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The Mason County Quiz, Feb. 28, 2024: Answers
The Mason County Quiz is presented by Lake Michigan Senior Living, located on the bluffs of Lake Michigan in beautiful Summit Township.
How much do you know about Mason County? This is the first installment of what we are planning to be the weekly Mason County Quiz.
1. Who is Hamlin Township named after?
a. Hamlin Lake
b. Charles Sumner Hamlin
c. Hannibal Hamlin
d. General Cyrus Hamlin
C.
Lumber baron Charles Mears established a lumber mill at Black Creek in 1849. Black Creek was located in the vicinity of modern Lincoln Hills Golf Club. After the mill began operation in 1851, Mears named the settlement Little Sable. He then built a second sawmill north, after he had re-routed the river later known as the Sable River. He named that settlement Big Sable.
Both places were flourishing lumber towns in 1860 with each having a mill, boarding house, company store, blacksmith shop, and various homes.
Mears was an ardent admirer of Abraham Lincoln. In May 1860, the Republican convention was being held. Mears was one of the leaders in the preparations and sent his vessels, to the Sable settlements where they were loaded with thousands of evergreens that would decorate the convention hall in Chicago.
On May 18, 1860, Abraham Lincoln was nominated as the Republican candidate for president while Hannibal Hamlin was nominated as his vice presidential running mate, in a hall decorated with evergreens from Mason County, Michigan.
After Lincoln and Hamlin were elected, Mears was elected to the Michigan House of Representatives where he introduced a bill to change the names of Little Sable and Big Sable to Lincoln and Hamlin, respectively. Lincoln served as the county seat for a time until lumber baron James Ludington convinced the county supervisors to move it to his village, Pere Marquette, which became the city of Ludington.
Hannibal Hamlin (1809-1891) served as President Abraham Lincoln’s vice president during Lincoln’s first term, March 4, 1861 to March 4, 1865. Hamlin was an attorney and began his political career as a Democrat in the Maine House of Representatives before being elected twice to the U.S. House of Representatives and then the U.S. Senate. Hamlin had strong abolitionist views which led him to leave the pro-slavery Democratic Party and join the newly formed Republican Party in 1856. In the 1864 election, Hamlin was replaced as vice presidential nominee Andrew Johnson, a southern Democrat, in an attempt to appeal to Unionists from the South. Hamlin was eventually elected to two more terms in the Senate and then served as U.S. Minister of Spain before retiring in 1882.
Note: Charles Sumner Hamlin (1861-1938), was an American lawyer, politician and the first Federal Reserve Chairman. General Cyrus Hamlin (1839-1867) was the third son of Hannibal Hamlin and was appointed the first colonel of the 80th United States Colored Troops.
2. What is the longest continuous road in Mason County?
a. Hansen Road
b. Hawley Road
c. Young Road
d. Custer Road
D.
Custer Road is the longest continuous, non-highway, road in Mason County from the north, it begins in Free Soil Township at the Manistee County line (it actually extends north into Manistee County) and heads south, ending just a half mile north of the Oceana County line in Eden Township, about 23 miles. The longest east-west continuous road is Hawley Road, which is also the second longest continuous road in the county. From the east, Hawley Road begins in Logan Township at the Lake County line and travels west ending just east of US 31 expressway in Summit Township, about 19 miles. Before the Consumers Power Ludington Pumped Storage Plant was built in the early 1970s (and before the expressway, which came through in the late 1980s), Hawley Road extended to South Lakeshore Drive. A small spur of the road still exists just east of Lakeshore Drive.
Young Road is among the shortest roads in Mason County, traveling about half mile from just west of Landon Road east to Tyndall Road in Branch Township.
Hansen Road travels through most of the county, but falls short by about three miles. From the east, it begins in Branch Township two miles west of the Lake County line at Goose Neck Lake. It then travels about 16 1/2 miles west ending at the western boundary of Amber Township at Meyers Road.
3. How many superintendents have served the Mason County Central School District?
a. 6
b. 25
c. 9
d. 12
A.
Mason County Central School District has had six superintendents since it was formed, through consolidation, in 1955. However, technically, there have only been six school superintendents in Scottville since 1934.
Arnold O. Carlson was the first superintendent of the Mason County Central School District, beginning in that role in 1955. However, Carlson began his work for Scottville School (Amber Township District No. 6) in 1927 when he was hired as principal and then in 1934 when he was promoted to superintendent. Carlson retired in 1967, serving the Scottville/MCC districts for 40 years total, 33 as superintendent.
Richard Weaver was hired as the second superintendent of MCC and served for 19 years, retiring in 1987. He was succeeded by Robert Redmond.
Bruce Smith served as MCC High School principal from 1978 to 1992 and then served as superintendent from 1992 to 1999.
Chuck Sandro served as superintendent from 1999 to 2006.
Jeff Mount was hired as MCC Middle School assistant principal in 1999 and became its principal in 2001. In 2006 he became superintendent and has served in that role since.
4. What was Oriole Field before it was the athletic field for Ludington Schools?
a. Site of the Stearns Motor Company factory
b. Cemetery
c. Fairgrounds
d. Civilian Conservation Corps camp
C.
In 1873 the Mason County Agricultural Society voted to buy 10 acres of land from a man named Mr. Maxim, at the price of $100, and use the land as fairgrounds, according to the Sept. 19, 1873 edition of the Mason County Record following the first year of a county fair, which was originally held near the original Ludington post office in 1872. The new site featured exhibition buildings, barns, a grandstand and a track and was used until 1898. The buildings were torn down around 1903.
Beginning in 1906, the county fair was held near the village of Amber (about US 10-31 and Amber Road) and was sponsored by the Amber Grange (a pro-agricultural society). In 1931, the fair was moved to Culver Park in Ludington, which was located on the modern site of the Ludington Municipal Marina and had been the location of the Stearns Motor Company factory (a story for another day). However, that location was short-lived as the Great Depression caused cancellations of the fair.
In 1936, the Mason County Board of Supervisors (today known as the Board of Commissioners) agreed to purchase 185 acres of farm land from the estate of Ludington business man Charles Wing for $5,000. The property was purchased with an understanding from the Michigan Bureau of Aeronautics that an aviation field would be constructed by the state and the Works Progress Administration (WPA). The land became the Mason County Airport and the Mason County Fairgrounds and also resulted in the formation of the Western Michigan Fair Association. The first Western Michigan Fair was held in 1936.
Oriole Field was officially dedicated on Oct. 3, 1935 in a ceremony held by the City of Ludington officially turning the property over to the school. The field’s development, like the Mason County Fairgrounds, were the result of a Roosevelt administration New Deal program funded by the Federal Economic Recovery Act.
At the time work started, Oriole Field had a single baseball diamond located about where the field house now sits, according to a newspaper article recounting the ceremony.
On the day of the field’s dedication, the LHS band, under the direction of Louis F. Peterson, marched from the high school (located in the former Foster Elementary School building), through downtown Ludington and then to the field.
The first football game at Oriole Field, which took place following the dedication ceremony, was between LHS and the Cadillac High School Vikings. Ludington lost 7-0.
Lights were added to Oriole Field for the first time in September 1939, the first game played on Sept. 30, 1939 with the Ludington High School Orioles playing the Scottville High School Spartans.
Lake Michigan Senior Living, 4895 S. Lakeshore Dr. in Summit Township, offers beautiful views of Lake Michigan, activities and exceptional care 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The facility consists of four housing units on the bluffs overlooking Lake Michigan. For more information, call 231-843-9963 or go to www.lakemiseniorliving.com.
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