This photo shows Chum’s Service Station — a Sinclair-branded gas stop that helped give Chums Corner its name in Grand Traverse County.
The handwritten note says, “Ask Chum — He might know,” and the building looks like it doubled as a home, with the pumps tucked under a small canopy. Local history sources say the crossroads became known as “Chum’s Corners” after Deronda “Chum” Crandall and his wife, Eva, ran a gas station and grocery there around the early 1930s.
Today, it’s still one of the busiest junctions south of Traverse City, where U.S. 31 meets M-37.
What do you remember about stopping at Chums Corner — or hearing who “Chum” was?
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