Last updated: November 12, 2024
Place
Wayside: Remembering Aral
Quick Facts
Location:
44° 45' 46.662" N, 86° 4' 29.16" W
Amenities
1 listed
Audio Description
Main Exhibit Text
Welcome to Aral. From 1880-1899, this was a timber boomtown. Lumber speculator Dr. Arthur O’Leary bought land here and started a sawmill operation on Otter Creek. He dammed the water to create a mill pond, and built a two-story sawmill, boarding house, company store, horse barns, and dock. People came for jobs, and the community grew. A school house, post office, general store, church, and homes were also built. Locals called it Otter Creek, but the official name was Aral. About 200 people called this home. About 50 Ottawa/Odawa families moved here in the winter while the fathers worked at the sawmill. In 1899, the mill burned down and with the loss of jobs came the loss of community. By 1904, all but one family had moved on. Little remains of this hard-working lumber town, except for stories and memories.
Image Descriptions
Background Image
The background of this exhibit is a sepia-colored historic photograph of a sawmill and its surroundings. On the left side of the image are stacks of cut wood logs. In the center of the photo is a large wood building with two tall smokestacks. In the foreground there is a body of water, where logs are floating. There are several people and horses at work throughout the photo.
Caption
Aral sawmill, 1885
Historic Photographs (top right)
In the top right corner of the exhibit are two additional black and white historic photographs. The top photo shows a group of people posing for a photo on the beach.
The bottom photo is of one woman and eleven children taken outside. The woman stands on the far left of the photo. Six of the kids stand in a row next to the teacher and the other five are seated in a row in front of them. The children are of diverse ethnicities.
Caption (top)
Townsfolk gather on the beach for a community picnic.
Caption (bottom)
School teacher and her students.