Douglas Cafe

Archive

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Saugatuck Douglas Historical Society

Name/Title

Douglas Cafe

Entry/Object ID

2021.87.21

Scope and Content

The Local Observer newspaper Remembering When - Our History article titled "Douglas Cafe" LO19 June 1, 2005. By Jack Sheridan and Jim Schmiechen. Digital files use to create this article and associated resources at 2021.72.02

Context

DOUGLAS CAFE As Douglas becomes well-known for its restaurants, it is interesting that the corner of Center and Main Streets in downtown Douglas has been a sort of “restaurant corner” off and on since the 1930s. Many people today remember it as being the home of the Auction House restaurant (the Auction House sign is now in the Saugatuck-Douglas museum collection of local business signs). Nevertheless, documenting the history of the present structure that houses the Chaps restaurant in that restored old building presented a puzzle. We became inspired to work on this when Geri Van Meter, the former owner of the Auction House (the predecessor to the present Chaps) sent us a couple of photos of the building, and we then acquired more information and photos from Jan Van Liere, who created Chaps in 1998. Assembling the clues, here is what we have found. The structure itself was built in the early 1900s as Ben Wiegert’s Model Grocery and shows up on a 1910 “Sanborn Fire Map” with separate entrances for groceries and drugs. Ben is shown here with the family Ford sedan in 1923. The photo of the store, from around the same time suggests that the grocery business had fallen into hard times, and might explain why, by the 1930s, the Wiegerts had converted the space into a restaurant called the Douglas Cafe. We speculate that the woman in the photo is the Wiegert’s daughter Beatrice—standing behind the dining counter at a cookie jar. Beatrice was in the Douglas school ‘upper grades’ in 1920-21. According to Mr. Demi Demerest, the Douglas Cafe was well known for pies and cakes (check out the glass case to the rear of the room). We feature one of the desert recipes from Beatrice’s recipe book, now in the possession of Jan Van Liere. Does anyone have a Douglas Cafe menu and does anyone know when the restaurant closed? Let us know any information and of course we would like to sample a piece of the apple sauce cake! By Jim Schmiechen

Collection

Remembering When

Cataloged By

Winthers, Sally

Acquisition

Accession

2021.87

Source or Donor

Sheridan, John "Jack" O. 1938-

Acquisition Method

Donation

Location

* Untyped Location

Digital data in CatalogIt

Relationships

Related Person or Organization

Person or Organization

Dunham, Beatrice Arbeanta (Wiegert) 1906-1994, Demerest, Marvin Eugene "Demmy" 1928-2020, Sheridan, John "Jack" O. 1938-, Happystance/8W Center/Chaps/Auction House/Douglas Cafe/Wiegert's Model Grocery, VanMeter, Geri, Linter, Cecil, Van Liere, Jan, Lane, Kit 1939-2024, Schmiechen, James A., Mix, Elisha, Douglas Cafe, Wiegert, Benjamin "Ben" William 1877-1946

Related Publications

Publication

Local Observer

Create Date

December 3, 2021

Update Date

December 8, 2023