The Amazing Story of the Grand Central Hotel (Kinde, Michigan) – 1880s to 1970s – The Forgotten Inn That Traveled Across Time

The Grand Central Hotel Kinde story begins long before the first guests ever checked in along Main Street. Originally operated as the Crescent House in Port Crescent by William Carter and William McCoy, the building was later relocated to Kinde as the region’s economic center shifted inland. Over the next century, the Grand Central Hotel Kinde would operate under several names, witnessing fires, elopements, Prohibition, and the rise of Michigan’s Thumb agriculture.

Origins in Port Crescent (Late 1800s)

In the late 19th century, the Kennedy-McCoy Hotel, later known as the Grand Central Hotel, became prominent in the lumber boomtown of Port Crescent, Michigan. During its peak in the early 1880s, Port Crescent’s population swelled to around 500 residents, with multiple businesses and a busy port on Saginaw Bay.

The hotel—initially operated as the Crescent Hotel in Port Crescent—was owned and managed by William Carter and William McCoy. Carter was a prominent hotelier in the region, known for running the Grand Central Hotel at a time when the port town was booming with lumber shipments and mill traffic. Together, Carter and McCoy developed the property into a well-regarded stopover for loggers, sailors, and traveling businessmen. Their partnership laid the foundation for the building’s long life, even after Port Crescent’s decline forced a move inland.

The Great Fire of 1881 ravaged the Thumb region’s timber supply, and the lumber industry declined by the mid-1880s?. As Port Crescent’s economic fortunes waned, many established businesses began relocating to nearby towns like Port Austin and Kinde.

Amid this downturn, the owners of the Crescent Hotel (aka Kennedy-McCoy Hotel) made a bold decision: rather than let their substantial two-story building fall into disuse, they arranged to move it to the growing village of Kinde, a few miles inland. In an era when structures were sometimes forced to follow opportunity, the hotel was painstakingly dismantled or loaded onto rollers and migrated to Kinde sometime in the late 1880s?. By relocating the entire building, the proprietors aimed to capitalize on Kinde’s rising prospects while preserving their investment in the well-built hotel structure.

Move to Kinde and Rebranding as the “Central” Hotel (1890s)

Kinde, founded in the 1880s by John Kinde, was on the ascent just as Port Crescent declined?. The Port Huron and Northwestern Railroad had reached Kinde by 1882, making it a new hub for commerce and travel?. The village quickly established a lumber yard, general store, grain elevator, and post office – the essentials of a frontier town – and soon gained a reputation as the “Bean Capital of the World” thanks to its prolific navy bean farms?. Sugar beet farming also took off in the surrounding Huron County fields? , part of the region’s transition from lumbering to agriculture. This burgeoning farm economy and rail connection meant a steady flow of merchants, farmhands, and travelers needing lodging.

It was into this environment that the former Port Crescent hotel arrived. Reassembled on Kinde’s Main Street near the railroad depot, it reopened as the Central Hotel, soon to be fondly known as the Grand Central Hotel. The name evoked the optimism of the era (perhaps a nod to the famous Grand Central in New York) and its central role in the village.

By the 1890s, the Grand Central Hotel was one of Kinde’s largest buildings and a focal point of community life. The two-story wood-frame structure featured a broad front porch and balcony, and likely included a saloon on the ground floor with guest rooms upstairs – a typical setup for hotels of that period. A livery stable on the property took care of horses and wagons for overnight guests, underscoring the hotel’s importance in an age of horse-drawn travel.

A Community Hub in the Early 20th Century

Early 1900s postcard of the Grand Central Hotel in Kinde. After being moved from Port Crescent in the late 1880s, the wood-frame hotel became a centerpiece of Kinde’s Main Street. Note the windmill (for pumping water) and the guests gathered on the front porch, reflecting the hotel’s prominence during the village’s post-lumber boom growth.

Through the early 1900s, the Grand Central Hotel thrived along with Kinde’s rural economy. The village’s growth as an agricultural market town meant the hotel regularly hosted traveling salesmen (or “drummers”), farmers in town for business, and visitors arriving via the railroad. The hotel’s tavern and dining room served as informal gathering places for locals and travelers alike. Newspapers of the era occasionally noted events at the hotel – from lodge meetings to holiday dinners – cementing its role as a social hub. The building itself, with its white clapboard siding and two-story veranda, became a recognizable landmark on Main Street.

One colorful anecdote from August 1903 illustrates the hotel’s standing in the community. That summer, two young couples from Northville, Michigan, on the run to elope, made their way to Kinde and checked into the hotel. The proprietor at the time, Peter Bushey, quickly realized something was amiss. Acting responsibly, Bushey alerted authorities via telegraph – effectively contacting the couple’s parents downstate.

