Ramsdell Theatre

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972.

From the record

“The Ramsdell Theatre is a historic playhouse theater building and opera house at 101 Maple Street in downtown Manistee, Michigan. The building was financed by local businessman and politician Thomas Jefferson Ramsdell and was built in 1902.”
Wikipedia article Ramsdell Theatre, CC BY-SA 4.0.

One of 19 National Register listings published here for Manistee County · listed in 1972 · category: Building.

Sources: the Wikipedia article · the case file at the National Archives · the National Register database, National Park Service

The listing

What is counted as historic. The nomination lists 1 building as contributing to the listing.
Address. 101 Maple St., Manistee, 49660
When was it listed? January 1972
Category. building
City. Manistee city
Architect. Solon Spencer Beman
National Register reference number. 72000640 - the number the National Park Service assigned this property when it was listed, and the key its nomination file is catalogued under at the National Archives.

Fires near this property

52 since 2001

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 52 fires within 5 miles of Ramsdell Theatre between 2001 and 2020, burning about 106 acres in total. 2 started naturally. 5 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause	Fires
Missing data/not specified/undetermined	12
Debris and open burning	9
Power generation/transmission/distribution	9
Equipment and vehicle use	5
Arson/incendiarism	5
Fireworks	3
Recreation and ceremony	3
Natural	2
Misuse of fire by a minor	2
Railroad operations and maintenance	1
Smoking	1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

Date	Cause	Size	Reported by	Name on the report
16 September 2009	Arson/incendiarism	under an acre	Huron-Manistee National Forest	MADISON SCHOOL
25 August 2012	Debris and open burning	under an acre	Huron-Manistee National Forest	COUNTY LINE
25 August 2009	Fireworks	under an acre	Huron-Manistee National Forest	CONDO
21 August 2013	Recreation and ceremony	under an acre	Huron-Manistee National Forest	HARRIS ROAD
17 August 2007	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	under an acre	Huron-Manistee National Forest	EAST LAKE ROAD
5 July 2013	Equipment and vehicle use	under an acre	Huron-Manistee National Forest	STOP SIGN
5 July 2005	Arson/incendiarism	under an acre	Michigan Agency	LRBHOUSING
3 July 2018	Power generation/transmission/distribution	under an acre	Huron-Manistee National Forest	STATION POWER

Every fire recorded in Manistee County

Mines and quarries near this property

6 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 6 workings within 5 miles of Ramsdell Theatre: 6 producers. All of them still produce. What was taken out: Magnesite, Bromine. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Site	Commodity	Status	Recorded
Morton Salt Company- Manistee	Bromine	Producer	1892
Morton-Manistee	Magnesite, Bromine	Producer	1940
Martin Marietta-Manistee	Magnesite	Producer	1944, 1969
Martin-Marietta Chem.--Manistee, Mi	Magnesite	Producer
Martin-Marietta Chemicals (Manistee)	Magnesite	Producer	Sedimentary
Morton Chem Co--Manistee, Mich.	Magnesite	Producer

Every working recorded in Manistee County

Storms near this property

35 since 1998

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Manistee, the town this property stands in, in 35 storm reports between 1998 and 2025: 22 thunderstorm wind, 9 hail, 4 flash flood. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

