Earlier this summer I was browsing through AirBnB hoping to find a place for a northern Michigan getaway in August. The listing for "Gunther General Store" came up and I couldn't believe it...it was historic general store building that was turned into a one-bedroom vacation rental. I was so excited to see that it had availability for a few days in August and I quickly booked it.
I am writing this part of the blog post on a swiveling stool at the counter of a replica general store counter. This building was a general store for many years - from at least 1905 until the 1960's. After its life as a store, the store front was demolished and it was transformed into a residence. The current owners purchased this property in 2018 and brought it back to its original aesthetic with replica general store antiques.
On the other side of the main room is a sitting area.
The back storage room was converted into a large bedroom with a bathroom - including a vintage claw foot tub.
The current owners of the property preserved its history by keeping the original walls and floors - but also they took the time to research the property. A daughter of the woman who owned this general store in the 1930's actually still lives in East Jordan. The owner told me that the daughter came to the property after its renovation and shared her memories of the store and her mother who owned it. Pictures of the daughter from the 1930's along with pictures of her older sister are framed hanging inside the building. That personal touch is really something unique and makes the building extra special.
During my four night stay at the general store, I took the time and did some of my own research on the property. Being from Michigan and taking several northern Michigan summer trips, I've never heard of the city of East Jordan so it was fun to explore the area. East Jordan is located on the end of the south arm of Lake Charlevoix which is 20 minutes south of Charlevoix; 35 mins southwest from Petoskey; 10 mins from Boyne City. It really is the perfect location to stay and visit multiple towns and beaches.
The Gunther's General Store is located on the west side of East Jordan - on the other side of the bridge from "downtown" East Jordan. The west side used to be its own village - South Arm Village.
Below is an image from the 1901 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map which shows that 201 Water St was a general store - even 100 years ago. The address was 303 Water St in 1901 and the general store also served as the post office.
The next image is the 1905 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map - it looks pretty much the same as it did in 1901.
On the 1912 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map - 201 (303) Water St is still a general store and the surrounding area looks the same as it did in 1905. Unfortunately, this is the last historic map of 201 Water St that I could find online.
The earliest record of the property at 201 Water St that I could find online was from 1910 when Dan E. Goodman received a mortgage from the State Bank of East Jordan. (Amazingly, Charlevoix County has free digital access to deeds from the 1880's until the 1990's!)
The image below is the Goodman's deed of the property at the "intersection of John and Water St on the North Easterly corner of Lot 1, Block C of the Village of South Arm". This property description is the exact same as is it today per the parcel lookup from Charlevoix County tax map.
Daniel E. Goodman
Born: December 13, 1863; Niagara County, New York
Died: July 7, 1949; Chicago, Illinois
Father: Frederick Goodman (b. 1823; Germany - d. 1903; South Arm Township, MI)
Mother: Dorothea Schumacher (b. 1831; Germany - d. 1912; Portland, Oregon)
Dan E. Goodman (D.E. Goodman) was born in Lockport, New York and was the oldest of his three siblings. At 13 years old, Dan Goodman, his parents, siblings, and his maternal grandparents (Schumacher family) moved to East Jordan, Michigan and lived on a farm.
In September 1891, Dan Goodman married Anna F. Keat - also of East Jordan, Michigan.
Anna Frances Keat
Born: January 28, 1869; East Jordan, Michigan
Died: December 23, 1912; East Jordan, Michigan
Father: James Keat (b. 1842; New Hampshire - d. 1900; Idaho)
Mother: Chloe Cole (b. 1849; Wisconsin - d. 1909; East Jordan, Michigan)
Anna Keat was the oldest of her two siblings and her father, James, was one of the first judges in northern Michigan.
Luckily, another Ancestry.com user shared a photo of Dan and Anna Goodman. (It's always exciting when I find a picture of the people I write about!)
According to the 1910 Census, Anna gave birth to one child but it was no longer living at that time. Dan and Anna did adopt a daughter - Florence Nancy Paquin. Florence grew up in East Jordan, married and lived in Detroit where she died in 1934. Information about Florence beyond this was not easily found online.
Dan Goodman owned and operated his own hardware/farming store at 201 Water St and I'm assuming lived next door at 203 Water St - (which is also an AirBnB owned by the same people as Gunther General Store).
Dan Goodman was elected multiple times (1904 & 1907) as the South Arm Township Treasurer - the main responsibility was to collect taxes.
The day before Christmas Eve, on December 23, 1912, Anna (Keat) Goodman passed away from ventricular thrombosis in East Jordan at the age of 43.
Two years later in November 1914, Dan Goodman remarried to Nellie Sweet. Nellie Sweet was a widow with two children. Her first husband, Charles Sweet, was a prominent surgeon and doctor in East Jordan.
I'm not sure the business relationships and who exactly owned what building/lived in exact house, but Dan E. Goodman and his brother-in-law from his first marriage, James H. Keat, were neighbors/business partners.
After Dan E. Goodman served as South Arm Township Treasurer, James Keat was elected. James Keat died in 1920, and his wife, Anna I. Keat, served as treasurer to collect the county taxes in 1921.
I'm not sure what exactly happened to Dan E. Goodman's hardware store after 1920. I'm assuming by the deeds and newspaper articles, his brother-in-law, James Keat, actually owned the store and Goodman was forced to relocate.
