Alfred J. Beardsley, Boyne's first regular storekeeper, was born on a farm in St. Clair County in 1854 and journeyed to Boyne in June 1875, where he opened a small dry goods store in the Pine Lake House. In April 1885, he contracted N.J. DeBar to construct a brick building with an iron roof, and later that year he opened his new store on Lake Street stocked with a line of the finest goods, where a man could purchase a suit for twelve dollars. In 1886, he married Emeline Williams and built the first dwelling in the village, located about where the Boyne River now flows. In 1898 he built a beautiful Victorian home on Water Street, where he and Mrs. Beardsley lived until 1906, when he sold the business and moved to Florida.