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GLADSTONE
POINTS
OF
INTEREST
Hoegh Pet Casket Company. Tour the world's largest pet casket factory, learn the history of the pet burial phenomenon, see a model cemetery ...
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Region: Escanaba, Menominee & the Green Bay Shore
GLADSTONE
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 | | 8 p.m. at Van Cleve Park in Gladstone. Children can swim and play in the water late here, thanks to the central and western U.P.’s late summer evenings and the warm, shallow waters here at Lake Michigan’s Little Bay de Noc. | This tidy, compact town of over 5,000 is on the west shore of Little Bay de Noc. Its attractive residential streets, Lake Shore Drive and Minneapolis Avenue, look out to the bay across beautiful Van Cleve Park, with its harbor and swimming beach.
Minneapolis backers of the Soo Line railroad founded the town as "Minnewasca Sioux" ("White Water") and established a flour mill here in 1887. But the town's main value came from its natural deep-water harbor. Local leaders soon changed its name to Gladstone - after the reform-minded British Prime Minister William Gladstone - because the Soo Line was financed largely by British capital. The railroad got its name because it connected Minneapolis-St. Paul with Sault Ste. Marie and Canada. Canadian business interests drummed up support for the railroad to help develop the Canadian economy. The Soo Line built engine repair shops here and developed the harbor to provide it with a Lake Michigan port for shipping grain from Minneapolis.
 | | These unusual concrete figures of Indians are actual portraits of people known to the artist in northern Michigan, and said to resemble them closely. The sculptures were moved to the east end of Van Cleve Park by a descendant of the original owner. | In the late 19th century Cleveland Cliffs Iron (owner of productive iron mines in and around Ishpeming) built a blast furnace and chemical plant on Lake Michigan just beyond the northern edge of Gladstone, in an unincorporated place known as Kipling. Here kilns burned hardwood to produce charcoal as a purifier for the iron smelting process. They also extracted additional chemicals from the wood, such as resins used in glue. By 1910 descriptions mentioned company houses extending "as far as the eye could see." Today only three houses remain.
The name "Kipling" honors Rudyard Kipling, who passed through when he toured the North Country along the Soo Line - a trip arranged by its financial backers. The famous poet and novelist, author of The Jungle Book and Kim, asked the name of this industrial town. Actually it had no name. "Kipling" was the reply, just as "Rudyard" had been the response to a similar query in the eastern Upper Peninsula. Later Kipling wrote a poem entitled "My Two Sons in Michigan." The Kipling House Bed and Breakfast (see under Gladstone lodgings) now occupies the last of Kipling's six big boarding houses.
Gladstone thrived with the railroad, then slowed down. But the population is now back up to its 1930s level of over 5,000 with the addition of choice suburban real estate up on the bluff west of U.S. 2. Gladstone's harbor is now used for recreational boats.
Today Gladstone is headquarters for the fast-growing Besse Forest Products Company. Its founder, John Besse, has a knack for turning near-bankrupt mills into profitable ventures. Besse now has around 1,200 employees and 15 mills across 3 states. One of them, Northern Michigan Veneer, is at 710 Rains Street, on the shoreline north of central Gladstone. Employing 120, it can turn out 77 million square feet of veneer a year. Besse is now looking toward the vast China market.
Two unusual, nationally visible companies are in Gladstone. Decades-old Marble Arms, founded in 1892, is best known for its hunting knives. These expensive knives have become desirable collectors' items. Capitalizing on the cachet of antique Marble Arms knives, it now makes a line of antique reproductions, from pocket knives to hunting knives. They aren't cheap. The Four-Blade Congress Folder is $185. The Marble Arms showroom is open to the public weekdays from 8:30 to 4:30. It's in the big orange building just off the Kipling exit of U.S. 2/U.S. 41.
Another uncommon firm, the Hoegh Pet Casket Company, ships high-impact styrene plastic products all over the country. See Gladstone points of interest for tour and pet cemetery info.
Getting to the town of Gladstone from U.S. 2/41 is not as easy as you might assume, because rail yards separate it from the highway. Look for the signs along the highway. The southernmost entrance is via Marble Avenue/Lake Shore along the lake. The main retail street, Delta Avenue, intersects with U.S. 2 opposite the freight yard.
