Rival City Now Buried Under Sand
. MEDFORD MAIL TRIBUNE. MEDFORD. OREGON
THURSDAY. JULY 18. 1983
aaugatuck, Mich. - IOT - In
1834 construction began at the
bend of the Kalamazoo River
on a sawmill to wrest the rich
Pine forest from the land to
help rebuild Chicago after the
great fire.
It was Singapore, Mich., a
community that in its heyday
promised to rival the richest
city in the Midwest.
Fifty years later, the streets
Former Ashland Man
Retires From Army
Ashland - Capt. Marvin A.
Messer, former Ashland resi
dent, has retired from the
U. S. Army after 20 years of
military service.
In 1941, Messer was com
misioned a second lieutenant,
and was stationed in Iceland
during the early months of
World War II with an anti
aircraft unit, returning to the
United States for paratroop
training. -
He saw action in the Euro
pean conflict as part of the
101 Airborne group followed
by occupation duty in Berlin.
Messer has had tours of duty
in England and Korea, as well
as in the U. S.
Captain Messer, his wife,
Mary, and their two children,
Mary Adran, 14, and Randall,
12, are making their home in
Fairbanks, Alaska, where
they spent the captain's last
tour of duty before retire
ment. Messer has established
an electronics firm there.
The captain is the son of
Mrs. Annie G. Messer, 694
Oak St., Ashland. ,
Two Performances
Set for Circus
. Performances at 4 and 8
p.m. of the Kay Brothers Eu
ropean style circus will be
held at the National Guard
armory Friday, July 19.
Sponsored by Batterys A
and D, Oregon Army National
Guard, the program features
the Tangier brothers, the Fly
ing Trapeze, the Educated
Chimpanzees, the Hollywood
Canine review, ponies, an ele
phant, acrobats, juggling,
clowns, and other acts.
' Children may obtain free
tickets from any business or
professional people.
Tickets also may be pur
chased at the circus gate.
were grown over with shrub
bery and open doors clacked
in the winds off Lake Michi
gan. Singapore was a ghost
town. Today only a plaque re
mains to mark the once-booming
community.
Although Singapore was the
most famous, it was just one
of many ghost towns that
sprinkle the pages of Michi
gan history.
Boom and bust economy,
creeping forests and relentless
sand carried by the lakes have
covered many a memory of
days of promised grandeur in
the state.
Other names that ring
through the history pages are
Kensington and Ora et La
bora. Kensington was between
Brighton and Ann Arbor in
the southeastern part of the
state. Its doom was sealed in
1838 when the notoriety from
a bank scandal resulted in a
boycott of the town.
Ora et Labora was founded
in 1847 between Bay City and
Port Huron, an attempt to es
tablish a religious, socialistic
type ideal community. A party
of 280 German settlers based
their settlement on "prayer
and work." But the settlement
disappeared shortly after the
Civil War.
But few, if any, of the ghost
towns can match Singapore
for momentary brilliance. The
first settlement arrived in
1834 and the New York and
Michigan Co. promised to
build a sawmill to bring ad
ditional residents to the area.
In 1837, the company made
good its promise and the saw
mill was built at a total cost
of nearly $100,000. The Astor
House, then considered the
finest hotel in the state was
built shortly after the mill and
its dining room served as a
dance hall for the entertainment-starved
workers.
A bank followed in 1838
and it issued money to pay the
mill hands. The script was
taken in at company stores
but it was not much good be
yond 10 miles of the city lim
its. Law required a certain
amount of species be kept on
hand to back the money but
hard-pressed bankers found a
way around such rules. They
arranged that the necessary
amount of species be available
at some centrally located point
so it could be picked up by the
about-to-be-inspected bank.
When the examiner would
finish with one bank, the spe
cies was sent by speedy mes
senger to the next bank down
the line. At one point, legend
tells, an Indian .messenger
dropped the species from his
canoe when he was headed
for Singapore from New
Richmond.
