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Patrons say goodbye to Dog House

Sue Johnson/Daily Mining Gazette In accordance with Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s “social distancing” mandate that all bars and restaurants close Monday by 3 p.m., loyal patrons and staff celebrated as they bid farewell to one of their favorites establishments and long standing saloon in Houghton. The “Gay 90’s” Saloon, has been in operation since the late 1890’s, eventually changing its name the more familiar Douglass House, or “Dog House” for short.

HOUGHTON — In accordance with Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s order to close all bars and restaurants as of 3 p.m. Monday, a century-old, downtown business shut its doors on Monday, perhaps for the last time, said owner/operator Kent “Foof” Wilkinson.

Like so many other similar establishments in “college towns,” the bars and restaurants in the Copper Country rely heavily on students, faculty and staff of Michigan Technological University, Gogebic Community College and Finlandia University. When Gov. Whitmer ordered the closure of all 15 public universities in Michigan earlier this month, local businesses were not yet heavily impacted by the order, because Michigan Tech was on Spring Break. How hard the Douglass House was impacted, said Wilkinson, was hard to say, for the very reason that MTU was “on break.”

“It hasn’t hit us yet, but now we won’t know ’til — well, we’ll never know now, because we’ll be closed,” he said.

Wilkinson said the ordered closure will devastate not only the establishment, but people as well.

“Look what it’s going to do,” he said. “I’ve got 20 employees here, who all of a sudden are going be: ‘How do I pay my bills?’ And it’s the same thing here. We’re a small business, we’ve got a $15,000-20,000 inventory. Part of it’s perishable, and all of a sudden, it’s just sitting there.”

Wilkinson said with the shutdown, none of the inventory can be rotated, and to stay in business, that is what must be done, “we rotate product.”

While Gov. Whitmer’s closure order did allow for eating establishments to remain open for take-out or delivery, Wilkinson said the Douglass House is not set up for it.

“We don’t have a window for it,” he said, “we don’t have the personnel for it, we don’t even have the take-out stuff for it.”

While the shutdown will effect the establishment’s short-term cashflow, Wilkinson does not know if the business can survive if the closure is extended. It will depend on how long businesses will be forced to remain closed.

Not only has there not been a diagnosed case in the Upper Peninsula, he added, but, at the time of interview on Tuesday, there had not been a death in Michigan yet. How many people are dying from this, he asked, 2%? It’s a flu, he said.

“I am more scared of our government right now than I am of this flu,” he said. “This is a media thing, partly, and a government thing. It’s a government-grab of power, is what it is.

If the Douglass House does not survive the shutdown, it will bring to an end one of the longest-standing businesses in Houghton’s downtown district.

The original Douglass House, a three-story wooden structure, was built in 1860, on the corner of Isle Royale and Montezuma streets, with a terraced garden stretching to Shelden Street. With 50 rooms, the Douglass House also featured a dance hall and dining room, the establishment quickly became the social center of Houghton County.

The business was sold, in 1899, to a group of area investors headed by John C. Mann, who together incorporated the Douglass House Company. While not quite 40 years old, the company constructed an addition on the front of the existing structure, that extended to Shelden Street.

Henry L. Ottenheimer was hired to design the addition, and Paul Mueller of Chicago was contracted to construct it, at a cost of $125,000. Another $35,000 was expended in furnishings. The original frame portion of the hotel was destroyed by fire in 1901, and less than a year later, was replaced by Herman Gundlach.

Times, however, change, and motels replaced hotels, and the Douglass House could no longer afford to operate as a hotel. In 1984, the hotel was converted to apartments, but the first floor saloon remains intact, nearly identical to its 1899 appearance. Extensive wear to the original red, black, and white asphalt tile compelled the owners to cover it with a wooden floor. A mural of a nude woman reclining on a sofa still exists on the wall behind the bar, but has been covered with a mirror. Robert “Bubba” Megowen, who owns the building and manages the saloon portion of the business, said that the mural is filthy and coated with soot from the old coal furnace, smoke from the original gas lights, and tobacco smoke.

The Douglass House has seen many downtown businesses come and go, including the Mueller House, which, in the 20th century, became the Longshot Saloon. The Consumer Advocate, Diamond Mike’s, Big Boy, the Quick Stop, Burger King, McDonald’s, and others, have come to the main street, and left in the 121 years the “Dog House” has watched them come and go, along with countless wagon, harness and saddle shops, automotive dealerships, and so on.

In fact, on Houghton’s Shelden Avenue, the Douglass House stands as the second oldest business in the town; only the Frank A. Douglass Agency is older. That was established in 1858.

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