NEWS & IN THE NEWS
From the CHS "Bleu Print"
November 2022
History Behind Rival Towns: Chelsea vs. Dexter
by Sonja Schemahorn
Did You Know...
About The Flanders
A 1911 “Flanders 4″ motorcycle, manufactured in the Chelsea Clocktower complex in the early 20th century, was returned to the collection of the .... read more here!
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Visit the Museum to see and learn more!
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Did You Know...
About Jiffy Mix!
The American Woman Who Created the First Baking Mix...link here.
Congrats to Betsy Scala, 2024 Volunteer of the Year!
From the Chelsea Update
Bill O'Reilly Named 2023 Volunteer of the Year
From the President
Coming Soon
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Then & Now: Vogel's & Foster's​
Vogel’s & Foster’s, one of the oldest department stores in the country, began years ago with the successful entrepreneurship of an early businessman Harmon S. Holmes.
The first building at 109 South Main Street was built by local builders Maroney and Monroe in 1876. A year later, 107 north of 109 was built on the site when Holmes partnered with a local doctor who owned the previous wood structure destroyed by fire. By 1887 Holmes owned both structures and .... Read more.
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A Chelsea Moment in Time: The Boyd House
Did you know that one of the first houses in Chelsea was the Boyd House?
Built in 1853 for Mial M. and Julie Boyd, this “Hen and Chick” Greek Revival style house was located on property purchased from village co-founder Elisha Congdon. Boyd was a wagonmaker with a wagon shop located on North Street.
Originally the front door faced East Middle...
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Chelsea’s Unsolved Train Station Mystery
​Did you know that there is a mystery surrounding the early train depots built in Chelsea?
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In the 1830s, the Congdon brothers, Elisha and James, settled land where Chelsea is located and encouraged development by offering land to the Michigan Central Railroad for a train station in 1848. Freight service began in 1850, and eventually, more wool was shipped out of the Chelsea than any other station in the state. Read more.
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Then and Now: Chelsea's McKune Memorial Library​
Did you know that Chelsea has had a library since 1877?
Chelsea’s first library was located in various places around town and supported by volunteers from the Ladies Association of Chelsea also known as Chelsea Library Association. The first librarian was hired in 1941, and the library moved to the second floor of the Municipal Building above city offices on East Middle Street in 1946. (Now two apartments above Moran’s Consignment and Breathe Yoga.) Read more...
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Then & Now: Chelsea United Methodist Church​
​​A Methodist Society was founded in 1853 and became part of Lima Township with services held in a school. The congregation grew and Elisha Congdon donated land for a church in 1858, and a wooden church was built on Park Street the next year. Following the Civil War, a parsonage was built in 1866 next door. Forty years later, the wooden church building burned to the ground in 1899. Read more....
Then & Now: Chelsea Clocktower’s Fascinating History
​Did you know that Chelsea’s Clocktower had another purpose in addition to keeping Chelsea on time?
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Frank P. Glazier amassed a financial and political empire in Chelsea around the turn of the 20th century. He was the president of the Village of Chelsea and “general manager of nearly everything in sight and about Chelsea.” His fortune began in 1891 as the owner...
Then & Now: Chelsea’s Glazier Bank
In 1901, Frank P Glazier, a second-generation entrepreneur, hired architect Claire Allen to design the Chelsea Savings Bank as a memorial to his father, George Glazier. Standing on the corner of South and Main Streets, the exterior is clad in limestone and glacial granite cut by local stone masons Eisele and Eder brothers and laid by George Hindelang. Once called “the finest bank building between Chicago and Detroit,” it features two-story columns that frame an arched entrance with a memorial wreath above the door. The magnificent interior dome allowed... Read more.
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The History of the Chelsea Community Fair
​On October 3 and 4, 1872, the Chelsea Fair was held on the farm of Dr. R. B. Gates. This fair had a racetrack for horses, displays of flowers, produce, handicrafts, and livestock. People from all over the country attended The fair netted $540 over two days. Read more.
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Then and Now: The Common Grill
​The Common Grill has been in the news lately with Craig Common retiring after 30 years in his premier restaurant in downtown Chelsea at 112 South Main Street. Built in 1893, one can identify the style as ”Romanesque” by the large arches on the facade facing the street. The Grill is located in a building that was a department store for 100 years under 3 ownerships. Read more...
Then & Now: Chelsea’s Sylvan Theatre
The Ugly Dog Distillery, located at 218 South Main Street, was once the Sylvan Theater that showed movies and was a vital part of entertainment in Chelsea. Built in the late 1930s by Dillion and Geraldine Wolverton, former teachers from the Grand Rapids area, the theater had 450 springed seats banked for good viewing and fine acoustics. Read more...
Then & Now: Chelsea’s Former Municipal Building
The Holmes and Walker general, furniture, and hardware store at 104 East Middle Street began in 1876 and was consumed by fire in 1909. A three-story late Victorian commercial building soon replaced the two-story-burned-out shell. Known as the “Municipal Building” in 1946, the building housed the village offices, police and fire departments on the first floor, the library ...
Vogel’s & Foster’s: Leaving A Mark After 144 Years (Guest Article by Johanna Jackson)
Vogel’s & Foster’s, the Chelsea clothing store owned by Mike Jackson, is going out of business. The store’s closure includes a retirement sale for Jackson, who has owned the business for 27 years. “I really appreciate the opportunity to serve the Chelsea community and outlying areas over all these years,” he said. “It’s been a wonderful experience.”
Selling “good old-fashioned fashion,” as The Chelsea
Then and Now: Zou Zou’s Before It was Zou Zou’s
​Zou Zou’s is a popular stop in Chelsea, but do you know what previously occupied the building?
Most of us in Chelsea know the name, Glazier. George P Glazier came to Chelsea in 1868 to start the first bank, and three months later, he started a pharmacy in the same building on the corner of Main and Middle Streets. His son, Frank P Glazier, bought into his father’s business and worked there until 1896. Unfortunately, Frank...