Editing Charlevoix, Michigan (section)

===Commercial and cultural transformation (1869–1880s) === 
In 1869, the [[Charlevoix Sentinel]] was founded, which became a major [[newspaper of record]] for the area for the next 60 years.<ref>{{cite web|title=Charlevoix Courier|url=http://www.schurz.com/properties/publishing/charlevoix-courier/|website=Schurtz Communications|access-date=2 June 2016|quote="In 1936, the Courier's number one competitor, the Charlevoix Sentinel, founded in 1869 by De Witt C. Leach and sold to Willard Smith in March 1870, keeled under the economic pressure of the Great Depression."|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160221142133/http://www.schurz.com/properties/publishing/charlevoix-courier/|archive-date=February 21, 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Prior to 1869, Lake Charlevoix (then known as Pine Lake) was two feet higher than Round Lake, which was 2 feet higher than Lake Michigan. In order to aid lumber and boat traffic, city leaders pooled resources to cut a channel between Lake Charlevoix to Round Lake, and to dredge the Pine River for navigation between Round Lake and Lake Michigan. When this was completed in 1869, lake levels dropped, and navigation between Lake Charlevoix and Lake Michigan was established. This had profound commercial implications for the area.<ref>{{cite news|title=Historical photo for Aug. 1, 2014|url=http://www.petoskeynews.com/charlevoix/news/community/historical-photo-for-aug/article_9e22da4c-b9e3-56f8-9dee-112460709f71.html|access-date=2 June 2016|agency=Charlevoix Courier|publisher=Petoskey News|date=Jul 31, 2014|quote="Until 1869, Lake Charlevoix was 2 feet higher than Round Lake, which in turn was 2 feet higher than Lake Michigan. Before this, boats destined for Pine Lake had to be hauled with great effort up the little river. After the big cut, which made a passage several times wider and much straighter, thousands of logs could now be fed into Round Lake and the mill, and much larger boats could reach Pine Lake, setting off a fierce competition for the carrying of freight and passengers. "}}</ref>

Another transformative event came in November 1873 when rail operations arrived in "Bear Creek" (now known as Petoskey), 16 miles north.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Evans|first1=Jessica|title=Walking through history in Petoskey|url=http://harborlightnews.com/main.asp?SectionID=11&SubSectionID=57&ArticleID=16126|access-date=2 June 2016|agency=Harbor Light News|date=2013-06-19|quote="The start of a new era rolled into town on a gray, foggy day in 1873 when the railroad finally made its way to Petoskey, forever changing the landscape, way of life and commerce for the small bayside community. "|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160610031712/http://harborlightnews.com/main.asp?SectionID=11&SubSectionID=57&ArticleID=16126|archive-date=June 10, 2016|df=mdy-all}}</ref> Passengers and goods passed through Petoskey and made their way to Charlevoix via boat or stagecoach. During the 1870s, Presbyterian evangelist [[George Warren Wood|Rev. George W. Wood Jr.]] [[colporter|sold bibles]] to homesteading settlers throughout Charlevoix and Emmet Counties.<ref>{{cite book|title=Sixtieth Annual Report of the American Bible Society|date=1876|publisher=American Bible Society|location=New York|page=59|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MhvPAAAAMAAJ&q=%22American%20bible%20Society%22%20Charlevoix%201878&pg=RA2-PA59|access-date=12 July 2016|quote="Charlevoix and Emmet Counties... have been thoroughly explored by Rev. G.W. Wood, who was employed as a colporteur by the American Bible Society... The people are extremely impecunious at present, being mainly homesteaders...the colporteur has gone on foot... [with] his Bible laden knapsack, in paths where no vehicle could go, and by boats on the lakes and rivers"}}</ref>