After the word was passed
down the line. New Richmond
fought a delaying action by
opening its doors of hospital
ity to the nonplussed examin
er. After a feast and enter
tainment he left for Singapore
but the money wis there when
he arrived. ' ' ' :
It had been recovered from
the river with- blacksmith
tongs.
Singapore progressed and
at its peak boasted three saw
mills, two hotels and several
general stores along with the
bank. But the .pipe stands be
came exhausted, sealing the
town's doom. By 1895, most of
the people had, gone.
A 9
r2
TRIAL RUN Her spinnaker swelling in strong wind,
Sceptre, Brilian's unsuccessful 1959 America's Cup chal
lenger, glides across Firth of Clyde in the first in a series of
trials against the 12-meter yacht Sovereign, a potential Brit
ish challenger for the forthcoming Amerioa's Cup i races.
Sceptre beat Sovereign by 200 yards in the race. (UPI)
Pour one more
pay no more !
KG Half Quarts
SAME PRICE
ASKING SIZE
SERVES 1 MORE
3 drinks (not2)
SWITCH TO RC
HALF QUARTS
1
C I'M f r -Xr,
fxJ ; ' lEv
Open Sundays
10:00 A.M.5:30P.M.
MONDAY and FRIDAY
J0 A.M. I 9:00 P.M.
' TUES., WID., THURS..
SAT., 9:30 to 3:30
ACRES f FREE PARKING
3 DAY SALE
I I IV V I a A. I A w w M
1 635 E. Jackson I I I
rinf Ait whela family . ,
54 kif dtpirtmttitt M ihoy
in Uiturt. Injey lunch our
own . .
ROGUE
SIDEWALK
CAFE
Outdoor armotpharo with
indoor comfort
MEDFORD SHOPPING CENTER STORE
1
. 1 KltC
WHAMO
AQUA JET
k A W
rLAIHt
4- t
Boy's Wheat
3 J EftWatfl
WA f " a f Sins C QQ I
I ,j ifx Ignition p5 . M ,l r i
231 W Tune Up fefc Ur&MJ
I . W KITS H1Sl,
I $3.99 .' q Niy. u.,iui ,.ii,i.imii..i j,,.., ,,!. i-
" JM F' Cars, Trucks, Tractor. . Rfy V? lX
cHce Hen's Lone Sleeve
DENIM
CAFE
CURTAINS
3': 188
46 x 30
Rtg. 2.91
DACROH
mm m. mi
m
Valanct
Rag. 1.00
Boys Short Slim Skirts
Sli.i 10-14 R0. $1.3T
i s Lone Sleeve
WHITE SHIRTS
Reg. 2.77 197
Reg. 3.49
Reg. 1.66 133
COYS' SHORTS
Reg. $1.19
" n : iiKaiiai
8 js- - iwMk Co) Vn
3t II
mmu mi -r- w-w-aa -w i J
SGDSO CCD G3G2C5QQ3 CD03 (TV?fyy?nTR
PorUUe Tl l66!l
I Harbinjer Tl 1(X-1
1 Console Vi , lOw
I m" -" "
Westinghouse Hair Dryer
5)88
n
dries nails
In Hat Box
whisper quiet
A
U Kl
CHARGE
IT
FINE-FURNITURE STYLING
FINE STEREO PERFORMANCE
Yet priced like
- a portable
r'k.umiiAfifv Ivllnc.
Mk)cI rtKlOO: 16" high.SO' wide, 17' lwp.
MOTOROLA
Coffee Table Stereo Console
Mulll-Channcl Amplifier
with 3 Output Trannformers
3 Separate Speaker Systems
Super-Quiet Automatic
Record Changer
FINISHED ON ALL 4 SIDES
FOR LSE ANYWHERE
ACRES Of
FREE PARKINS
Medford Shopping Center Store
635 E.
JACKSON