Gladwin County Historical Society

05/23/2026

Help needed. We have this photo taken in a Geometry class at Beaverton High School (in the building that is now the B.A.C.) in January 1951. I am pretty sure the teacher was still teaching at the time I taught more than 20 years later. But I am not coming up with a name. Also, lets hear about the kids diligently taking a Geometry test under their teacher's watchful eye.

05/12/2026

TreeTrunk Sculpture. (But wondering who can share information about the sculptor?)

04/24/2026

75 years ago, Gladwin looked a lot different, but also looked a lot the same - as can be seen in this photo from 1950 depicting the downtown blocks between Bowery & Antler streets. But note that the only building still standing in the south half of the block north of Grout Street between Antler & Arcade, but south of the commercial buildings facing Cedar Avenue is the building now owned by the Gladwin County Historical Society and used for storage. But in this photo - that building has no roof! All the rest of the buildings there are now much-needed downtown parking.

04/19/2026

This photo was taken at Beaverton in 1941 - in front of the building that is now the Beaverton Activity Center. These young ladies were probably all born between 1926 and 1934, and were involved in the 4-H program. Note that a number of them are wearing aprons that they likely made as 4-H sewing projects. In all likelihood, it is their children that may still be in the area who might recognize them, but is possible that some are still with us, and in their 90s now. Please share a link to this image so people who might be able to identify them, and/or print a copy to show to someone old enough to provide identification. (Note: if you are seeing this on a share, and think you may know any of these girls, please click on the photo to make your comments on the original post. )

04/06/2026

Beaverton's class of 1952 went on a field trip. This photo came from Nancy (Ross) Macklem, who recently passed away. Our thanks to her family for providing this and other photos to share with the community. Now, let's hear about whose grandparents are in the shot! (Note: the names of the class members are noted, but not in the order they appear in the photo.)
BHS Graduates in 1952 included: Wanda Andrist - Richard Bailey - Anne Bergman - Ruth Blades - Charles Boyer - Richard Boyer - Delano Brubaker - Beverly Brushaber - Dean Cochrane - Donna Crivac - Irene Crowell - Beulah Davis - Geneva Davis - Shirley Erway - Richard Fassett - Thelma Fredenburgh - Clark French - Leora Grant - Darwin Grove - Lucille Horr - Barbara Hund - Barbara Kent - Margaret Kinyon - Ardis Larkin - Earl Larson - Herman Leuenberger - Donna McBride - Jerry McCulloch - Larry McCulloch - Joyce McKellar - James Mishler - Laveria Mishler - Richard Mishler - Pat Moe - Dode Myers - Wilbur Oard - Kenneth Perry - Alvin Priest - Neil Priest - James Rau - Gladys Rhodes - Nancy Ross - Betty Rydman - Lawrence Rydman - Jeanette Sampson - Verna Scheele - Louise Schneider - Rilla Seibt - Geraldine Smith - Rosa Steele - Alice Wall - Richard Ware - Bessie Wesley - Jessie Wesley - Jean Williams - Evelyn Wirt - Keith Wolfe.

04/03/2026

Beaverton flashback to World War II - when all the young men were off fighting the war, the farmers back home were short staffed - but without all the expensive automation available now. (Not sure of the publication date of Mrs. Burgess' photo, but it looks to be the early 1980s.) - A big thanks to Christie & Bob Cleveland who supplied the clipping.

03/22/2026

Gladwin County is home to some mighty talented athletes - these are basketball players, of both genders and both districts who have been deemed by the Midland Daily News as the 2025-26 best of the best. The articles have been reformatted, and in some cases, text about districts outside Gladwin County have been omitted to save space, yet render the articles still readable.

03/16/2026

Beaverton has been hosting celebrations for a very long time - back in the time of these articles from 1934, the biggest was "Homecoming Weekend" - and as can be seen from reading the articles, it was a huge success. This was published not long after the Beaverton Clarion was purchased by and merged with the Gladwin County Record. The Record was trying to prove that it could do the job of reporting from for both cities in the county. So this was partly marketing and partly recognizing that Beaverton had an active and talented business community and a lot of local spirit.

03/12/2026

What a difference a few years makes ... but we still have a way to go before Wixom Lake returns ... but the work continues.

01/07/2026

The "Wixom Lake Steam Shovel" that was salvaged from Wixom lake after the dam went out has generated a lot of interest. Here is a long video of the guys involved in the history discuss the Steam Shovel and the people and issues related to the history and restoration of it.

A conversation with the grandsons and a good friend of the family that helped remove it. Sorry there is some bad audio.