The furious fathers soon boarded the night train and arrived in Kinde to intercept their wayward children. Thanks to the alert hotelkeeper, the “Northville Elopement Caper” was foiled in Kinde. This incident, reported in the Detroit Free Press then, shows how the Grand Central’s keeper was plugged into early 20th-century communication networks (the telegraph) and how the hotel could unexpectedly become the stage for human drama. It’s also a rare recorded moment that gives us the name of an early manager: Peter Bushey, one of the individuals entrusted with running the hotel after its move to Kinde.

Through the 1910s and 1920s, the Grand Central Hotel remained a key stop for travelers in the Thumb area. Prohibition (1920–1933) likely affected the hotel’s saloon operations, as it did for taverns nationwide, but there is little documentation on how the establishment coped. It’s possible that during those “dry” years, the hotel focused on its lodging and dining services until alcohol sales resumed in 1933. In any case, the mid-20th century brought new changes as automobiles replaced trains and highways supplanted rail lines. Kinde’s rail depot eventually closed, and inter-city passenger rail service faded. However, the hotel adapted by catering to motorists and locals, evolving from a railroad hotel into more of a hometown bar and boarding house.

Mid-Century Changes: The Clancy Hotel Era (1930s–1950s)

Mid-20th-century view of the hotel during the Clancy Hotel era in Kinde. A brick façade and arched porch were added (circa 1930s–40s), updating the 19th-century wooden structure. The building’s profile remained the same, but the new brick exterior modernized it and likely protected against fire. Locals in this period referred to the establishment as “Clancy’s Hotel.”

By the mid-20th century, the old Grand Central Hotel had passed through a few owners and was known locally as the Clancy Hotel. At some point in the 1930s or 1940s, the building underwent significant remodeling. The once Victorian-style wood façade was refashioned with brick masonry, giving the structure a new look and improved fire resistance.

A one-story brick addition wrapped around the front and side, forming an enclosed porch with arched openings. This created an upstairs terrace and dramatically changed the hotel’s appearance – an update that likely coincided with new ownership. Photographs from the post-World War II era show the hotel with a brick exterior and a sign identifying it as the Clancy Hotel, reflecting the surname of the proprietors at that time.

The business continued as a combined inn and tavern during the Clancy Hotel years. Long-time residents recall it was one of the few places in Kinde to grab a meal or a drink, especially before newer bars and restaurants opened. The hotel’s second-floor rooms provided simple accommodations, though the demand for overnight rooms in Kinde had diminished by mid-century. More often, the barroom–with its informal atmosphere–became the main draw.

Community events like small banquets or club meetings were occasionally held there. The Clancy family maintained the establishment’s welcoming, small-town character. While specific anecdotes from this era are scarce in written records, the hotel undoubtedly witnessed countless everyday stories: farmers relaxing after a day’s work, traveling professionals seeking a place to stay, and local families gathering for receptions or celebrations.

The Wagon Wheel Inn and Later Years (1960s–1970s)

By the 1960s, the hotel had changed hands again and embraced a new identity as the Wagon Wheel Inn – a name that would carry it through its final decades. Advertisements and local memory from the late 1960s refer to the business as the Wagon Wheel, reflecting the mid-century American trend of rustic, Western-themed hospitality names. (It’s unclear if the Clancy family themselves rebranded it or if a subsequent owner did so, but the change marked the end of the “Clancy’s Hotel” moniker.) According to a later historical account, “after several ownerships, it was named the Wagon Wheel Hotel”?newspapers.com. The core building, however, was the same 90-year-old former Kennedy-McCoy Hotel – still recognizable under the brick and paint.

In January 1972, Lynette (Hool) Hahn and her family took over operations of the Wagon Wheel Inn, ushering in a new chapter. Under Hahn’s management, the Wagon Wheel was known as a friendly local bar and grill. It offered casual dining (popular for its fish fries and homemade pizza, by some accounts) and remained a community gathering spot.

Hahn, described by locals as a “feisty, caring” woman, ran the Wagon Wheel from 1972 until February 1985. During this time, the establishment retained its “Inn” designation – a nod to the availability of lodging – but it functioned largely as a tavern and restaurant. Many area residents have fond memories of socializing at the Wagon Wheel in the 1970s, whether at weekend polka dances or after softball league games. The atmosphere was informal and welcoming, a reflection of Kinde’s small-town camaraderie.

