Bob Wilson has done it again.
The devoted local historian and author helped create a historical trolley tour of Traverse City landmarks whose sold-out numbers testify to the idea's success (one of the two tours for August is already sold-out.)
The outreach event was a fund raiser for the Grand Traverse Pioneer and Historical Society, of which Wilson is past president and an active member. BATA donated the trolley and driver's time so that all funds raised benefit the society, which is one of five partner organizations of the Grand Traverse Heritage Center.
Holding the tours monthly through the summer, Sunday featured the two sessions for July. The hour-and-a-half event showcased the people and places that shaped the area. Wilson wrote the script based on years of research, much of it included in his three-volume series "Grand Traverse Legends,” and his vivid eye for detail and description.
From landfall by Harry Boardman in 1847 near what is now the intersection of Boardman and Eighth streets to Perry Hannah's home on Sixth Street and down through the famous names and places of the city, the trolley tour highlighted the early decades of Traverse City.
The initial commercial foray in the region by European settlers actually bordered on a debacle. Captain Harry Boardman purchased 200 acres and sent his son here to establish and run a sawmill but Horace could not make the enterprise a success.
"They were farmers, here four years and it was a disaster — beyond their capacity and technology,” said Wilson. "They sold the land to Perry Hannah and he saw the potential. He saw more than just a big lumber baron, he saw the location, the beauty and the potential.”
Hannah succeeded where the Boardmans failed and his business ventures quickly expanded beyond logging. Hannah's altruism and vision influence the city even today as he donated land for churches, the hospital, government buildings, Oakwood Cemetery and parks. The city grew swiftly from 300 residents in 1860 — more than half living in boarding houses and a third not speaking English — to more than 9,000 by 1900.
"As I look to Perry Hannah's life, he was one of the most generous people I've ever run into,” said Wilson, noting that Hannah even encouraged and loaned money for start-up businesses that would directly compete with his.
Launching from the Grand Traverse Heritage Center, the trolley tour moved along Sixth Street to Union, where Brady's Bar (formerly the Boardman River House,) Blue Tractor (formerly Novotny's Saloon) and the current Cellular One store (Wilhelm's Department Store) all have roots in Traverse City's history.
Novotny's Saloon was a central gathering place for members of the growing Bohemian immigrant community. Patrons hatched many a practical joke there and only men were allowed inside with one exception: Salvation Army ladies were allowed to meet in an upstairs hall.
The tour also noted homes along Washington and Wellington streets built and lived in by prominent businessmen in the 1800s. Other stops narrated important landmarks on Front Street, including the Whiting Hotel, the State Bank building and the City Opera House, as well as the site of the first sawmill just north of West Front Street.
Wilson also noted how from his childhood days in the 1940s and 50s the look of Traverse City changed dramatically from factories and pollution lining the waterfront and river — signs of economic success directly linked to early settlers' hard work — to a sparkling, year-round playground.
"Traverse City's industrial revolution had its downsides, mainly out of ignorance,” he said.
The next Grand Traverse Pioneer and Historical Society Traverse City Historic Landmark Tour will be held on Sunday, August 19. For more information or to make a reservation for the 3 p.m. ride, call 995-0313.