August 1959
- charliebunton
- 2 hours ago
- 4 min read
The last warm days of summer settled over Rogers City with that familiar mix of golden light and quiet anticipation, as if the whole county were taking one last long breath before autumn arrived. Families drove the winding roads toward Presque Isle, windows down, lake air drifting in, all hoping to see something that had been hidden from public view for decades: the Old Presque Isle Lighthouse was finally open to tour.
Built after Congress set aside $5,000 in 1838, the tower rose from the shoreline under the direction of Jeremiah Moors, the Detroit contractor who had just finished Thunder Bay Island Light. By September 1840, the whitewashed stone tower, rising nearly thirty feet high, was ready to guide ships sailing past the harbor. Henry Woolsey became its first keeper, earning $350 a year. After his death in 1847, a succession of keepers followed: George Murray, Stephen Thornton, Louis Metiver, and finally Patrick Garrity Sr., appointed by President Lincoln himself. Patrick’s wife Mary served alongside him, and eventually four of their children took up the calling too. The lighthouse was more than a beacon; it was a family’s life.
When the light was decommissioned to build the new lighthouse, the tower fell silent. For more than twenty‑five years it sat unused until 1897, when Edward Avery purchased it at auction. Later it passed to Bliss Stebbins, the Lansing milliner known for selling high fashion to the city’s elite. In 1930, Bliss sold the property to his brother Francis, who envisioned something new. He tore down the original keeper’s house and built an English‑style cottage on the old foundation, finishing it in 1939. For years he welcomed friends and relatives, but as more and more vacationers asked for tours, he finally decided to open the lighthouse to everyone. And so, locals and tourists alike can be seen climbed its steps, feeling the weight of history in every stone.
While visitors admired the past, hundreds of residents gathered six miles south of town for something entirely new: the laying of the cornerstone for the Instant Potato Products Company factory. The 280‑acre site buzzed with excitement. Convenience foods had surged after World War II—frozen dinners, canned goods, anything that made life easier for busy families. By 1953, the Department of Agriculture was studying dehydrated potatoes, discovering that quick‑cooked flakes tasted remarkably like baked potatoes. When instant potato flakes hit the commercial market in 1957, they were an immediate hit.
The Midwest consumed nearly 20 million pounds of potatoes each year, a number that caught the attention of County Agricultural Agent John Trocke. Working with the Presque Isle Potato Council, he shipped local Russet Rural potatoes to an East Coast plant for testing. The results were excellent. Soon the New Era Potato Chip Company of Detroit owned by Ernest Nicolay and Russel Dancey ordered 100,000 bags from county farmers. Before committing to a northern plant, they constructed pilot facilities in their Detroit factory. In February 1959, fifteen local farmers toured it, reassured by Nicolay and Dancey that Rogers City’s plant would be built soon.
By early fall, construction was complete. Production began in October, with Trocke hired as manager. The half‑million‑dollar facility employed seventy‑five people and processed up to 200,000 bags of potatoes annually. For a time, it felt like the beginning of a new era for local agriculture. But in July 1962, after Frito purchased New Era, the company shifted its focus solely to snack foods, closing the plant. Today, the building hums with a different purpose as home to Cadillac Products Automotive Company, converting plastic resin into automotive components that travel far beyond Presque Isle County.
Even as industry rose and history reopened, Rogers City embraced something more personal: its fourth foreign exchange student, Nilo Tayag of the Philippines. An incoming senior at Rogers City High School, Nilo arrived from Angeles City in Pampanga Province, staying with Mr. and Mrs. Karl Vogelheim. His father worked with the U.S. Army Engineering District in Taegu, Korea, while his mother taught in the public schools. At Holy Angel Academy, Nilo had been editor of the school newspaper and an enthusiastic tennis player and body‑builder. Now he stepped into Rogers City’s classrooms and living rooms, eager to learn from the community and share his own world with us.
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