Ubly Area Historical Society

Ubly Area Historical Society The oldest 10 Cent Horse Barn in Michigan that is filled with numerous historical items, many of which are specific to the Village of Ubly.

Mailing Address: P.O. Box 112 Ubly, MI 48475

Email: [email protected]

Open Sundays, 1-3pm May 24-Sept 6th

05/13/2026

Our next meeting has been postponed to Wednesday May 20th, 5:00 pm, Ubly Senior Center.

05/08/2026

Our next meeting is Wednesday, May 13th, 5:00 pm at the Ubly Senior Center.

05/07/2026

I forgot to mention…The Ubly Area Historical Society was recently approved as a 501(c)3! 😊

A fundraising campaign is underway!! ANDWe have an anonymous donor who is willing to match donations up to $2,000! Plea...
05/07/2026

A fundraising campaign is underway!! AND
We have an anonymous donor who is willing to match donations up to $2,000!
Please see flyer below and help us reach our goal!
We are very grateful to the support of our community and the ones who have already donated! Thank you!

Ubly JubileeStory by K VanErp As it states in the Ubly 1896-1976 book “ A tradition was born with the suggestion that a...
05/02/2026

Ubly Jubilee
Story by K VanErp

As it states in the Ubly 1896-1976 book “ A tradition was born with the suggestion that a minstrel show might be a good fundraising program.
Bud Day, AH Mac Eachen, and Ralph Haist contacted Dian Holdship in 1957 and asked her if she would write and direct this project. Calls went out to local citizens to come to rehearsals. The only requirement was “if anybody is walking, talking, and breathing, bring them!“

The first show was “Dixie Scandals “ It ran two nights with about 60 cast and crew members. Praise for the show spread throughout the area, and the “Alabama Jubilee “ was born. Dian’s talent turned a small minstrel show into a Broadway-like production. She took on the role of coordinating and directing everything. But her greatest talent was her use of psychology to keep the multitude of personalities happy.

Their second show “The Gay Nineties Revue”, had four performances planned, but they ended up doing eight. To satisfy the public! This show had 178 cast and crew members

Next came “Vaudeville Scandals “ with nine performances. They were asked to travel to Croswell, where they presented for two nights. In those two nights, 12,000 people attended.
After six years and six consecutive shows they took a much deserved rest.

Ten years later “ the itch came back “. 190 people signed up for “ The Big Circus “. There were families with three generations involved. “ The Big Circus “ sold out fourteen performances, playing to more than 11,000 people, traveling from all over the state.

“The Season Swing” with 279 cast and crew came together for one of the biggest shows Ubly ever undertook.

Men and women worked for months behind the scenes. Publicity, tickets, advertising, costumes ( all made locally), wiring, lighting, sound system, dressing room attendants, etc were all done by local people. The whole show is created in three months by local citizens, after Dian had it on paper.
People viewing the show truly were not aware of all the behind the scenes work it takes to present these spectacular shows

And of course, we can’t go without mentioning “The Ubly Belles”. An all men course line, dressed as women. Their singing and danced routines were spectacular. They were the hit of the show!
Watch out Rockettes!

The word “amateur “ should never be used when describing “ The Alabama Jubilee “

This concludes this series of stories. It’s time to get back out in the Barn and prepare for this coming season of events.
Can’t wait to see you all out at the Barn!

Ubly’s Wood Water Pipes ​Ubly’s water system was started in 1911 including wood water mains with cast iron hydrants inst...
04/19/2026

Ubly’s Wood Water Pipes

​Ubly’s water system was started in 1911 including wood water mains with cast iron hydrants installed throughout the village. The purpose of the system was to provide water for fighting fires. It would also provide water to homes and businesses for the additional fee. Why wood water mains rather than available cast iron pipe? The answer was simply the cost. Wood made the price much more attractive than iron for new systems especially for small town economies.
​A. Wyckoff and E. B. Morrison of Elmira, New York, were issued Patent 13,606 in 1855 for a boring machine capable of center drilling logs up to 12 feet in length. In 1881 the Northwestern Gas and Water Pipe Company in Bay City, Michigan began making wood water mains using the Wyckoff auger system.
​By 1911, the Northwestern Gas and Water Pipe Company had become the Bay City Pipe Company and were using the Wyckoff method to make wood water mains for cities and villages all over Michigan and the nearby states. They produced center bored logs, lathed-turned on the outside, wrapped with hot steel or wire bands and coated with creosote for substantially less cost than similar iron pipe. Once installed and filled with water the wood would swell making them water tight. The strapping helped keep the wood from splitting under-ground when wood pipe began to swell. The straps saw very little rusting during the years under-ground due to lack of oxygen but deteriorate rapidly once exposed to the open air.
​Michigan State University, then called the State Agricultural College, installed wood water mains during their expansion in the last quarter of the 19th century. Despite the upsides to these cheaper and frost resistant wood pipes, the college decided to put them out of commission in the early 20th century. In 1902 board members argued that the wood pipes did not provide safe water during in the warmer months due to bacteria accumulating in the aging wood pipes. As a result, new iron pipes were installed approximately ten years before Ubly and many other communities elected to use wood water mains.
​However, by the end of the 1920’s almost all wood water pipes were being replaced with cast iron systems because of deterioration and increased leakage rather than for health considerations. As the years went by these iron mains were replaced again with new iron pipe due to corrosion issues. Now in the 21st Century, water pipes are manufactured with various PVC, CPVC, HDPE materials. How long they will last is yet to be determined.
D. A. McDonald – 3/30/2026

04/08/2026

The next Ubly Area Historical Society meeting will be Sunday April 12th, 2026 @ 2:30 pm. We meet at the Ubly Senior Center. Please join us & see what this group is all about!

