- Date
- 1929-06
- Kind
- Disaster
- Where
- Saint James
- Eras
- Modern era
- Concepts
- communitymaritimelumberingheritage
- Within
- Saint James
Summary
A fire of undetermined origin destroyed Gus Melike’s sawmill, workshop, and sheds at St. James in June 1929. A newly completed 40-foot boat in the workshop also burned. The Charlevoix County Herald estimated the loss at more than $10,000.
Evidence and limits
The report gives no exact fire date, address, insurance information, fire-fighting details, boat name, builder, or ownership record beyond Melike’s ownership of the premises. The event is dated only to June 1929 from the issue’s “recent” state-news wording.
Open questions
- Can a later local report or insurance, property, or municipal record establish the exact date and site?
- What was the name and intended use of the completed 40-foot boat?
- Can the loss estimate and fire cause be corroborated?
See also
Sources
- Charlevoix County Herald, June 21, 1929, state-news item on the Gus Melike fire.Reports that a fire of undetermined origin destroyed Gus Melike’s St. James sawmill, workshop, and sheds, burned a newly completed 40-foot boat, and caused more than $10,000 in loss. No public copy of this file is known; the archive holds one and can provide it on request.
- Raw issue OCR preserves the short state-news item and its fire-cause, ownership, boat, and loss details.
Added 1 August 2026. Recent changes
Cite this article
Beaver Island Archive, “Fire at Gus Melike’s St. James Sawmill in 1929”, https://beaverislandarchive.org/events/fire-at-gus-melike-sawmill-1929/, accessed [date], citing Charlevoix County Herald, June 21, 1929, state-news item on the Gus Melike fire. (and 1 further source listed on the page).
Last revised 2026-08-01. Fill in [date] with the date you read it — this page is static and cannot know that.
BibTeX for “Fire at Gus Melike’s St. James Sawmill in 1929”RIS for “Fire at Gus Melike’s St. James Sawmill in 1929”