The History of Brownwood Farms

In 1957 Mary Louise Morse decided to take a dream to the next level by buying the bustling Eastport Inn/post office/country store and moving it to the family's Torch Lake property. She decided that the quickest way to move the building would be to pull it across the frozen lake.

But as a large crowd stood on the shore to watch the building being pulled, the impossible happened: one of the runners snagged on the ice, and the Inn and the truck that was pulling it fell into eight feet of water. Unbelievably, after the second story was removed, the rest of the building floated to the surface and was later put back together at Brownwood, where it rests today.

The Inn, now known as the Country Store, quickly became the center of activity at Brownwood. It offered customers everything from haircuts to home-made candy to beds for rent on the second floor.

Today the store offers much of the same, though the barber shop and post office are now just for show, and the upstairs is part of the store. Home-made candies, sweatshirts, antiques, and de Tar's Tea Room can all be found within its walls.

Morse made another addition to Brownwood in 1958. Antrim county's first log schoolhouse, originally built in 1875, was taken down, moved from nearby Bellaire to her five-room Honey House gift shop, and re-constructed log by numbered log. Today it serves as the Children's Shop and is filled with various toys, both old and new.

In its heyday, the Brownwood complex also included a hugely popular restaurant whose waiters and waitresses doubled as the singing Honeybees. The restaurant closed in 1987.

Today some of Brownwood's most popular items are the Brownwood Farms food products the family has developed over the years, including America's first cherry butter. Since Morse and her mother packed the first jar 60+ years ago, Brownwood has gone on to develop and sell more than 100,000 jars of their Famous Cherry Butter a year.

Now run the Brownwood Farms label, the products offer everything from homemade jams and mustards to cherry salsa, cherry barbecue sauce, and their world-famous cherry butter.

Below are some classic sketches of the Brownwood properties

The Jam Kitchen We've been making fine jams and jellies since 1945. This is where our Famous Cherry Butter was made, along with our zippy Kream Mustard, Cherry Salsa, Cherry BBQ Sauce and Fruit Preserves.

Mary Lou's Tea Room Enjoy a leisurely lunch on our Victorian porch overlooking our hollyhock garden or eat inside our quaint tea room amid the antiques and lace curtains. Lunch served from 11:30 until 3:00 daily From Memorial Day to Labor Day. A Great Summertime Menu featuring a Selection of Stacked Sandwiches, Homemade Soups, Salads and Desserts, plus meals for kids. A great spot to sip and savor our famous fresh-squeezed lemonade.

Brownwood Country Store The building that fell through the ice of Torch Lake in 1957 while being moved to Brownwood was originally the Eastport Inn. Built in 1867 as an overnight stage coach stop between Traverse City and Petoskey, it is now restored as an authentic Country Store. Inside you'll find an old fashioned candy counter, sponge pottery, cook books, Torch Lake T and sweatshirts, antiques and Mary Lou's Tea Room. Watch fudge, caramel corn and chocolates being made in our Candy Kitchen.

Grass Lake School Antrim county's first log school, built in 1875, was moved to Brownwood in 1955. It is now the children's shop, filled with toys, sweatshirts and T-shirts.