Between 1868 and 1884, the Army Corps of Engineers used [[dredge|dredging]] and [[revetment]] to increase Pine River channel width from 75 feet to over 100 feet, and expanded the channel depth from under 6 feet to a depth of 12 feet.<ref>{{cite book|title=Index to the Executive Documents of the House of representatives for the 2nd session of the 47th congress 1882-1883 Volume 3|date=1883|publisher=Government Printing Office|page=285|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lJ4FAAAAQAAJ&q=charlevoix%20channel%20widen%201884&pg=PA284|access-date=7 June 2016}}</ref> In 1876, Charlevoix was declared a [[port of entry]] and became one of the busiest ports on the Great Lakes.<ref name="books.google.com"/> Lumber mills proliferated as the forests along Lake Charlevoix could finally be harvested.

In 1876, John Nichols consolidated Charlevoix lumber operations into the Charlevoix Lumber Company, and it became a Charlevoix institution for decades. At its height in the late 1800s, the company annually shipped out more than 40&nbsp;million board feet of lumber before it stripped much of the peninsula.<ref name="petoskeynews.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.petoskeynews.com/charlevoix/news/community/historical-photo-for-feb/article_1a976178-a0e9-11e3-aa60-001a4bcf6878.html|title=Historical photo for Feb. 28 - Charlevoix Courier: Community|publisher=petoskeynews.com|access-date=2014-12-06}}</ref> For many years Charlevoix was a fueling stop for the wood-powered steamships on Lake Michigan.<ref name="charlevoixparkavenue.wordpress.com"/> Charlevoix incorporated as a village in 1879.<ref name = "Romig" />

In June 1883, Charles J. Strang, the son of Mormon King [[James J. Strang]] started the Charlevoix Journal, which would be renamed the [[Charlevoix Courier]] in 1894.<ref>{{cite web|title=Charlevoix Courier|url=http://www.schurz.com/properties/publishing/charlevoix-courier/|website=Schurtz Communications|access-date=2 June 2016|quote="In June 1883, Charles J. Strang, the son of King James J. Strang, leader of the Michigan Mormons based on Beaver Island, published the first edition of the Charlevoix Journal." ... "In 1894, Will [Hampton] bought the Charlevoix Journal from his brother [Charles] and changed the name to the Charlevoix Courier"|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160221142133/http://www.schurz.com/properties/publishing/charlevoix-courier/|archive-date=February 21, 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> Dr. Levi Lewis and his wife Edith built the 800-seat "Lewis Grand [[Opera House]]" along the Pine River in 1883 in order to bring more culture to the backwater pioneer town.<ref>{{cite news|title=Historical photo — Lewis Grand Opera House|url=http://www.petoskeynews.com/charlevoix/news/community/historical-photo-lewis-grand-opera-house/image_642cb020-6446-11e3-a260-001a4bcf6878.html|access-date=4 August 2016|agency=Charlevoix Courier|date=December 13, 2013|quote="The Lewis Grand Opera House was built in 1883 beside the channel at the southwest corner of the bridge by Dr. Levi Lewis, Charlevoix's first physician who had arrived in 1869, and served the community for four decades. It was constructed at the insistence of his culturally minded and strong-willed wife Edith who felt the town, so isolated when she first arrived, was, at best, a cultural backwater."}}</ref>

In October 1884, East Jordan to be the county seat, followed by Boyne City becoming the county seat in 1886. Charlevoix became the county seat again in 1894.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Harris|first1=William|title=Biographical History of Northern Michigan, Containing Biographies of Prominent Citizens|date=1905|publisher=BF Bowne and Co.|pages=490–493|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ljkaAQAAMAAJ&q=Boyne+City+county+seat&pg=PA492|access-date=6 April 2016}}</ref> The Argo Milling Company was built in 1886 along the Pine River. [<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20140310212641/http://www.charlevoixlibrary.org/sites/default/files/RogerGowell/Young/young-art03.htm</ref> By 1914, many small businesses were established along Bridge Street.<ref>https://archive.org/details/report13statgoog/page/n46</ref>