sales of items
from the farm such as apples and oak lumber.
No property records exist from 1895 to 1914 when the Stickney farm was
transferred to the Wieg family, who were Sterling Township natives. The
Wiegs operated the farm until it was sold. A portion was sold to Maple Lane
Golf Course during 1926, when the original course was developed by Clarence
Wolfrom.
There is no sales price on record for the purchase by the Stickney or
Wieg families; however, the property had a value of $10,000 on the 1870
census which would equate to $62.50 per acre and less than one cent per
square foot. Today, a property of that size would sell for development for
about $1,760,000 or $11,000 an acre.
The Maple Lane property was farmed by at least two noted Sterling
Township families and eventually a portion became the Maple Lane Golf Club,
which has been a source of entertainment in Sterling Heights for the past 82
years. As time goes on there may be many changes to Section 34 and 35, but
those changes will only add to the history of the property.
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Canal a Victim of the Times
and Circumstances by Historical Commissioner Lawrence Archambeau |
Soon after achieving statehood in 1837, the Michigan
state legislature passed the Internal Improvement Act, providing for the
construction of 3 railroads and 2 canals to open the interior of the state
and provide for the convenient movement of people and material goods. One
of these projects was the Clinton-Kalamazoo Canal. The canal was to traverse
216 miles across the southern tier of Michigan beginning at the Clinton
River near the village of Frederick, just west of Mt. Clemens. Frederick
has since disappeared. The western terminus was to have been at Singapore at
the mouth of the Kalamazoo River. The project was inaugurated with much
fanfare on July 20, 1838, with the governor performing the ground-breaking.
This work proceeded slowly through dense forests and
swamps and the difficult construction of locks. The terrain from Mt.
Clemens to Pontiac included an elevation of 200 feet, necessitating
approximately 25 locks, built as required by the changes in elevation.
Locks and dams were built of stone and heavy timbers to prevent erosion back
into the canal. Most of the earth removed from the canal bed was placed
along side, to be used as a towpath for the horses which would haul the
flat-bottomed barges used to carry goods and passengers. Construction
proceeded as far as Rochester by 1842 when it was halted. The principal
reason for this was financial. Eventually, the state officially cancelled
the canal project.
Historical records relate that only two boats ever
operated on the canal. For a short time, a single small boat transported
freight from Utica to Frederick. Less than $100 in tolls was ever collected
from this operation. Legend also depicts that a flat-bottomed, horse-drawn
barge was built in 1844 by a Rochester carpenter named Asa Brown for an
excursion. It was reported to have been abandoned during its maiden voyage
in the first lock it came to because it was too wide to navigate the lock
and got stuck.
Despite the passage of more than 150 years, we can
still find traces of the canal. It started at what is now the foot of Canal
Road in Clinton Township, where a park has been established to commemorate
it. No evidence of the canal remains within the city limits of
Sterling Heights, but it is clearly evident along Canal Road east of Hayes.
 As you drive through Sterling Heights, you might notice two new signs stating “Clinton Kalamazoo Canal”. Thanks to the efforts of the Historical Commission, signs have been placed near the northwest corner of Schoenherr and Canal and near Canal and Clinton River Roads.
The canal was clearly a victim of the times and
circumstances. Fresh off the success of the Erie Canal, a canal across the
Lower Peninsula appeared to be a natural success. Instead, financial
problems and the coincidental development of the railroads served to
undermine the project almost before it began. Time and progress have
reduced it to little more than a footnote in the history books of the state
of Michigan.
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Last updated:
February 05, 2010
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40255
Dodge Park Road - Sterling Heights, MI 48313