Soon over 100 sights of unusual scenic and historic interest between Gladstone and Menominee will be marked with special signage as the Hidden Coast Recreational Heritage Trail. (It's not a bike trail.)
Back to Escanaba, Menominee & the Green Bay Shore
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GLADSTONE
RESTAURANTS,
LODGINGS
& CAMPGROUNDS
These are our choices, not ads.
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GLADSTONE
RESTAURANTS
See also: Escanaba, Rapid River.
LOG CABIN
(906) 786-5621
Dating from 1933, the Log Cabin is known for its juicy pork chop, good whitefish, and its wonderful hillside setting up above U.S. 2/41. Every table in the smoke-free dining room has a beautiful bay view. There's a full menu of beef, fish, and chicken dishes—not exciting, but consistent, with excellent service. (Dinners range from $10 to $25, the latter for lobster tail). Vegetarian by request. The bar now offers also offer the full menu. It has a deck by the pond in back where drinks and appetizers are served. Reservations recommended in summer.
On the bluff side of U.S. 2 & 41 & M 35 about 1 1/2 miles south of Gladstone, a little north of Terrace Bay. 786-5621, Open summer for lunch Mon-Fri 11-2:30) , dinner May-Aug 5-10, rest of year 5-9, Fri-Sat til 10 p.m.. May-Dec dinner is Mon-Sat 5-10, Sun 4-9. Jan-April dinner is Mon-Fri 5-9, Sat to 10, Sun 4-9 Eastern Time. Wheelchair-accessible. Family friendly. Full bar.
SOUTHWEST REFLECTIONS
(906) 428-1134
From the bread in sandwiches to muffins and the crust of fresh fruit pies, most things are homemade at this cute little restaurant in a renovated Queen Anne Victorian house. Owner Geri DeGraves offers breakfast fare, soups and daily specials ($5.50-$6.50) like a steak fajita wrap or broccoli quiche with a roll and fruit salad, hamburgers and Mexican fare prepared the way her late Mexican-American grandmother from New Mexico cooked. Tamales, enchiladas, burritos, and chimichangas appear as dinner plates ($7-$10.45) with refried beans and rice. Lunch fare includes burritos, nachos, tacos, quesadillas, and items like the chicken fajita salad in edible bowl (at $7 the most expensive thing on the lunch menu). Desserts may be warm apple cake with lemon sauce, bread pudding and custard sauce, and cheesecake.
On the west edge of downtown Gladstone at 1016 Delta Ave. From mid-April thru Jan open Mon-Sat 8 a.m.-8 p.m.From Feb thru mid-April closes at 3 p.m. Wheelchair-accessible. Family-friendly. No alcohol.
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GLADSTONE
LODGINGS
See also: Escanaba.
BAY VIEW MOTEL
(906) 786-2843
A woodsy location back a ways from U.S. 2/U.S. 41 makes for a pleasant picnic and BBQ area. There's no bay view, contrary to the name. Delona's family restaurant (see under "Restaurants") is right next door. Most of the 21 handsomely furnished rooms are on ground level; some have refrigerators. All have phones, air-conditioning, and cable TV with HBO. The newer rear building has less road noise. Summer rates for two: $53 (one bed), $63 (two). Winter $10 less. There's an attractive small indoor pool and sauna.
1 mile north of Escanaba River on U.S. 2/U.S. 41, next to DeLona family restaurant. Handicap accessible: call. Families: 12 and under free. Dogs: in pet rooms.
KIPLING HOUSE BED & BREAKFAST
(877) 905-
ROOM; (906) 428-1120
Kipling House is not just another romantic B&B, though it is that. Its guests can, if they choose, learn about everything from the history of Kipling, once the company town of a busy blast furnace and chemical plant, to details of dairying and timber operations in the U.P. to getting an overview of the U.P. economy. That's because Ann Miller, innkeeper with her husband, Ralph, has been district legislative assistant for several Upper Peninsula state representatives- a position that developed naturally from her earlier life as wife of a dairy farmer near Bruce Crossing.
