Photo provided by Janice (Carey) Leeman CHICAGO, MILWAUKEE & ST. PAUL Railway Depot with Engine No. 531, Channing, circa 1912: Engine No. 531 had just pulled in at the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway Depot in Channing when this postcard view was taken in about 1912. The man wearing light-colored overalls was Ben Burman. At the extreme right, behind the depot, a portion of Vermullen’s ice cream parlor can be seen.

IRON MOUNTAIN — “Channing: Railroad Center in Northern Dickinson County, Michigan” will be the topic of a new PowerPoint presentation by local historian Bill Cummings at the Dickinson County Genealogical Society meeting at 1 p.m. Thursday in the multi-purpose room of the Dickinson County Library in Iron Mountain.

The village of Channing began as a railroad station called Ford Siding in Sagola Township. Platted June 28, 1893, by the Milwaukee Land Company on the W 1/2 of NW 1/4 of Section 8, T43N of R30W, the village was named for John Parke Channing, a highly respected mining engineer who was exploring the area near the beginning of his career.

The post office was established Dec. 7, 1892, with Horace W.Bentserving as postmaster.

An advertisement to “boom” the new town of Channing on the Lake Superior Division was placed by the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway, appearing in the July 13, 1893, edition of Iron Mountain’s The Range-Tribune.

The following information appeared in the advertisement: “Channing is located at the Junction of the main line of what was formerly the Milwaukee & Northern Railroad, with the new branch leading to Ontonagon. It will be a division station where the Railroad Company propose to erect numerous buildings necessary to the proper conduct of business. The town was laid out by the Milwaukee Land Company, a corporation which controls townsites all over the St. Paul system,

and no pains will be spared to make Channing an important business as well as railroad centre (sic). Special Inducements will be offered to the first party who will erect a substantial and commodious hotel for the accommodation of the traveling public and railway employees.”

The PowerPoint presentation contains many photographs of the business district located on Railroad Avenue in Channing, as well as schools, railroad views and scenes at Sawyer Lake.

The program will begin after a brief business meeting. There is no charge and visitors are welcome.

The May and August issues of the Dickinson County Genealogical Society quarterly, “Dickinson Diggings,” will be distributed.