By the late 1970s, the hotel building was nearing a century old. Even as it aged, it stood as a living link to Huron County’s past – having survived relocation, economic upheavals, Prohibition, and myriad owners. A 2015 retrospective in a local paper noted this long lineage, tracing the Kennedy-McCoy Hotel’s journey from Port Crescent to its Wagon Wheel days?. Indeed, few buildings in the Thumb region could boast such a rich and varied history.

Legacy and Historical Significance

From its origins in a vanished ghost town to its years anchoring a farming village, the Crescent House/Grand Central/Clancy/Wagon Wheel Hotel bore witness to dramatic shifts in Michigan’s Thumb region. Its timeline mirrors the story of Huron County itself: the end of the lumber era, the rise of agriculture, the coming of railroads and later highways, and the gradual fading of the old ways of travel. The hotel’s many name changes – from Crescent House, Kennedy-McCoy to Grand Central, to Clancy’s, to the Wagon Wheel – reflect the hands that kept it running and the changing times and themes in American hospitality.

Several notable figures left their mark on the establishment. The Kennedy and McCoy families’ enterprise laid its foundation. Peter Bushey’s alert action in 1903 showed the hotelkeeper’s role as a guardian of community welfare?. The Clancy family looks to have sustained the business mid-century, giving it a personal identity and continuity. And Lynette Hahn’s stewardship in the 1970s kept the Wagon Wheel humming as a beloved local watering hole?. Each era of ownership contributed to the hotel’s lore.

Architecturally, the building was a chameleon. In its early wooden form, it was typical of frontier hotels – a rectangular frame building with a gabled roof, wood siding, and a covered porch. The addition of a brick veneer and arched arcade decades later altered its appearance and likely saved it from the fate of many all-wood structures that succumbed to fire or decay. Through these changes, the basic structure endured. Old photographs and postcards (like those included here) provide a visual record of how the hotel looked in different eras, from horse-and-buggy days to the age of automobiles.

While our account focuses on the late 1800s through the 1970s, it is worth noting the building’s epilogue. The Wagon Wheel Inn continued operating into the early 1980s, finally closing after over a hundred years of service. The vacant structure stood for some time thereafter. In the 2010s, the long-standing building was finally demolished (a video taken in 2018 shows the edifice shortly before it was torn down). With its removal, Kinde lost one of its oldest landmarks.

Today, the legacy of the Grand Central Hotel lives on in local memory and historical archives. It stands as a vivid example of how a single building can adapt and survive through generations of change. From a bustling Port Crescent hostelry to a quiet small-town tavern, the hotel’s story is intertwined with the fortunes of two communities. Local historical societies have documented this journey, ensuring that the tales of loggers, drummers, newlyweds, and proprietors associated with the old hotel are not forgotten.

For residents of Huron County, the site where the hotel once stood is more than just an empty lot – it’s a place where, for over a century, people came together, sought shelter, and made memories. The Grand Central Hotel in Kinde truly earned its place in the region’s history, evolving with the times while maintaining its role as a center of community life in Michigan’s Thumb.

Sources

1. Birdsall, Mark.
“Ghost Towns of the Thumb: Port Crescent.” Huron Daily Tribune, 22 May 2015.
https://www.michigansthumb.com/news/article/Ghost-towns-of-the-Thumb-Port-Crescent-7378895.php

2. Hardy, Michael.
“Northville Elopement Caper Foiled in Kinde – 1903.” Thumbwind Publications, 5 Apr. 2025.
https://thumbwind.com/2025/04/05/northville-elopement-kinde

3. Huron County Historical Society.
“Kinde, Michigan: Community Profile.” Huron County Historical Society Archives, 2008.
https://huroncountyhistoricalsocietymi.org (General reference, no direct URL for specific page)

4. “Lynette (Hool) Hahn Obituary.”
Collon Funeral Home, February 1985 (accessed via family archives and community records).

5. Michigan Historical Center.
“History of the Thumb Region.” State of Michigan Archives, 1999.
https://michigan.gov/mhc (Reference for lumber and agriculture transitions)

6. Detroit Free Press.
“Eloping Couples Intercepted in Thumb Village Hotel.” Detroit Free Press, August 1903. Archived clipping via Newspapers.com.
(Note: no public URL available without subscription; available in private collections)

7. Library of Congress.
“Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps – Huron County, Michigan.” Library of Congress, 1880–1930.
https://www.loc.gov/collections/sanborn-maps

8. Thumbwind Publications.
“Kinde Hotel Once Located in Port Crescent.” Thumbwind.com, 2025.
https://thumbwind.com (based on user-provided internal research and photographs)