BuggyThis is the story of this beautiful old buggy and how it became a part of the Ten Cent Barn Museum.As part of the ...
04/01/2026

Buggy

This is the story of this beautiful old buggy and how it became a part of the Ten Cent Barn Museum.

As part of the Ubly Area Historical Society’s Ten Cent Barn’s reopening in 2025, we decided to be in the Ubly Homecoming Parade. Our first thought was to have someone with a sign on their vehicle, to announce our opening. Second suggestion was to find an OLD car, and do the same sign. Both good ideas. But the next day I received a text from one of the members saying “ Both of those ideas are good. But we’re a Horse Barn. We should have a horse and buggy instead. Could I make some phone calls?” So I did. I made two calls. Neither led me in the direction I was thinking, but….long story shortened. I successfully secured both a horse and a buggy from separate locations. They were joined together in St John’s parking lot before they headed off to the parades starting point.

The Buggy was returned to its owner after the parade as stipulated. I got word the next day that the owner wasn’t happy! I went back to clear up the situation. The owner- Dick and Ricki Holdship wanted us to keep the Buggy. Upon our securing a storage space, they donated the Buggy to the Museum. We are very grateful to them for their donation!

The history of this beautiful buggy as it was told to me by Dick Holdship is as follows.
This was my (Dick) Grandfathers Buggy. His grandfather was Dr William B Holdship. This was Dr WB’s “Sunday”buggy. Not his work buggy. Two separate buggies!
Dick thinks his Grandfather discontinued using this Buggy when he bought a car. “Always a Buick!” Says Dick. He thinks that was in the 1920s. Dr WB bought a new car every year, as the story goes. Because he smashed the car yearly! Either by running into a tree along the street or even into a building.
Dick says the buggy was reupholstered in the 1970’s. It was originally black. The buggy was moved from the Holdship Horse barn in town, out to where Dick lives at some point after Dick returned from college. He used it for a while, and it had been stored in his barn since.
Story by Kay VanErp

Subject: Dr WB HoldshipThis story is about Dr William B Holdship. Not to be confused with Dr EC Holdship, who is Dr WB’...
03/12/2026

Subject: Dr WB Holdship

This story is about Dr William B Holdship. Not to be confused with Dr EC Holdship, who is Dr WB’s son
Dr WB was born in Wisconsin in 1876. He moved to Michigan as a child, growing up in Clio. He graduated from Saginaw Valley Medical College in 1901. He practiced medicine in Peck for six months, before moving to Ubly.
He was a typical family doctor with thousands of patients& was a well regarded Dr by everyone.
He was active in public affairs, serving as village president and trustee from 1907-1925. And a member of the Ubly Board of Education for 20 years. The last two years as president.
In 1923 he was deputy Sheriff.
Dr WB, as the arm of the law, is noted as having broken up a “booze party”. Arresting one person and sending others home with a warning. In another incident, he threw two people out of the theater.
Dr Holdship and his three sons were nearly the victims of a highway robbery in 1928, as they traveled to Port Hope. Three men ordered their car to stop! As the Holdship car raced away, they were fired upon. One bullet entered the car under the rumble seat in which the Dr and his guest were sitting.
When Dr WB started his practice in Ubly, there was no hospital in the area. The closest hospitals were in Port Huron and Saginaw.
Surgery was often performed on a kitchen table, while someone held an oil lamp. Dr Holdship had an ingenious device. He had a portable operating table that folded up. It measures 18 &1/2 inches wide and 5 &3/4feet long when unfolded. It can be found in Ten Cent Barn Museum
In 1906 Huron County built its first hospital-Hubbard Memorial Hospital. It had 25 beds and two nurses.
Dr Holdship’s work buggy and team of horses are said to have been Ubly’s first ambulance.
The Ubly Volunteer Fire Department was organized in 1908. Dr W B Holdship was one of the first volunteers They had a horse drawn engine-
Read “ The Thumb Pointed Fingers” by Jacki Howard to learn about Dr WB’s part in this story.
Dr Holdship died in October 1948 after being stricken a few minutes after telephoning for an ambulance for a patient. He was driven to Hubbard Hospital by his daughter, Constance. Where he died.
Story by Kay VanErp

03/05/2026

Ubly Area Historical Society meeting will be Sunday March 15, 2026 @ 2:30 pm. We meet at the Ubly Senior Center. New members always welcome!

Address

Longuski Lane & Ubly Rd
Ubly, MI
48475

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