The Inn in History
Port
City Victorian Inn – 134 year old Queen Ann Victorian mansion,
built by Alexander Rodgers, Sr. in 1877. This five bedroom,
5,500 plus square foot home sits on the bluff of Muskegon Lake,
just minutes from Lake Michigan's white sugar sand beaches and
the downtown business district.
Alexander Rodgers, Sr. came to Muskegon in 1858 and played an
important part in the history of the City of Muskegon. Alexander
was born 24 May, 1824 in Edinburgh, Scotland; his bride, Janet
Pyle-Rodgers was born in Smethwick, England March 8, 1827. The
couple married sometime in the summer of 1846 and had seven
children together. They migrated to the USA in October 1848 and
they first landed in Portland, Maine where they lived from about
1849 to 1858. In 1858 they started their move. Traveling across
the country by oxen, their first stop was in Boston, then on to
Detroit, and finally Muskegon.
During their life in Portland, the Rodgers had four children,
Alexander, Jr., Mary Ann (she died in 1860), and a set of twins,
Adam and John. After their arrival in Muskegon in the late
1850’s, they had four more children: Lincoln, Hugh, Janet, and
their last child Margaret, born in 1869 just two years before
Janet’s death at 42 years old on Saturday, March 11, 1871.
Alexander Rodgers, Sr., apparently learned his foundry trade in
the southern area of Scotland where he grew up, working there in
the large foundries’ that were built in the 1830’s. By the time
he arrived in Muskegon, Alex was a man of many talents including
draughtsman, patternmaker, molder, skilled mechanic, engineer,
and machinist. Soon after his arrival he built what was called
the “Rodgers Iron Manufacturing Company” on the lake front, at
the foot of First Street at the edge of Muskegon Lake. It was
the first foundry of its kind; he started out by building
engines and did repair work. For three years he had two partners
Adam Patterson, and Jack Dodge, together they built a large
machine shop and in 1861 they built the first foundry. By 1864
the company was doing very well and Alexander Rodgers bought out
his partner’s interest and again, expanded and increased the
plant.
Some of the items manufactured by the Rodgers Iron Manufacturing
Company were: the Muskegon Spike Roller Edger and the Tooth Bar
Log Turner which Alex invented. He also produced steam engines
and hammers used in the logging industry.
In 1869 Muskegon received its charter and became a city with a
population of 6,000. The first city election was held April 4,
1870 and when the first officers were chosen, Alexander Rodgers,
Sr. was amongst the official’s names. Serving in Ward 5, Rodgers
was part of the city's first project -- building a Public Water
Works, starting in 1874. Called the Holly System, it served the
community for twenty years. Another large innovative project
taken on by the city council’s founding fathers was the “City
Gas Light Company,” approved on March 14, 1871. It was located
at the foot of Second Street. Some two miles of gas mains were
laid the first year. The city was first lighted by gas lamps by
November 1872 and long rows of brilliant lights extended along
Western Avenue.
In this era, the fever to build railroads struck Muskegon. Mr.
Rodgers was a member of the Board of Directors of the
association of the Muskegon and Ferrysburg Company which hoped
to establish a railroad connection between Muskegon, Ferrysburg,
and Grand Haven in 1869.
In 1873 the Lumberman’s National Bank, started by Capt. Thomas
J. Rand, received its charter. This was the first bank to be
established in Muskegon. Alexander Rodgers, Sr. sat on the first
Board of Directors and remained as Director when the Bank
received its National Charter.
Mr. Rodgers invested money as a stock holder in the Stewart
Hartshorn Plant, owned by A.F. Temple established here in
Muskegon in 1879. The plant utilized waste lumber from sawmills
and manufactured wooden parts for curtain rollers, in the first
plant of its kind here in Muskegon. Rodgers also invested in the
“Temperance Reform Opera House” built on Western Avenue and
Second Street by the Temperance Reform Association around March,
1878. Mr. Rodgers was listed as a major stock holder along with
John Torrent, Charles Hackley, J.W. Moon, Newcomb McGraft, T.W.
Palmer, and A.V. Mann.
Alexander Rodgers first built a sawmill in 1874 and took on a
partner Mr. LeBoeuf in 1881. Their mill was registered number 21
out of the 47 mills listed and was located on the south side of
Muskegon Lake where the existing SAPPI Paper Mill is today.
Their mill produced about 5% of the total output of the 47
mills.
Another investment was a commercial building located on Western
Avenue at the corner of Second Street in what was called the
“Rodgers Building.” Rodgers also invested in vast property
holdings in Muskegon with another partner, Mr. Bradley. One
tract extended from where the house sits at Southern Ave south
to Laketon Ave, and east to Division Street. This entire area
was known as the Rodgers/Bradley subdivision on the city plat.
There were other extensive property holdings in North Muskegon
and elsewhere.