Basket Factories

Location: Douglas and Saugatuck
Date: 1880s-1920s

THE E.E. WEED BASKET FACTORY
At Mill Point –Washington Street at the Bridge, Douglas
1880s-1927

E. E. Weed & Company (also known as the Douglas Basket Factory) was Douglas’s largest manufacturer, and was the largest basket factory in Michigan. The workday there ended at 4:40 pm in order to allow workers to get in some fishing before sunset. This factory was the mainstay of the Douglas economy from the early 1900s through the 1920s. When the factory was destroyed by fire in 1927 the fire was so immense that it was said its glow could be seen as far away as Muskegon. The site is now the location of a residence and a small marina.

THE WHITNEY BASKET FACTORY
Butler and Lucy Streets, Saugatuck
1880s-1902

The Whitney Basket Factory was locally known as the “Iron-Clad” because it was partially covered with sheet-iron for fire protection. The Company produced baskets for local shippers and fruit farmers (records show some 40,000 baskets were manufactured in 1888). The owner, Calvin Whitney, was a Civil War veteran and local farmer. When the company closed one large section of the plant, it was moved a few yards up river to become a part of a new hotel named the Tourist Home.