Looking Back at St. Clair Shores is a series of historical articles featured most months in the St. Clair Shores Sentinel newspaper. Unless noted otherwise, the photographs used are part of the St. Clair Shores Historical Commision's Photograph Collection. These photographs, along with many others, are available to view through the Digital Media Archive.

Previous articles can be found by clicking on the year.

In December, Santa made a special stop to greet the children of St. Clair Shores, along with the men and women serving in the military. This image may have been taken in the Police Station. There is a traffic poster and Macomb County map in the background.

The annual custom of city tree lighting, accompanied by music and Santa’s arrival, continues today. St. Clair Shores has a long community tradition of celebrating the Holiday season.

The Lakeview Theatre, originally located at 30609 Jefferson Avenue, was owned and operated by Mr. Raymond Jewell Francis and his wife, Eva. He also sold real estate and had an office in the theatre. In the 1930s, a ticket cost 6 cents and popcorn was 5 cents. The theatre could seat 400 people. During Saturday matinees when the children banged the seats or shot staples at the screen with rubber bands, Mrs. Francis or Mrs. Kellhoffer, the ticket seller, would stop the film, turn on the lights and read the kids the riot act.

Sunday was for adults. There were two movies, some cartoons and a newsreel. The projectionists had to splice the film when it broke; sometimes the film and the recorded sound no longer matched, and the horse started talking to the cowboy and the man was barking at his dog!  Local historian and film projectionist Harry Kraus recalled using car batteries from the parking lot when the sound system went dead during a showing of Shirley Temple’s Bright Eyes. Gone with the Wind also was shown at the Lakeview Theatre in 1939. The theatre was torn down in the 1950s.

Students looked on from the windows and doorway as Coach Ralph E. Carpenter and his football team posed for this photograph outside South Lake High School in 1928. Leather helmets, metal cleats, and simple shoulder pads were standard equipment for the athletes of the 1920s.

Front row: Charles Defer, Ernie Dallier, B. Attoway, F. Henretta.
Center row: Russ Pare, R. Clave, Chuck Steins, F. Labadie, Donald Blumenthal, C. Demers.
Back row: Mr. Ralph Carpenter, H. Ottenbein, L. Smith, D. Turrell, William Chase, R. Martin, Gabby Backeroot.

The team names are a compilation from several sources. If you have corrections or recognize others in the image, please contact the St. Clair Shores Public Library so that we can update the record.

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When St. Gertrude Roman Catholic Church closed its doors at the end of June, 2014, the saga of a mission that was founded in 1826 took a new direction. Our Lady of Hope parish is the new name for the combined parishes of St. Gertrude and St. Germaine. The original log church, dedicated to St. Felicity, was built on land donated by the Rattell family. Fr. Ghislenus Boheme was the spiritual shepherd of the Catholic families in this area until 1842, when the church was abandoned because of Lake St. Clair’s high water levels. A baptismal record from 1873 at Sacred Heart parish in Roseville mentions that Fr. Hendrickx was given charge of St. Gertrude Church in L’Anse Creuse (an early French name for this area) by the Bishop of Detroit.

This is a photograph of the wood and stone church that was built in 1897 and razed in 1968 to make room for the modern church on the property today. Fr. John O’Shea served here from the early 1900s and built the school, rectory and convent. The name and location of the church has changed over time, but the history of St. Gertrude Roman Catholic Church played an important part in the settlement of St. Clair Shores. For a look at the interior of the church, visit the Digital Media Archive.

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Drivers approaching the intersection of Harper Avenue and Little Mack from the 1920s to the 1950s recognized the windmill landmark that was the Dutch Mill Barbecue. Originally named the Moulin Rouge, this was one of the first drive-up/carry-out restaurants in the village of St. Clair Shores. According to local historian Harry Kraus, the restaurant was called the Dutch Mill during the Prohibition era (1917-1933.) It was run by Roy Stockwell. The 1930 U.S. Census lists Royal F. Stockwell, his wife Jewell, and four daughters living in St. Clair Shores. He listed his occupation as a proprietor of a barbecue. In the 1940 U.S. Census, Roy listed his occupation as a policeman. The Dutch Mill fell into disrepair over time and burned in the 1950s.

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The Frank Trombley farm was located on Jefferson Avenue near the northern border of St. Clair Shores.  Frank and his son, Albert, were photographed as they rested a moment from plowing the fields with their horses. A steam-driven harvester was borrowed to help bring in the crops. At the time the 1910 U.S. Census was taken, Frank, who was 66, and his wife Pauline had been married for 36 years. They had three children still living at home: Albert was 22 and helping on the family farm, daughter Netti was 25, and William was 32. Older son Frank, Jr. had left the farm.  Life was hard during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Pauline listed six children on the Census, with four still living. Two children had died: Ida in June, 1883 and George in November, 1881.  Frank Trombley Sr.  died in March, 1915, about four years after this image was taken. Many of the Trombley family members rest in St. Gertrude Cemetery on Twelve Mile Road.

