Lost In Michigan | Category Archives: Michigan Historical Markers | Page 2Michigan Historical Markers Archives - Page 2 of 11

Holland’s Grand Old City Hall and Fire House

Standing at the east end of downtown Holland’s shopping district, is the old city hall and Firehouse. I wonder how many people notice this stately old building while they are out shopping or enjoying a meal at one of the pubs. I know it’s not forgotten for there’s a historical marker out front recalling its history. The sign says

The city of Holland bought this lot in 1882, and contractor James Huntley began construction of a fire hall the next year. Completed in 1884, the building housed Holland’s city offices and library until 1912 and served as a fire hall until 1978. During World War II the west annex was built. In 1983 the firehouse was rehabilitated for use as office space. Grooves in the engine house floor that provided traction for the horses have been filled, and the doors, once replaced to accommodate trucks have been restored.

On March 8, 1884, some 150 people attended the Columbia Fire Engine Company’s oyster supper celebration honoring Holland’s new city hall and firehouse. The solid brick building reflects the desire for “fire proof” construction following the 1871 fire that devastated the city. The city clerk and a special committee consulted with the Grand Rapids firm of Robinson and Barnaby, and designed the structure with a tower to accommodate drying fifty-foot unfolded fire hoses. Originally a cupola topped the tower.

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The Big Yellow House in Port Sanilac

Posted on January 24, 2017 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Houses, Michigan Historical Markers, Thumb .

This Second Empire style mansion was built in the 1870s by Doctor Joseph Loop. A native of New York, Loop moved to Oakland County, Michigan, in 1843. he and his wife, Jane Gardner Loop pioneered this land in Sanilac County in 1854, and after graduating from the University of Michigan medical department in 1855, he opened a practice in Port Sanilac. When this home was built, he kept an office on the lower floor, and serviced a forty-mile circuit, bringing medical care to much of the county. Doctor Loop died in 1903 at the age of ninety-three, leaving the home to his only child, Ada. She and her husband, the Reverend Julius Harrison passed it in turn to one of their sons, Captain Stanley Harrison. In 1964 he deeded it to the Sanilac County Historical Society for a museum.

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Newberry Jail and Sheriff’s Residence – Michigan Historical Marker

Posted on December 28, 2016 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Historic Places, Houses, Michigan Historical Markers, upper peninsula .

Constructed in 1894, this graceful Queen Anne style structure served as the Luce County jail and sheriff’s residence for over seventy years. The peninsular Land Company donated the site. The architectural firm of Lovejoy and DeMar from Marquette designed this sturdy edifice from rough-hewn Jacobsville sandstone. The Luce County Historical Society rescued this building from demolition in 1975 and restored it as the Luce County Historical Museum in 1976.

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The Old Prison in Jackson Michigan

Posted on November 17, 2016 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Iconic Buildings, Michigan Historical Markers .

The first state prison opened in 1838 near Jackson, and started with a temporary wooden prison. In 1839 the first 35 prisoners were received. It started with three log cabins, and walls built with huge wide logs, almost like a fur traders post, and 7 of the original 35 prisoners escaped over the walls. Then two years after it opened, on a foggy night June 1, 1840, 10 of the 85 inmates dug their way out of the cabins and escaped. The fugitives terrorized the community, robbing banks and becoming known as the Jackson Robber Gang. It took two years to finally capture eight of them

In 1861 the west end of the prison complex was completed to house prisoners of the civil war, and it was quickly overcrowded. John Morris, the warden from 1870 to 1875, was prosecuted for his brutality to prisoners. The assistant warden, 33 inmates, firefighters, doctors and seemingly anyone else involved in prison life testified at his trial. Morris had a wonderful demeanor to the outside world, but inside the prison, he became a monster. Morris once had a prisoner whipped 63 times. Another, who had suffered an injury to an arm during the Civil War was tied against a wall with wet leather bands at the wrists and ankles. By the time the bands had dried and the man was untied, his arm was so severely injured it had to be amputated.

