By Rosemary Currier
Did you ever look around downtown Sturgis and wonder what it used to be like? Who the people were who made this a great town? What were their stories?
Oak Lawn Cemetery Tour 2025 is for those who want to know their “town ancestors” – the long ago Sturgis residents whose lives and businesses have a local impact today.
Todd Maynard of Willer’s Shoes said, “I think I know history. Then I go to the cemetery tours and learn so much more.”
Maynard does know Sturgis history and he cares. His name is already in the history of downtown. But the story goes back further than the last 50 years. Much further.
Downtown was the center of local life for decades. It was where neighbors met when they came shopping. People living in Sturgis might have been around more often, while those living in rural areas came less often.
For both, going to town was a big deal. A very big deal.
On Saturday nights stores stayed open late because everyone was done with their work for the week. They needed stuff. They wanted to kick back and relax with friends.
There were shoe stores, hat shops, drug stores, grocery stores, and “5 and dime stores.”
Some favorite destinations included Tribbett’s for women’s clothing and Carl Rehm’s for men’s clothing.
Livery stables and black smith shops were necessities for many decades until car dealers and gas stations took their place in town.
Eugene C. Wright was the owner of a big Ford dealership – one of the largest in the midwest, according to “Ford Times” in 1940.
There was a narrow butcher shop beside the grocery store where the Open Door Art Gallery is now. The tiny shop was the original Central Meat Market until about 1963.
Sigrist Furniture has been on the corner of Chicago Road and North Street for nearly 60 years. However, it was a hotel since 1828 when the first settlers arrived in Sturgis. The most recent was Hotel Elliott.
Some businesses in town were owned by women. Have you heard of Schaeffer Real Estate owned by Jessie Schaeffer or Florence Hagen who owned Florence Beauty Shop? How about Hazel Prince Fogelson, a licensed mortician and embalmer? Then there was Edith Tribbett who owned a women’s apparel store after her husband’s death.
Do you remember Patterson’s Supper Club and the role it played in the community? How about Parham Studio? It has been gone for about 100 years but Parham photography recorded Sturgis history.
Oak Lawn Cemetery Tours 2025 will highlight some local businesses, most of them downtown.
The cast includes returning actors Colin Eastman, Kristi Smith, Paul Rooyakkers, Barb Neff and Steve Runyon. Chris Horn, Chantelle Horn and Julian Kennedy are new this year. Both Seth Falkenstein and Sue Schaeffer will be portraying a relative.
Oak Lawn Cemetery Walking Tours 2025
4-5:20 p.m. Sept. 6
2-3:20 p.m. Sept. 7
Tours leave every 20 minutes from the starting to final time listed.
Tickets are $15 available at the Sturges-Young website under “box office.”
For more information visit our Facebook page Sturgis Historical Museum ~ at the Depot.
