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Bay Port and the Gillingham Fish Company A Saginaw Bay Legacy
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Apr 11, 2025
Explore the rise, golden era, and trials of Bay Port, Michigan’s Gillingham Fish Company – once the world’s largest freshwater fishery – in this documentary-style narrative. Discover how this Saginaw Bay fishing empire expanded to Charity Island, endured a devastating fire and economic decline, and lives on today through the Bay Port Fish Company. We also examine modern threats to this 140-year fishing legacy, from climate change to proposed conservation laws. Read the full story at R. L. Gillingham Fish Company - Surprising Insights of Commerical Fishing at Bay Port 1896-1978 (https://thumbwind.com/2024/05/26/r-l-gillingham-fish-company/)
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On the quiet shores of Sageno Bay where
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gouls cry and the wind carries the scent
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of water and woods the village of
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Bayport once thrived on fish and grit In
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the late 1800s a family named Gillingham
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cast their fortunes into these waters
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and built a business that would feed
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cities and anchor a community This is
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the story of how one company helped
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shape Michigan's thumb weathered fire
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and hardship and now stands at the edge
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of uncertainty Welcome to End of the
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Road in Michigan where we bring you
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stories from the edges of the Great
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Lakes State Today we journey back to the
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late 19th century to the shores of
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Sagenov Bay where a small fishing
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enterprise grew into a powerhouse of the
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Great Lakes commercial fishing industry
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This is the tale of the Gillingham Fish
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Company a tale of ambition adversity and
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the enduring spirit of Michigan's Thumb
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region It was the summer of 1886 when
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the Gillingham family first cast their
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nets in the waters off Bayport The
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railroad had just arrived linking this
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remote Sagenov Bay village with markets
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afar Dot sensing opportunity Charles
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Gillingham moved his operation from
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nearby North Iceland onto a man-made
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peninsula jutting into the bay An ideal
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spot to process the day's catch and
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loaded onto ice filled rail cars The RL
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Gillingham Fish Company established that
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year would soon play a key role in
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Bayport's development as a major
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commercial fishing port In 1895 local
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investors founded the Bayport Fish
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Company nearby Together these
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enterprises quickly transformed Bayport
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into a booming commercial fishing hub on
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Sagena Bay By the early 20th century
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Bayport's docks bustled with activity
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Crews hauled in nets of perch walleye
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and white fish the bounty of Sagena Bay
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Packed in salt or on ice the catch was
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loaded onto rail cars bound for distant
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cities By the 1920s and30s Bayport was
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renowned as the largest freshwater
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fishing port in the world with over 30
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fishing boats working its harbor The
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Gillingham fleet alone numbered more
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than 20 vessels at its peak Dot From
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this Michigan community Great Lakes Fish
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made their way to restaurants in New
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York and Chicago while salted fish and
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wooden barrels journeyed as far as the
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mining camps of Appalachia The company
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even expanded operations to the remote
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charity islands building seasonal camps
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where crews salted the catch before
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sending it by boat back to Bayport The
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town's fishery was feeding people near
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and far and in turn fueling the local
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economy No boom lasts forever By the
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1940s fish populations were dwindling
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and economic tides had turned testing
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the resilience of those living from the
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bay Then in January 1945 disaster struck
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A fire roared through Bayport's
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waterfront destroying most of both
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Gillingham's operation and the Bayport
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Fish Company's buildings In one terrible
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night decades of hard work went up in
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flames The Bayport Fish Company shut its
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doors in the aftermath The proud
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Gillingham fleet was suddenly without a
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homeport The great fishing empire of
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Bayport had been dealt a mortal blow but
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this tale was not over yet We'll be
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right back to our story after this
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message Otto Schmidt president of the
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Gillingham Company salvaged what he
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could from the ashes and managed to
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resume operations on a modest scale
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reorganizing the business in 1949 In
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1965 Schmidt sold the rebuilt enterprise
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to Henry Angelhard and partner Mel Duter
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ushering in a new era Angelhard carried
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the legacy forward and even sparked a
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local tradition Frying up fish
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sandwiches to help pay his daughter's
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college tuition a humble idea that
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evolved by 1978 into the annual Bayport
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Fish Sandwich Festival still celebrated
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each August That same year Angelhard
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sold the fish company to the Williams
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family who have now run the Bayport Fish
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Company for over 40 years They kept the
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business alive year round supplying
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fresh fish to the community and
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welcoming visitors to the docks Through
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economic ups and downs this familyrun
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operation carrying on the Gillingham
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legacy has endured Today the weathered
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docks and a handful of old buildings in
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the Bayport historic commercial fishing
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district stand as reminders of the past
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The legacy of the Gillingham Fish
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Company lives on through the Williams
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family's Bayport Fish Company and the
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community traditions it upholds But the
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future of this Sagenov Bay heritage is
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uncertain Climate change is warming the
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Great Lakes altering fish habitats and
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making seasons less predictable
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Meanwhile Michigan's commercial fishing
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industry has dwindled to a fraction of
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what it once was As of 2024 only 13
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state licensed commercial fishing
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operations remain in the entire state
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down from 300 in 1969 and five cast
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their nets in Sageno Bay today Now a new
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threat looms In March 2025 state
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lawmakers introduced House Bill
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4,212 a proposal to ban commercial
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fishing in Sagena Bay by 2027 Supporters
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claimed the bill modernizes the law to
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prioritize conservation but to Bayport's
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longtime fishing families it feels like
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a final reckoning "This bill will put
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commercial fishermen completely out of
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business," warns Lake on Williams
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current owner of the Bayport Fish
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Company adding that they had no input on
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the bill "It's a business killer." After
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surviving fires economic collapse and
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environmental change Michigan's oldest
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commercial fishery now faces perhaps its
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greatest challenge The possibility that
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new laws could finally force its nets
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out of the water Bayport's people have
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proven resilient but whether their way
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of life can weather the next storm
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remains to be seen For now the legacy of
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the Gillingham Fish Company endures
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preserved in the historic fishing
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district and in the annual rituals that
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celebrate a proud Sagenov Bay heritage
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Thank you for joining us on End of the
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Road in Michigan If you enjoyed this
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episode please subscribe and leave a
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review For more stories from Michigan's
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Thumb Region visit our website Until
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next time I remind you that every road
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