Name/Title
Pine Grove School and Powell ClubEntry/Object ID
2021.87.106Scope and Content
The Local Observer newspaper Remembering When - Our History article titled "The Pine Grove School -- Former "Giddy School Girls" of Saugatuck Get Together"
February 23, 2005.
By Jack Sheridan and Jim Schmiechen.
Digital files use to create this article and associated resources at 2021.72.02Context
THE PINE GROVE SCHOOL---FORMER "GIDDY SCHOOL GIRLS" OF SAUGATUCK GET TOGETHER
Some time ago we showed you some photographs of old school houses of Saugatuck and Douglas. This week we pass on a bit of the story about the old Saugatuck school known as the Pine Grove School-which was actually the first school in Saugatuck proper and was located in what is now the charming house at 246 Mary Street {at the end of block of Mary Street as one walks east from Butler Street). Up until this time the children of Saugatuck hiked out to a school on the road to the Singapore mill settlement. The Pine Grove school was opened in 1855-and continued as the village schoolhouse until the new 'Union' School was opened in 1866 (the image we showed you in the January 5th "Our History" edition). The name comes from the grove of pine trees that graced the neighborhood ( May Heath described the building as being a "long building facing east''). Frederick Fursman, the well-known American artist and the director of the Ox-Bow school purchased the building in the 1920s and had his friend, Thomas Tallmadge, an equally well-known Chicago architect, remodel it in about 1927, in the fashionable style of the day, called Colonial Revival. Subsequent to Fursman, it became the home of a number of artists (there is a nice little painting studio in the rear), including Elsa Ulbricht and Emily Faucett. Today is it well preserved by its owners, Korry and Doug Hoeksema.
The Powell Club was organized in 1889 and was made up of Pine Grove School graduates. In the photo of 1913 shown here, several of the 'girls' here are graduates from the class of 1862. The woman second from the right is May Francis Heath-the person who wrote the early history of the Saugatuck area and who was featured in this past year's museum exhibition as the woman who saved Saugatuck's "treaty tree." Can anyone tell us what game they are playing? We also don't know why none of male graduates of the school are not present. The scene appears to be in the neighborhood of the school itself.
By Jim Scbmeichen
Article mentions the Pine Grove school, 246 Mary Street, that opened in 1855 and operated until Saugatuck Union School opened in 1866.
The Powell Club was organized in 1889 and made up of Pine Grove School graduates. In the 1913 photo, several "girls" are graduates from the class of 1862 including May Francis Heath.Collection
Remembering When, Clubs and social organizationsCataloged By
Winthers, SallyAcquisition
Accession
2021.87Source or Donor
Sheridan, John "Jack" O. 1938-Acquisition Method
DonationLocation
* Untyped Location
Digital data in CatalogItRelationships
Related Person or Organization
Person or Organization
Mount Baldhead Dune/ParkRelated Publications
Publication
Local ObserverCreate Date
May 23, 2022Update Date
March 31, 2024
