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Remember when?

By TERRI CASTELAZ, Staff Writer 2 min read
This photograph, identified as the “Old Runkel House, Crystal Falls, Mich.,” dates to between 1890 and 1910. Written on the back are the names of those shown: Mr. and Mrs. Parks, Ruby Rowley, wearing an apron; Aunt Mattie, standing; and Edna Parks, whose name was crossed out and replaced with “Ione Hollister.” One of the women is shown relaxing in a hammock. (Photo provided by the Menominee Range Historical Museum)

This week's "Remember When?" feature -- provided by the Menominee Range Historical Museum of Iron Mountain -- takes a look back at the Runkel-Parks House in Crystal Falls and the family who called it home more than a century ago.

The home was associated with John H. Parks, a successful lumberman and Crystal Falls businessman.

Parks was born June 4, 1845, in Standing Stone Township, Bradford County, Penn. His parents were both born in Scotland. His family later moved to Wisconsin, where Parks attended a log schoolhouse and began working in the woods at a young age. He eventually became an experienced lumberman.

Parks served during the Civil War, enlisting in Company E of the Fifth Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry in June 1864. He was honorably discharged in September 1865 and returned to Wisconsin.

His career in the lumber industry eventually brought him to the Upper Peninsula. In 1877, he began working for P. Sawyer & Son and later continued with the Sawyer-Goodman Lumber Company.

Parks settled in Crystal Falls in 1884, where he and his uncle, George S. Parks, opened a general merchandise business.

By 1911, the John H. Parks Company specialized in hardware and related goods and had established a substantial business in the community.

Parks married Eva Augusta Jewett on April 13, 1876, in Omro, Wis. The couple had several children, though two -- Bessie Belle and John Augustus -- died as young children. Their daughter, Edna M. Parks, survived and married William M. Jolliffe on Aug. 14, 1900, in Crystal Falls.

In a 1910 Federal Census, the Parks were listed living in Ward 3 of Crystal Falls in Iron County.

The Parks family also maintained a "fine estate" about nine miles from Crystal Falls along Chicagoan Lake.

Historical accounts described the property as having ample barn and stable space, houses for employees and a spacious, artistically constructed log cabin along the lake shore.

The family reportedly spent seven months of each year enjoying the property. Eva died Aug. 31, 1911, in Crystal Falls, while John died in January 1920 in Palm Beach County, Fla.

The couple was buried at Evergreen Cemetery in Crystal Falls, alongside their two young children.

The Runkel-Parks House is a reminder of the families and homes that helped make up the small community's history.

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"Remember when?" appears every Wednesday in The Daily News. Those with suggestions or historical photographs they would like to submit can email Terri Castelaz at tcastelaz@ironmountaindailynews.com. She also can be reached at 906-774-2772, ext. 85241.

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