Originally an Atlantic and Pacific Tea and Coffee Company, then a general store and five-and-dime, and most recently the Manistique Radio Center; 216 S. Cedar Street has played an important role in Manistique’s downtown district for over 100 years. In 2022, the current owners – four lifelong Michiganders including two U.P. natives – purchased the building with dreams of restoring its original charm and turning it into a thriving downtown market, The Mill Manistique.
In the summer of 2023, a loving restoration began. Layer upon layer of wall and floor covering were painstakingly stripped away to expose the brick walls, wood flooring, iron supports and beadboard ceilings that the building’s original customers would have enjoyed at the turn of the 20th century. The Mill’s flagship store, Paper Mill Books, officially opened in August 2023. The Mill team plans to expand the space into an eclectic and dynamic retail market in the summer of 2024.
