Traverse City Record-Eagle

Record-Eagle 150th Anniversary

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November 29, 2008

The Record-Eagle's origins -- 1858-1912

Grand Traverse Herald

-- Nov. 3, 1858: Morgan Bates publishes first issue. The Grand Traverse Herald is located in an office on the Bay Road.

-- 1861: Herald moves into its new building on the southeast corner of Front and Cass streets. The U.S. Land Office register and county treasurer offices are on the same floor as the printing office. Bates is both register and treasurer at that time.

Traverse Bay Eagle

-- 1865: Elvin Sprague starts Elk Rapids Eagle. He renames it the Traverse Bay Eagle and moves it to Traverse City in 1867. He adds the first power press in the Grand Traverse region that year and the first steam power in a northern Michigan printing office the following year.

-- 1867: Morgan Bates sells the Herald to Dewitt C. Leach. His nephew, Thomas T. Bates, has been office manager and in Leach's real estate business since 1865. He buys Leach's real estate interests in 1871.

-- 1869: Leach moves the Herald to his new building at Front and Park streets.

-- 1876: Leach sells the Herald to Thomas Bates' brother, also named Morgan Bates, publisher of the Marshall Statesman. Thomas acquires it later and is publisher-editor for 36 years.

-- 1879: Herald moves back to an enlarged building at its old site, the corner of Front and Cass.

-- 1893: Sprague starts Daily Eagle, Traverse City's first daily, and GT Herald follows the same year with the Daily Herald.

-- 1894: Daily Herald and Morning Bulletin merge to form Morning Herald. The Bulletin is a daily owned by the Transcript, another local weekly.

-- 1895: The Herald needs larger quarters and moves in September into a new building at 123 Front St.

-- 1897: The Morning Herald becomes The Evening Record.

-- 1904: Grand Traverse Herald and The Evening Record are incorporated into Herald & Record Co.

-- 1908: Sprague dies May 7. GT Herald and The Eagle convert into semi-weeklies.

-- 1910: Sprague's wife sells Eagle properties to Herald & Record Co. First Record-Eagle rolls off press on Oct. 31. Grand Traverse Herald as weekly for a few years.

-- 1912: Thomas T. Bates dies Dec. 18. His son, George C. Bates, becomes president.

Text Only
  • WILLIAM MILLIKEN
    After looking back, we look to the future

    In this last installment of the Record-Eagle's year-long 150th Anniversary History Project series, native son Bill Milliken ponders the future, including the question: What will the Traverse City area be like in 2159?

    Continued ...
    Nov 8, 2009 7:14 am 9 Photos
  • Derek Bailey: Cooperation is key
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    I am excited and optimistic in thinking about my predictions for the area and Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians for the next 150 years. Clearly, we live in one of the most beautiful areas of Mother Earth. The GTB Tribal Nation has grown exponentially as an area and tribe over the last 29 years. We must now sustain and channel that growth.

    Continued ...
    Nov 8, 2009 7:12 am 1 Photo
  • George McManus: Manage resources
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    The Grand Traverse Region is blessed with abundant renewable natural resources, which properly managed, will remain for the next 150 years and beyond. The community of the future depends on what direction the citizenry and leadership decide to take and external influences over which they have no control.

    Continued ...
    Nov 8, 2009 7:11 am 1 Photo
  • Marsha Smith: Listen to each other
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    The Grand Vision has shown me that the people of this region love it here and have a commitment to building a better future. We care about what happens here and we care about the future. My main concern is that we sometimes forget about all things we hold in common and focus more on what keeps us apart.

    Continued ...
    Nov 8, 2009 7:11 am 1 Photo
  • Joe VanderMeulen: Plan for six generations
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    We need to look forward across six or more generations of people to see 150 years into the future. What wonderful changes there may be, if we choose wisely, just get lucky, or some of both. Of course, we face many threats to our security and survival. The risks of deadly pandemics, global climate change and unimaginable wars are real.

    Continued ...
    Nov 8, 2009 7:10 am 1 Photo
  • November 2, 2009
  • Women helped build Traverse City
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    Women helped build Traverse City's library system, schools and hospital. They lobbied for clean water and clean streets. They were concerned about the needy, child labor, reforestation, international peace and the right of women to vote. They did this largely through two local women's clubs -- the Ladies Library Association and the Traverse City Woman's Club.

    Continued ...
    Nov 2, 2009 6:17 am 4 Photos
  • TC's early women leaders

    Thirteen women who influenced early Traverse City are profiled.

    Continued ...
    Nov 2, 2009 6:15 am
  • October 31, 2009
  • TC history exhibit visits TADL

    The Record-Eagle's traveling exhibit of Traverse City and newspaper history will be on display throughout November at the Traverse Area District Library on Woodmere.

    Continued ...
    Oct 31, 2009 9:30 pm
  • October 19, 2009
  • Loraine Anderson: TC's 1925 earthquake
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    Earthquakes are rare in Michigan, but Traverse City residents definitely felt the earth move beneath their feet and watched electric ceiling lights sway overhead on Feb. 28, 1925. "EARTHQUAKE HERE FIRST EVER FELT: Dishes Rattle, Chairs Rock, Smokers 'Swear Off' and People in High Places Come Down," Record-Eagle headlines shouted after tremors rattled the city at 8:27 p.m. that Saturday night.

    Continued ...
    Oct 19, 2009 7:00 am 1 Photo
  • October 5, 2009
  • Water Wars: Advocating for 'public trust'
    Jim Olson

    It was a busy summer on the water front for Great Lakes advocates in what environmentalists and others are calling "The Water Wars."

    Continued ...
    Oct 5, 2009 6:18 am 3 Photos
  • October 3, 2009
  • R-E editorial decries water diversion

    Record-Eagle concern about Great Lakes water diversion dates to the early 1900s, including a Jan. 14, 1925, editorial about the U.S. governments challenge of Chicagos right to divert Lake Michigan water without consulting its neighbors.

    Continued ...
    Oct 3, 2009 9:55 pm
  • Summary of summer Great Lakes water issues

    Great Lakes water issues this summer included the following.

    Continued ...
    Oct 3, 2009 9:55 pm
  • September 28, 2009
  • 150 Years: Bay served as sewer, water supply
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    The Boardman River in Traverse City wasn't a pretty sight at the turn of the last century. It was a city sewer, and it flowed into West Bay, the source of the city's water supply.

    Continued ...
    Sep 28, 2009 7:18 am 7 Photos
  • August 10, 2009
  • 150 Years: Cartographer maps settlements
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    Helen Hornbeck Tanner, a Beulah summer resident and historian of Great Lakes American Indians and cartography, created a new historical map of the Grand Traverse region that traces early American Indian and white settlement.

    Continued ...
    Aug 10, 2009 6:39 am 2 Photos
  • July 27, 2009
  • Loraine Anderson: Tracking Titus
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    Harold Titus has been one of my favorite Traverse City historical characters since I read "Timber," his 1922 novel, last year. He intrigues me for many reasons. Part of his mystery is that he is virtually unknown today. He is "new" local history.

    Continued ...
    Jul 27, 2009 8:06 am 1 Photo