EDITOR’S NOTE: Superiorland Yesterdays is prepared by the reference staff at the Peter White Public Library in Marquette.

30 years ago

TRENARY — Water in cool, clean, abundant supply has been discovered beneath Trenary. “It’s just wonderful,” said resident Sylvia Aho. “Bottled water is a pain in the neck.” Wells in both Trenary and neighboring Eben have been plagued for several years by contamination traced to fuel spills and leaking underground storage tanks. The health department has supplied bottled water to affected residents and businesses in both communities since 1986. But a test well indicates there’s enough good groundwater for the community, said Chuck Thomas, an environmental engineer at the state health department’s district office in Escanaba. Drillers discovered what they were looking for — a special water-bearing rock formation called Munising sandstone — at a depth of 535 feet. The test well will be converted to service an estimated 76 hookups. Mathias Township hired Sundberg-Carlson and Associates of Marquette to engineer the $900,000 project. The village of Chatham has also contracted with Sundberg-Carlson to complete its $1.56 million project which will extend the water system to Eben.

90 years ago

ISHPEMING — Paul Voelker, who has engaged in the wholesale poultry business, arrived home Wednesday evening from a buying trip in Ontonagon and Houghton counties and brought back one of the largest loads of live poultry ever seen here. Mr. Voelker, who uses a large truck, had over 1,000 chickens, geese and ducks in his crates. Yesterday morning at 4 o’clock he began killing and dressing chickens and by noon had delivered more than 400 pounds to local dealers, hotels and restaurants. During the summer, Mr. Voelker has brought thousands of chickens into Ishpeming for which he had a ready market and his buying trips have taken him into all parts of the Upper Peninsula, as well as to poultry centers in Wisconsin. Among the chickens he brought in Wednesday were Jersey Giants, hatched last spring, which tipped the scales at an average of 10 pounds each.