[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 13]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 18241]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     100TH ANNIVERSARY OF ROSE CITY

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                            HON. BART STUPAK

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, July 27, 2005

  Mr. STUPAK. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor a community in my 
district that is celebrating its 100th anniversary as a city. On 
September 3rd, 2005 the residents of Rose City, Michigan will partake 
in their annual end-of-summer ox roast and pay tribute to its citizens 
and their city's history that consists of the All-American boom town 
tales as well as those more tragic stories.
  The first settlers to the area worked their way from Saginaw Bay 
along the Rifle River to what would become Ogemaw County in the 1870s. 
Ogemaw County, named after local Chippewa Chief Ogemaw-Ke-Ke-To, was 
home to several family names including Beck, Rose, Zettle, Rau and many 
others still residing in the region. Among those original settlers was 
William Rose who founded Rose City, then known as Churchill.
  Lumber and agriculture brought droves of people to the area where 
several lumber mills and a flour mill were amongst the more than 30 
businesses in the Rose City downtown district. Son of the Churchill 
founder William Rose, Allen S. Rose partnered with banker M.H. French 
to establish the French and Rose Land and Lumber Company. According to 
the local newspaper, in 1893 Rose was instrumental in bringing the 
first commercial railway, the Mackinaw & Detroit Railroad, to Rose City 
to service the area's lumber operations. The railroad made its first 
stop to Rose City that year on Christmas day.
  The eventual Mayor of Rose City and Michigan State Senator, H.S. 
Karcher, worked to incorporate the city on April 13, 1905. The city was 
named after Allen Rose who was also the local Postmaster at the time. 
During the peak of the lumber period, Ogemaw County contained 30 post 
offices. Of the many cities incorporated in the region by the State of 
Michigan in that same year, only two have survived, Rose City and West 
Branch. This year on April 13th, Rose City's current mayor, William 
Schneider, and Rodney Mason, the great-great-grandson of Allen Rose, 
reenacted the signing of Rose City's charter.
  Rose City has not survived the past 100 years unscathed, however. The 
famous fire that broke out in D.W. Benjamin's grocery store on April 
3rd, 1910 would scar the city's economy and morale for years. The fire 
that began in the grocery store was not discovered until 3:00 a.m. when 
flames had engulfed the building. The small town ``bucket brigade'' was 
not able to fight the fierce fire and one hour later the entire 
business district was destroyed.
  That night, 30 of 32 businesses were lost causing an estimated 
$175,000 worth of damage. The few items salvaged from the businesses 
were stolen. In his valiant effort to save all the U.S. mail, 
Postmaster O.F. Honeywell lost all of his personal belongings aside 
from the clothes on his back and two dollars in his pocket to the fire.
  Mr. Speaker, Rose City has experienced an All-American history with 
tales of the best of times and the worst of times. As the entire city 
gathers this September to celebrate the end of summer with their annual 
ox roast, it is quite apparent that they have risen from the ashes of 
their most tragic event to embrace their best assets--one another. I 
ask the United States House of Representatives to join me in 
congratulating Rose City and its residents on their first 100 years and 
in wishing them well through the next century.

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