Archivist's Corner by Bill Kemperman Our society has recently received a unique old American flag. It measures 24 x 30 inches with seven red and six gray stripes. Its blue field has 13 five pointed stars. There are also two grommets for attaching it to a pole or spar. It was found in the late 1930's or early 1940's in the old house that once stood near the corner of Mason and Griffith Streets, the present site of Shoreline Bank. The house was built about 1850 by lumberman O. R. Johnson and bought about 1877 by Captain R. C. Brittain who owned a fleet of boats, the RedBottomed line, and ran a boat building operation on the banks of the Kalamazoo. Because of its size, and its presence in the home of a Lakes captain, inquiry was made to Ken Pott, curator of the Michigan Maritime Museum in South Haven, who shared the following: First, it is probably a very old flag, [American flags began to have 15 stars and stripes in 1795]. However, there is some possibility that it is a reproduction of a very old flag. If it was of nautical origin it could have been used on commercial vessels when a ship was at anchor and/or shown underway while passing or saluting other vessels, lighthouses, or signal stations, or upon entering a harbor. It would have been flown from a taffrail staff while at anchor. The flag was rescued by Fred A. Davis, from the basement of the Brittain house prior to the sale of the house after Mrs. Brittain died. The Brittain house, left center with the cupola, was torn down in 1969 to make way for a new bank parking lot. Davis later moved to California but sent the flag, with several other artifacts, back to the Saugatuck Douglas area about 1975 for use in the old Saugatuck Historical Museum on Lake Street. Another recent donation to the society is an old jigsaw-type puzzle. The completed product was designed to look like a checkerboard. It was a promotional gift from the Big Pavilion management and was donated by Dale and Edie Winter of Saugatuck.

01/09/2024

02/05/2024