The Millers are intimately familiar with shrinking small communities, and they like people and entertaining. So it seemed quite logical to undertake the ambitious project of restoring this large house in a much-diminished company town. They use it as their home, as a B&B, and as a place for receptions and putting up visiting dignitaries, from politicians to children's authors. They're all "folks" to Ann. Ralph, an army retiree from the area, loves to cook on a grand scale. He is also an upholsterer. The house, an impressive place with a wide front porch, was actually one of six boarding houses built by Cleveland Cliffs Iron. The Millers have collected historical material and photos about industrial Kipling, along with bits and pieces from other historic buildings in the area that have been demolished. Guests can borrow bikes to explore Kipling and Gladstone.
Kipling House is a homestay B&B, not heavily promoted. It's intended to be a comfortable place where guests can have as much or as little privacy as they like. Guests share the first-floor common areas with the Millers: a parlor with fireplace and cable TV/VCR, dining room, morning room, front porch with six rockers, and Chef Ralph's French country kitchen. If the Millers are watching a video or game on TV, guests feel free to join in. An elegant full breakfast is served; so is a homemade dessert. On the second floor is one king room with private bath ($95) and two rooms that share a bath and sitting area with cable TV- an arrangement repeated in the two third-floor rooms. These rooms can be rented together (each room is then $75) or the larger room can be taken with sitting area and private bath (then it's $95). Some guest rooms are air-conditioned. Guests use the Millers' phone. Some guest rooms are a tailored version of flowers and lace, while others are more whimsical: sunflowers, lighthouses, and - the popular favorite - the tree house, with a tree painted on the ceiling. The two-person rear cottage ($150) has a downstairs sitting area with cable TV/VCR, and a cozy upstairs sleeping loft. Between house and cottage is a gazebo and rock garden with waterfalls.
1716 N. Lakeshore Drive at
the north end of Gladstone. From the north, turn at Rapid River sign. From the south, go through Gladstone.
Wheelchair access: no. Ask about cottage. Children: well suited to older children. 2 people/room. No pets.
TERRACE BAY RESORT BUDGET HOST
(906) 786-7554; (800) 283-4678
The best waterfront location between Escanaba and Gladstone is used to excellent advantage here. Half the rooms have the beautiful bay view. All the 71 large rooms have balconies and recliners. Also oriented to the bay: the big dining room, lounge, terrace, and a gorgeous indoor swimming pool room with a small (30' or so) kidney-shaped pool. A spa, sauna, and game room are by the pool. (There's no swimming beach here on the west side of Little Bay de Noc, however.) 2005 rates: June 16-30: bayside $79, roadside $72. July 1- August 30, bayside $88, roadside $81. Sept 7-Sept 30: bayside $79, roadside $73. Oct -May 14: all rooms $65. All rooms have phones.
The original nucleus of the Terrace Inn was billed as "Escanaba's wonder ballroom" when it opened in 1933. The two-story motel wing on the north dates from the 1970s and has soundproof block construction. The older south wing is used when occupancy is high. Loads of good satellite cable channels are a bonus. A free continental breakfast is served in the comfortable large entrance area. The motel is a block off the highway on a residential street that goes along the bay, so walks are possible. Less than a mile north, atop the bluff across the road, is the country club the resort has merged with. There Terrace Bay guests can enjoy free tennis, an outdoor pool, volleyball, a snack bar, and the area's 18-hole, top-rated golf course with driving range, putting green, instructors and free weekly golf clinics. Summer fees are $14 (9 holes) and $26 (18 holes). Free golf after Labor Day.
Sign is on U.S. 2 & 41 & M-35 about 2 miles south of Gladstone. Hotel sits back. Handicap accessible: some ADA accessible rooms. Families: under 16 free with adult; $5/extra person. No pets.
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GLADSTONE
CAMPGROUNDS
BAY CAMPGROUND
(906) 428-1211
Oaks tower over some of the 63 campsites at this waterfront park just east of Van Cleve Park's 1,500 feet of sandy beach. Sites are mainly open, without shrubby buffers. Some are pull-thru. 25 have 30 amp electric service, water and sewer hookups ($17/night). 25 electric-only sites are $15. 13 primitive or tent sites are $12/night. There's a shower house and a dump station. Horseshoes and a spectacular Kids' Kingdom playground are nearby.
Open from early May through mid-October. Reservations can be made online.
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