Darrow Bros Excavating

Darrow Bros. Excavating, Inc. has been in the excavating and site preparation business in northern Michigan since the business was established by Perry and Katie Darrow in 1968. My husband, Perry, and I started our company in 1968. We started with a 1957 P & H Crane we purchased from my father in law for $2,000.

Perry's dad, (we called him Pa Slim), had an old tandem dump truck we rented and Perry's brother, Jim, had a dozer. This is how the company was named after Perry and Jim. We were off and running. Our first major job was being a part of land clearing, road building and campsite development for Mackinaw Mill Creek Camping.

This campground is located on U.S. 23 Hwy., just south of Mackinaw City and has over 600 developed sites. Today, we still haul materials to maintain the sites. In 1971 we purchased our first new truck, a Ford tandem, for $13,000 and I remember to this day I thought I was signing my life away on a bank note and hoped we could make the payments.