When	Event	Place named	Harm	What the report says
July 2005	Flash Flood	Manistee	$500,000	A slow moving thunderstorm dumped over three inches of rain (and hail) on the southwest corner of Manistee County. A spotter in the city of Manistee reported 4.35 inches of rain in two and a half hours. Widespread urban flooding resulted in the city and its environs, with the worst damage along the River Street corridor. Erosion was severe in spots, due to the sandy soils prevalent in the area. Some gravel roads and driveways were washed out; city streets had one to two feet of flowing water in them. Numerous vehicles stalled out in the high water. Basement flooding was also widespread. A hotel had flood waters enter its ground floor, prompting the evacuation of twenty five guests. Sewage system backups contributed to flood damage in the city.
June 2008	Thunderstorm Wind	Manistee	$195,000	Widespread thunderstorm wind damage occurred across the south half of the city of Manistee, and especially between 2nd and 10th Streets. Many trees were downed, and some structures were damaged, mainly by falling trees.
April 2011	Thunderstorm Wind	Manistee	$120,000	Wind gusts were measured to 79 mph at Manistee Harbor, and to 62 mph at Manistee Blacker Airport. The most intense damage was in a localized, one square mile area, on the north side of downtown Manistee. A pole building was destroyed, and there was damage to trees and shingles along Monroe Street. Roofs and overhead doors were damaged in several commercial buildings along Glocheski Drive and Washington Street.
October 2006	Thunderstorm Wind	Manistee	$50,000	Several hundred trees were downed at Manistee National Golf Course and the surrounding area. One large tree was downed onto a truck. A window was blown out of a home.
May 2011	Flash Flood	Manistee	$40,000	Persistent thunderstorms produced periodic, significant street flooding in and near the city of Manistee. A spotter in Manistee measured 4.44 inches of rain from 9 am to 9 pm. Water rose over the curbs of many city streets, and parts of US-31 and M-22 were closed for part of the afternoon.
April 2017	Thunderstorm Wind	Manistee	$16,000	A number of trees and utility poles were downed in and near the city of Manistee. A gust of 68 mph was measured at Manistee Blacker Airport.
June 2007	Thunderstorm Wind	Manistee	$16,000	Numerous trees and some power lines downed. One vehicle was crushed by a falling tree.
May 2012	Thunderstorm Wind	Manistee	$10,000	Trees and power lines were downed.
September 2011	Thunderstorm Wind	Manistee	$8,000	Trees and power lines were downed in the city of Manistee.
August 2015	Thunderstorm Wind	Manistee	$7,000	Trees were knocked down in the city of Manistee.
April 2008	Thunderstorm Wind	Manistee	$6,000	Several large trees were downed.
September 2005	Thunderstorm Wind	Manistee	$6,000	Trees and power lines were downed.
August 2017	Thunderstorm Wind	Manistee	$2,000	A large tree was downed onto power lines.
June 2024	Flash Flood	Manistee	$1,000	Social media reports of street flooding in Manistee around 7am EST, including photo of flooded roadways at River and Maple Streets in Manistee.
April 2025	Hail	Manistee	-	Report from storm chaser group's social media page of measured hail in the Manistee area of 1 to 1.5 inches in diameter.
May 2022	Hail	Manistee	-	Nickel and dime size hail on the SW side of Manistee.
August 2013	Thunderstorm Wind	Manistee	-	Measured at the entrance to Manistee Harbor.
August 2003	Thunderstorm Wind	Manistee	-	A tree was downed across a road.
April 2002	Thunderstorm Wind	Manistee	-	Trees and power lines down.
July 2002	Thunderstorm Wind	Manistee	-	Numerous trees down.
July 2002	Thunderstorm Wind	Manistee	-	Several trees down.
October 2002	Thunderstorm Wind	Manistee	-	A few trees down.
May 2000	Flash Flood	Manistee	-	Up to six inches of water covered city streets.
July 1999	Thunderstorm Wind	Manistee	-	Several trees down in and around the City of Manistee
May 1998	Thunderstorm Wind	Manistee	-	Strong thunderstorm winds downed numerous powerlines.
May 1998	Thunderstorm Wind	Manistee	-	Strong thunderstorm winds downed numerous trees.
September 2021	Hail	Manistee	-	no account filed
May 2012	Hail	Manistee	-	no account filed
May 2012	Hail	Manistee	-	no account filed
May 2011	Hail	Manistee	-	no account filed
October 2006	Hail	Manistee	-	no account filed
July 2005	Hail	Manistee	-	no account filed
August 2000	Hail	Manistee	-	no account filed
May 2000	Thunderstorm Wind	Manistee	-	no account filed
June 1999	Thunderstorm Wind	Manistee	-	no account filed

Every storm recorded in Manistee County

Map coverage status

No historic map-sheet match is published for this property yet. That does not mean no map exists. This record needs a coordinate-quality review before it can be joined to a sheet boundary. Browse the county's mapped places while that work is pending.

Listed places nearby

6 within 8 miles

Other National Register properties close enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties to their map sheets.

Property	Distance	Listed
First Congregational Church	under 500 feet	1974
Simeon Babcock House	0.1 miles	1999
Our Saviour's Evangelical Lutheran Church	0.2 miles	1972
Manistee Central Business District	0.2 miles	1982
Guardian Angels Church	0.3 miles	2020
Manistee Fire Station	0.3 miles	2026

Sources for this property

National Archives record	The nomination case file for reference 72000640 in Record Group 79.
Wikipedia article	Community-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA.
Manistee County	All 19 listed properties in this county.

Provenance

Listing record. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places, listed-properties dataset, current to 2026-05-22.
Map join. Address geocoded through the United States Census geocoder, then tested against the published boundary of every sheet in the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.
How this page is made. Listing fields come from federal records; map-sheet coverage is a labelled coordinate-to-boundary calculation, not a source-field claim.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.