Roaming the back roads of Michigan I find some interesting places, but I think the old general store in Kilmanagh has to be one of my favorites. It looks like it’s from a movie set with its wooden porch. You would think John Wayne tied up some horses in front of it. The town of Kilmanaugh or whats left of it is kind of between Sebewaing and Bay Port. It was first called Thompson’s Corners, for Francis Thompson, an Irish homesteader who arrived in 1861. The name Kilmanagh was first used to describe the nearby Shebeon Creek, which would overflow each spring. A post office named Kilmanagh operated from February 1873 until June 1904. maybe even in this old General store. It’s believed the store was built sometime in the 1870s and operated by Richard Martini. In the 1890’s he sold the store to John Rummel and Albert Woldt. In the early 1900’s Alberts son Clemens P. Woldt took over the business naming it C.P. Woldt & Co. Growing the store and even became a John Deere dealership and possibly the first John Deere dealership in Michigan. by the 1960s the old general store had fallen on hard times and closed sitting vacant for many years. The current owner is in the process of restoring the old building you can learn more about their efforts on their facebook page HERE .
Find Interesting locations throughout the Mitten State with a Lost In Michigan book Available on Amazon by clicking HERE
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