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Structure

King Strang Hotel

Also King Strang Hotel; formerly Beaver Hotel

Draft — sources verified, prose evolving

Locator map: Saint James highlighted within the Beaver Island archipelago
Within Saint JamesLocator plate © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL 1.0); depths NOAA; names USGS GNIS. How the plates are drawn.
TypeStructure
Built1941
Coordinates45.7492° N, 85.5172° WGoogle MapsDownload KML
WithinSaint James
ErasModern era
On this page
Locator map: Saint James highlighted within the Beaver Island archipelago
Within Saint JamesLocator plate © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL 1.0); depths NOAA; names USGS GNIS. How the plates are drawn.
Structure
Built
1941
Coordinates
45.7492° N, 85.5172° WGoogle MapsDownload KML
Eras
Modern era
Concepts
tourismcommunityheritage
Within
Saint James

Summary

The King Strang Hotel is a hotel in Saint James, Beaver Island, first attested under that name in a June 1941 county-newspaper announcement naming it headquarters for the County Agents Summer Conference and describing it as long noted for its food.1 Beaver Beacon retrospectives place its construction in 1901, when it was known as the Beaver Hotel, and the community marked its hundredth year in 2001. A current Charlevoix County parcel record identifies the King Strang Hotel Club at 26085 Main Street; that parcel supplies the map anchor used here.

History

A January 1982 Beacon walking tour of St. James recorded that “the King Strang Hotel was built in 1901 and called the Beaver Hotel,” that it “was opened in 1903 by Capt. Bonner,” and that the lumber used to build it came from Hog Island. The same account reported that Nels LaFreniere owned the hotel for a time, and that George Bennett was its most recent owner before a sale, around the date of the tour, to a group planning to use the building as a private retreat.2 A June 1962 Beacon note separately identified Mr. and Mrs. Olin Wanty of Ypsilanti as the hotel’s owners that year.3

By October 1963 the hotel was one of only a few Island lodgings that closed for the off season, alongside the Beaver Lodge; the Beacon advised visitors planning a deer-season trip to book with the establishments that stayed open.4 A July 1985 Beacon notice placed the hotel on the Beaver Island Historical Society’s summer home tour, chosen “for their cultural as well as historical significance,” and described it as retaining “most of its original atmosphere with its restored rooms in period fashion.”5 The 1901 construction date recorded in 1982 and 1985 is corroborated by a “King Strang Hotel Centennial” entry in the Island’s 2001 Fourth of July parade.6

Community role

The hotel served as an event venue across the decades the Beacon covers it: it hosted the reception for a September 1955 wedding at Holy Cross Church,7 and, more than fifty years later, took overflow guests from another Holy Cross wedding reception alongside the Beaver Lodge and the Killarney Inn.8 It also employed Islanders. After graduating from St. James High School in 1945, Rita McCauley worked at the hotel before moving to Pontiac, according to her 1996 Beacon obituary.9 A 2009 Beacon retrospective, drawing on Archie LaFreniere’s recollections, credited a Speed Queen employee who lodged at the hotel in the 1930s and was remembered only as “Patch” with developing an early automatic washing machine at a drafting table set up in his room.10

Evidence and limits

This is a source-bounded structure record built from Beaver Beacon community reporting rather than a business or property history. No source held here records why or when the hotel was renamed from the Beaver Hotel to the King Strang Hotel, gives “Capt. Bonner”’s full identity, or documents the property after its reported early-1980s sale for private-retreat use. The current parcel anchor identifies the hotel-club property at its present address but does not prove building continuity with the 1901 structure or reproduce its historic footprint.

Open questions

  • When and why was the Beaver Hotel renamed the King Strang Hotel?
  • Who was “Capt. Bonner,” and can a fuller identity be established?
  • What became of the hotel after its reported early-1980s sale for private-retreat use, and is the current King Strang Hotel Club the same operation?
  • Can directories, photographs, licenses, or local recollections add detail between the documented decades?