If you want to learn how to trace your family genealogy or learn more about local and Michigan history, stop by the Local History Center in the St. Clair Shores Public Library during its scheduled hours of operation.

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In 1919, the Detroit Masonic Country Club purchased the University Golf Club on Masonic Boulevard. The Golf Clubhouse served as the center of club activities until the Country Club was built at the foot of Masonic Boulevard and Jefferson Avenue in 1923. Detroit Masonic Country Club members and their families enjoyed golf on the 18-hole course that stretched for three-quarters of a mile. According to the new golf course description in Out There magazine, the 13th hole sometimes marred a perfect afternoon’s play when the ball went “out of bounds” along a high fence, or landed in the sand bunker across the front of the green. The 15th hole could find the ball caroming from one tree to another, ending on the wrong side of a giant oak tree.

The Golf Clubhouse featured a parlor at either side of the entrance hall, a dining room, and spacious locker rooms for men and women. A double-decked balcony lined two sides of the house, which gave the spectators a close view of the 1st tee and the 9th green. From the upper balcony, a panoramic view of the entire golf course could be seen, along with baseball diamonds, an athletic field, and the Country Club in the distance.

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Designed by architect George W. Graves, the elegant Detroit Masonic Country Club was dedicated in May, 1923. Located on the shores of Lake St. Clair at the intersection of Masonic Boulevard and Jefferson Avenue, the clubhouse featured three hundred feet of sandy beach, a water slide, and tennis courts. Stone staircases, beautiful tile and inlaid woodwork graced the entranceway. The Social Room was the center of club activities. Ladies’ card parties and Saturday evening dances were popular activities. The second floor featured a billiard room and card rooms for men and women. There were overnight accommodations for more than a hundred members. The locker rooms, hair salon and barber shop were in the lower level. The club made its own ice cream and had a water treatment system.

After the Stock Market Crash of 1929, the club closed. It later became the Lake Shore Country Club until April, 1939. The Village of St. Clair Shores acquired the property for a municipal park. When you visit Veterans Memorial Park, you are on the grounds of the old Detroit Masonic Country Club.

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Roadhouses were popular stops for a meal and a beer in the Village of St. Clair Shores. The Shores Inn on Mack Avenue near Nine Mile Road is shown in this 1940s photograph. You could park in front of the building by just driving off the road. The Shores Inn had one of the first liquor licenses issued in the Village. One of the early operators of the Inn was a man named Ernest McCollum.

The State of Michigan went “dry” in 1918, followed by the passage of the Volstead Act in 1920, when alcohol prohibition went into effect across the United States. Many businesses switched to serving soda pop and ice cream on their menus during this time. In 1928, this building housed St. Joan of Arc’s church services while the old wooden church was being built. According to the Shores Inn staff, three generations of one family’s wedding receptions have been held at the Shores Inn. The Kourelis family has owned the restaurant since 1965. If you are eating in the dining room at the Shores Inn, you are seated in the original roadhouse.

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A century ago, many brides could not afford elaborate white lace wedding dresses, although they were coming into style for those who could afford to buy them. This portrait of John Green, Jr. and his bride, Ida Belle Smith, was taken around the time of their marriage on January 16, 1907. The groom and the best man, Arthur Van Howve, wore their Sunday-best suits with white ties. Ida Belle Smith and Mary Green, her maid of honor and the groom’s sister, wore ankle-length skirts and white blouses, decorated with fine lace and French pleats. Their hair was neatly done in the “Gibson Girl” style. The marriage was performed by Fr. John O’Shea.

John Green, Jr. was the son of John Green and Ernestine Selinsky. Ida Belle was the daughter of George Smith and Lillian Bunert. Visit the Selinsky Green Farmhouse Museum to learn more about life in Erin Township in the early 1900s.

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Through the centuries, the hazards of traveling along Jefferson Avenue during the winter months have plagued motorists, pioneer settlers with their horse-drawn wagons, and Native Americans who followed the river path on their old Indian trail. In this 1947 photograph, a car maneuvers the slippery highway near the intersection of Jefferson and Masonic. Open drainage ditches, no curbs, poor street lighting and snow made for a hazardous driving experience. The late historian Gus Blumline remembered the gasoline station on the corner that is partially visible in the photograph. There has been a succession of gasoline stations at this location dating to the present day.

According to the 1882 History of Macomb County by Leeson, the Chippewa and Wyandot Native Americans living in this area pointed out the years 1755 and 1775 as years of great snows. Within pioneer memory, the snow of 1822-3 was the heaviest. It fell to a depth of four feet and was accompanied with such an icy current that large numbers of deer, wolves and bears perished.

The largest seasonal snowfall in the Detroit area, according to the National Weather Service, came in the winter of 1925-26 when a total of 78 inches fell. Severe snowstorms also occurred in 1875, 1878, 1884, 1900 and 1929.