Timeline

1. 1874 Edwin T Crisp  was born and at 16 yrs. old his Mother died& he was on his own going to school in the Soo & living with Dr. Bacon.  His Father and Mother were Lighthouse keepers at Vermillion Point North West of Whitefish Point.
2. 1890-1901: Edwin Crisp worked sorting laundry at Soo Steam Laundry at the corner of Ferris and Ridge... It was owned by C.T Gilmore of Chicago.
3. 1893-94 William Everett was Village President, Petoskey, Michigan and a capitalist who had an interest in Sault Ste. Marie investment properties.
4. 1897:  At 411,413-417 W. Portage there was a housesitting between a grocery store and a boardinghouse, Everett was interested in the house since he dealt in Real Estate.
5. 1901: Edwin Crisp co-partnered with William Everett in the laundry business at Great Lakes Laundry on the corner of Ferris and Ridge
6. 1902: The house between the grocery and the boardinghouse was being replaced by the Great Lakes Laundry(413-417 W. Portage) which was under construction.
7. 1903: Great Lakes Laundry buildings, grounds & equipment cost about $30,000. The building had two stories, a pressed brick front and stone sides and rear, joined at the rear bya stone boiler house.  The office admin work room were on the first floor, where washing was completed and mangling of flat work done, while the second floor had machines for finish work on the washed articles.  In 1906 the building was described as having concrete floors with a large boiler and fifty foot brick smokestack.  There was a single storu frame dependencies extending from the rear for the building.  By 1922 the rear dependencies had been enlarged and the stack was measured at 30 ft. The rear dependencies and smoke stack were removed sometime after 1950.
8. 1903 GLL became a stock company with capital stock of  $36,000 consisting of 3600 shares at $10 each. Officers and Stockholders were: William M. Everett-President, Edwin T. Crisp-Vice President and General Manager, William C. Everett-Secretary/Treasurer. Other stockholders were C.T. Gilmore of Chicago(orig. owner Soo Steam Laundry), George Arnold of Mackinac Island, M.J. Weaver of the Sault, and several prominent marine men. GLL co. was the epitomy of neatness, cleanliness and organization. The GLL co. sign on the front of the building was 60ft. Long and 6 ft. high. It was the largest sign of its kind in the state of Michigan.
9. 1906: Great Lakes Laundry Co. employs 100 enthusiastic and loyal people; GLL installed a 100 horsepower boiler with a steam capacity of 175 horsepower; they installed a car load and a boat load of the most modern washing machines, an extractor, a dry room, and a large mangle. It had the capacity to process 25,000 pieces of flat work daily. A newly installed collar & cuff appliance, a perfect shirt ironer & a neck band ironer could adapt for other garments such as negligees, pleated bosom shirts.  This ironer could iron over buttons without breaking them or iron between buttons. At this time Crisp had plans to recruit a shirt, shirtwaists, &  underwear manufacturer in the Soo. GLL co. was one of the most well equipped, up-to-date plants in the USA. GLL co. had contracts for doing the laundry work of about 1000 boats that go through the locks and a large city patronage.  With a payroll of 75-80 hands it's payroll was never less than $300/week. During the summer season payroll did reach $600. So well treated were the employees that there was never cause for complaint against the management. E.T. Crisp was the brains behind the business. Systems were followed, mistakes were rarely if ever made, and work was always delivered on time. Pittsburgh Steamship lines, with a fleet of 130 boats had an account payable of $15,000 during the navigation season.
10. 1907: Crisp goes to San Pedro, California where his Father lived and to learn more about the laundry business.  He also learned more about the laundry business in Peoria Illinois at that time.
11. 1909: The Superior Laundry company was a Lessee of GLL co.
12. 1910: Crisp returns to SSM to protect his business interests and marries Yeida Larson from Sweden.
13. 1911: Crisp starts his own large Crisp Laundry Co. plant on Johnson & Adams: A.L. Cameron, Pres.;E.T. Crisp, VP & Mngr; R.S. Whalen Sec; E. Cullis, Treasurer. GLL Co. is managed by W.C. Everett      
14. 1912: W.M. Everett dies
15. 1941-1944- Crisp left the laundry & moved to a different house
16. 1949: Dec. 16.   Crisp dies at age 75
17. 1985: Gary McClellan purchases the building
18. 2019: Construction begins to renovate what is now known as the "Mac Building"