See also

Footnotes

  1. Charlevoix County Herald, June 20, 1941, “County Agents Summer Conference At St. James, Beaver Island.” ↩

  2. Beaver Beacon, January 1982, “Walking Tour of Town.” ↩

  3. Beaver Beacon, June 1962, community notes. ↩

  4. Beaver Beacon, October 1963, community notes. ↩

  5. Beaver Beacon, July 1985, community notes. ↩

  6. Beaver Beacon, August 2001, “The 2001 4th of July Parade, Honoring B.I. Veterans.” ↩

  7. Beaver Beacon, September 1955, “WEDDING BELLS.” ↩

  8. Beaver Beacon, November 2007, community notes. ↩

  9. Beaver Beacon, January 1996, obituary of Rita McCauley Long. ↩

  10. Beaver Beacon, January 2009, retrospective column. ↩

The dated record

3 dated events · 1956–1960These years on the timeline →

Sources

  1. Charlevoix County Herald, June 20, 1941, “County Agents Summer Conference At St. James, Beaver Island.”
    Names the King Strang Hotel as headquarters for the announced conference and describes it as long noted for its food. The 1941 date is a first held attestation, not a construction date. No public copy of this file is known; the archive holds one and can provide it on request.
    charlevoix · Charlevoix_County_Herald_1941-06-20
  2. Current address-level map point used as a representative location for the historically named hotel. The held 1941 source only says St. James and does not independently establish this address, building continuity, or current ownership.
  3. Parcel PIN 013-222-027-00 is owned by KING STRANG HOTEL CLUB INC and carries the situs address 26085 Main St; the listed point is the county parcel snapshot's representative coordinate. This supports a current property anchor, not a surveyed historic building footprint or proof that the 1941 hotel occupied the identical structure.
    county · charlevoix · parcels_arcgis · 2026-08-01 · island_parcel_attributes
  4. Community walking-tour article stating the hotel was built in 1901 as the Beaver Hotel, opened in 1903 by Capt. Bonner, built with lumber from Hog Island, later owned for a time by Nels LaFreniere and by George Bennett, and sold around 1982 to a group intending private-retreat use. The holding institution's portal restricts automated access; the archive holds a copy of this issue and can provide it on request.
    beaver_beacon · 1982-01_Beaver-Beacon
  5. Identifies Mr. and Mrs. Olin Wanty of Ypsilanti as owners of the King Strang Hotel as of June 1962.
    beaver_beacon · 1962-06_Beaver-Beacon
  6. Records that the King Strang Hotel closed for the season by November 1, 1963, alongside the Beaver Lodge, while other Island lodgings stayed open for deer season.
    beaver_beacon · 1963-10_Beaver-Beacon
  7. Announces the hotel's inclusion, as a 1901 building retaining restored period rooms, on the Beaver Island Historical Society's summer home tour. The holding institution's portal restricts automated access; the archive holds a copy of this issue and can provide it on request.
    beaver_beacon · 1985-07_Beaver-Beacon
  8. Lists a "King Strang Hotel Centennial" entry among the floats in the 2001 Fourth of July parade, corroborating the 1901 construction date. The holding institution's portal restricts automated access; the archive holds a copy of this issue and can provide it on request.
    beaver_beacon · 2001-08_Beaver-Beacon
  9. Reports a September 10, 1955 wedding reception held at the hotel following a ceremony at Holy Cross Church. The holding institution's portal restricts automated access; the archive holds a copy of this issue and can provide it on request.
    beaver_beacon · 1955-09_Beaver-Beacon
  10. Beaver Beacon, November 2007, community notes.
    Records the hotel hosting overflow reception guests, alongside the Beaver Lodge and Killarney Inn, for a Holy Cross wedding filmed by Mort Neff of Michigan Outdoors. No public copy of this file is known; the archive holds one and can provide it on request.
    beaver_beacon · 2007-11_Beaver-Beacon
  11. Obituary recording that, after graduating St. James High School in 1945, Rita McCauley worked at the King Strang Hotel before moving to Pontiac. The holding institution's portal restricts automated access; the archive holds a copy of this issue and can provide it on request.
    beaver_beacon · 1996-01_Beaver-Beacon
  12. Beaver Beacon, January 2009, retrospective column.
    Retrospective drawing on Archie LaFreniere's recollection that a Speed Queen employee known as "Patch," lodging at the hotel in the 1930s, developed an early automatic washing machine at a drafting table set up in his room. No public copy of this file is known; the archive holds one and can provide it on request.
    beaver_beacon · 2009-01_Beaver-Beacon

Added 1 August 2026 · revised 6 August 2026. Recent changes

Cite this article

Beaver Island Archive, “King Strang Hotel”, https://beaverislandarchive.org/structures/king-strang-hotel-1941/, accessed [date], citing Charlevoix County Herald, June 20, 1941, “County Agents Summer Conference At St. James, Beaver Island.” (and 11 further sources listed on the page).

Last revised 2026-08-06. Fill in [date] with the date you read it — this page is static and cannot know that.

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