CHATHAM

Region: Pictured Rocks/Munising/Au Train

Chatham, named after the Ontario city, is on M-94 at the east edge of a sizable farming area extending to Skandia, Traunik, and Trenary. The village of about 200 residents was first developed in 1896 as a lumber camp. The camp was gone by 1899, when the railroad arrived. Now the railroad right-of-way is a major east-west snowmobile route. The State Agricultural Experiment Station (part of Michigan State University) was also established in 1899 to investigate how best to farm cutover land in this cold inland climate. Its dairy herd was sold in 2010, but the station remains active.
The striking, three-story sandstone hotel in the center of Chatham was built as the Pacific Hotel in 1904. It was built of local gray sandstone by Edward Levy, a grocer and saloonkeeper. The hotel, 50 yards from the railroad, was erected to serve lumber company employees and salesmen. It's on the Michigan Register of Historic Places. For a photo and more history, see mcgi.state.mi.us/
hso/, then search for Chatham. The hotel was one of the few buildings to survive a fire in 1925. It now houses the Rock River Café. Co-owner Pat Nesberg likes the area's "dynamic social structure . . . including [the descendants] of hardy Finnish immigrants and ‘cultural creatives' seeking to live naturally and organically in tune with the environment."

Across the street, the CHATHAM COOPERATIVE IGA, (906-439-5151), still cooperatively run and open to the public, sells groceries and hardware. It's open weekdays from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., Sundays 9 to 5.

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PLACES AROUND CHATHAM TO

Eat Sleep Camp