Port Hope has a long and interesting history dating back to the times of the Indians that took advantage of bountiful hunting and fishing opportunities.  The 1820 Cass Expedition exploring the shoreline from Detroit to Mackinac camped here.  George Meade, of Civil War fame was here during the mapping of the Great Lakes basin in the early to middle 1850's. Reuben Dimond, from Lexington, Michigan, became the first investor in local timber land.  Upon his death in 1851, his interest was bought by William R. Stafford, Clark Haywood, and B.W. Jenness.  W. R. Stafford soon purchased the interests of the others and became known as the founder of Port Hope.  William Southard, an eastern investor, helped finance Stafford's operation.  He came from New Hampshire to inspect the lands and was put off a steam boat into a rowboat, since there was no dock for large craft.  After rowing in a storm most of the night, Southard vowed that if he made it to shore, he would name the place his "Port of Hope." William Stafford built the original saw mill, and its chimney was constructed in 1858 by John Geltz, a stone and brick mason from Germany.  It is 80 feet high and stands today as one of the town's landmarks.  Several million board feet of lumber were cut and shipped annually.  The majority of the products were sent to Cleveland, Ohio by barge and freighter. As the land was cleared of trees, farming became important and in 1886 a flour mill was built. German settlers had come to work in the lumber operation so that they would have an early opportunity to purchase cleared land for farming. Port Hope Mill still stands today and is used by Thumb Farm Service.  The saw mill chimney, Stafford Flouring Mill and the foundations of the old docks are all that remain of those early days. A salt well operation, a barrel factory and a tannery were also started.  The docks were built of hand-cut logs, fashioned into boxes called cribs, and filled with stone.  With dockage available several ships arrived weekly bringing machinery, produce and passengers, and taking out lumber and salt.  Later, stagecoach trails were established that connected Port Hope to Port Huron and Bay City.   The great fires of 1871 and 1881 destroyed the sawmill and docks, but each time they were rebuilt.  Around the turn of the century, the railroad was extended to the village, and soon replaced the ships. Today, M-25 runs through the town.  The great storm of 1913 destroyed the docks for the third and final time. Early residents came to Port Hope from the states of New York and New Hampshire, from Ontario, Canada, and from Great Britain.  The early Germans came first to the Detroit area, where the Stafford, Haywood and Jenness lumber company advertising invited them to move to Port Hope.   Later, Germans came directly from their homeland, invited by family and friends that had discovered the opportunities in farming.


 

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