Dan E. Goodman eventually moved to Chicago and passed away there in July 1949. Nellie Sweet (Goodman) passed away in 1962.
In December 1920, Anna I. Keat, the sister-in-law of Dan E. Goodman, sold the property at 201 Water St. to William and Rose Painter.
William Daniel Painter
Born: May 2, 1863; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Died: January 5, 1948; Three Rivers, Michigan
Father: James Painter (b. 1823; England - d. 1888; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)
Mother: Sarah Ann Jones (b. 1823; Staffordshire, England - d. 1882; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)
Rose Hickinbottom
Born: December 1, 1871; Nottingham, England
Died: September 10, 1944; East Jordan, Michigan
Father: Alfred Hickinbottom (b. 1849; England - d. 1916; Providence, Rhode Island)
Mother: Betsy Neuman (b. 1852; Deptford, England - d. 1936; Port Stanley, Canada)
Immigrated to the USA: Sometime between 1887-1889
In February 1890, William Painter and Rose Hickinbottom were married in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. According to the 1910 US Census, Rose gave birth to 7 children, but only 4 were still living. The Painter family lived in Pittsburgh until 1910, when only Rose and her four daughters, Sarah, Matilda, Ethel, and Rebecca, moved to East Jordan, Michigan.
I could not find a record for the location of William Painter in 1910. Rose Painter worked as a laundress to support her family while her two oldest children worked as servants in private homes.
There is a divorce record for William and Rose Painter in 1917. William filed due to desertion. However, they were remarried in 192 in East Jordan.
Again, I was lucky that another Ancestry.com user uploaded a photo! Below is a photo that was uploaded by a descendent of the Painter family. The date of the photo is unknown but it is of William and Rose and their four daughters.
According to the 1930 US Census, the Painter family lived at 203 Water St - the home right next to the general store. The family owned the general store for about 10-11 years - 1920-1931.
There was only one newspaper article about their store from 1920. Other than that, information about their life in East Jordan was not easily found online.
Rose Painter passed away in 1944 in East Jordan. William Painter passed away in 1948 in Three Rivers, Michigan.
In November 1931, Raymond and Julia Gunther bought the property from William and Rose Painter.
Raymond Karl Gunther
Born: March 6, 1896; Cheboygan, Michigan
Died: January 25, 1972; Charlevoix, Michigan
Father: Adolph Gunther (Ginther) (b. 1857; Germany - d. 1925; Cheboygan, Pennsylvania)
Mother: Ernestina (maiden name unknown) (b. 1859; Germany - d. unknown)
Julia Emily Jensen
Born: December 12, 1896; East Jordan, Michigan
Died: March 23, 1984; East Jordan, Michigan
Father: Grulik Jensen (b. 1860; Norway - d. 1935; East Jordan, Michigan)
Mother: Johanne Olsdatter (b. 1857; Norway - d. 1945; East Jordan, Michigan)
Raymond Gunther was born and raised in Cheboygan, Michigan and his father and brothers worked at the local paper mill.
Julia Jensen was born and raised in East Jordan, Michigan on a South Arm Township farm. Julia graduated from Ferris Institute (Ferris State University) with a degree in nursing. She moved to Detroit and worked at Harper Hospital - which is where she met Raymond Gunther in 1922.
On August 20, 1923 in Petoskey, Michigan, Raymond and Julia were married. During that time, Raymond and Julia managed a grocery store in Petoskey. Eventually Raymond started working for the railroad which made the family move frequently.
They had two daughters, Emily (b. 1923) and Elaine (b. 1931).
According to the 1930 US Census, Raymond, Julia, and Emily lived in Frederic, Michigan while Raymond was a station agent for the railroad. The next year, they moved to East Jordan and bought the general store.
In December 1938, Julia filed for divorce from Raymond and from that divorce she got to keep the store. Raymond left Michigan and worked for the railroad in Louisiana in the 1940's.
A few years later in 1941, Julia remarried to Louis Cihak.
Julia and Louis owned and managed the general store at 201 Water St and lived next door at 203 Water St.
I am not sure on the exact year, but sometime between 1942-1947, Julia and Louis divorced. Then in March 1949, Julia married for the third time to John Rude. They remained married until John passed away in 1954.
Sometime in the late 1940's, Julia sold the general store to Gabriel Thomas. Gabriel Thomas lived downtown East Jordan and worked as a property manager. By 1950, Julia bought back the general store and reopened it.
In 1955, Julia sold the store to her daughter and son-in-law who had experience managing grocery stores in Muskegon and Dearborn. They moved next door at 203 Water St and eventually Julia had an apartment built in the back of the store.
Julia Jensen (Gunther, Rude) passed away from cancer in 1984 in East Jordan, Michigan.
While staying at the Gunther General Store, I went to the East Jordan library and I found a mini biography that the eldest daughter, Emily Gunther, wrote about her mother Julia. The book is called, "East Jordan Remembers: A Collection of Stories About East Jordan's Past". This mini biography is a wonderful summary of Julia's life and who she was as a person.
The next time you are looking for a vacation rental in northern Michigan, I highly recommend staying at Gunther's General Store at 201 Water St or next door at the Goodman Historic Cottage at 203 Water St. Both properties are so rich with history and many of the original elements of both properties are very well preserved.
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