Beginning in the 1880’s under Warden H. F. Hatch a greater emphasis was placed on education and rehabilitation of prisoners.Female prisoners were at the Michigan State Prison with the men up until 1882. Sarah Havilland poisoned her own children because she couldn’t feed them. Yet inside the prison she became the much beloved caregiver to the warden’s children, who at the time lived onsite. By 1882, it was the largest walled prison in the world and a quarter of the size of Jackson in terms of population.

On September 1, 1912, a riot that is described by many as the worst riot in the prison’s history began. The first sign of trouble was when inmates starting throwing plates against the walls of the dining halls. Many fights followed after this and the riot lasted for six days. On the sixth day, the 90 or so inmates that were leading the riot were beaten and the riot eventually came to an end, but not until after the governor had called in the National Guard.

In 1928, construction of a new prison north of Jackson began and the inmates were moved to the new facility. the old prison was closed in 1934 and at the time there were 3,840 prisoners which was too many for the facility to handle, despite the many additional cell blocks that were added through the years.

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The Devastating Metz Forest Fire

Posted on November 10, 2016 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in autumn, Michigan Historical Markers, small towns .

The tracks are gone, and a rail trail for biking and hiking remains where they used to be. Autumn trees of reds and yellows stand alongside the path with memories of the tragic forest fire that burned the town of Metz.

A photo of the warped tracks from the fire ( photo from the roadside park in Metz)

The historical marker in Metz reads: On October 15, 1908, raging fires swept the pine forests of Presque Isle County. When the flames approached the village of Metz, a train jammed with women and children left for Posen, five miles away. At Nowicki’s siding, two miles out of town, huge piles of blazing wood lined the track. As the engine raced past the siding, where intense heat had warped the rails, the train left the track, leaving an open car full of refugees in the center of the flames. Sixteen were killed and dozens of others badly burned. Throughout this part of the state hundreds were left homeless, as many homes and farms were devastated. Supplies soon poured in so that shelters could be erected before the onset of the northern winter.

There is a nice roadside park in Metz with a memorial to the people who lost their lives in the fire and there more info and photos about the fire HERE

I finally got around to making more t-shirts, and I even got the dark gray ones back in stock for those that were asking for them, They are on sale and you can order one HERE

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Elowski Mill in Autumn

Posted on November 3, 2016 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in autumn, Barns and Farms, Michigan Historical Markers .

Prussian immigrant Michael Elowsky fled the turmoil brewing in Eastern Europe in 1862. He settled in Detroit, was joined by his family, and migrated to Presque Isle County around 1870. under President Lincoln’s Homestead Act of 1865, he obtained his land on the north branch of the Thunder Bay River near Posen at no cost. He built a log dam and moved a part of this structure from Trout River and eventually developed a complex of flour,shingle, siding, planing, and lathe milling operations. Residents of Metz, Posen, and Krakow townships brought grain and timber to this mill. With the help of Thomas Edison, Michael’s son Emil added a generator and electric lights to operate the mill 24 hours a day. When the Mill closed at the end of the harvest season in October of 1963, that became the last time it would operate. During the winter of 1963-4, a great amount of snow fell, so with the spring melt, a very great run-off on the river caused the original log dam to collapse. The great run off also wiped out the saw mill that the family had across the river on the south bank. All the equipment was left intact and remains to this day.

A winter photo of the mill is in my Lost In Michigan calendar which you can see HERE

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Ingham County Courthouse – Michigan Historical Marker

Posted on September 8, 2016 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in courthouses, Michigan Historical Markers .

Named for Samuel Ingham, Secretary of the Treasury under Andrew Jackson, Ingham County was organized in 1838. In 1840 Mason became the county seat. The town’s wide public square had been designed as the county’s political and business center. The first county offices were on the sides of the square until 1858, when a courthouse was built at this location. The present building, completed in 1904, was described as a “temple of justice.” Governor Fred Warner, speaking at the dedication, called it “a meeting place for farmers, mechanics, business and professional men.” The courthouse has been the center of Ingham County’s activities throughout the twentieth century. In 1971 the building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

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10 Hours Or No Sawdust in Bay City

Posted on September 5, 2016 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Michigan Historical Markers .

When Bay City’s sawmills opened in 1885, mill owners notified workers that wages would be 12 to 25 percent lower than in 1884. On July 6, 1885, Bay City millhands began to walk off the job. Their slogan, “Ten Hours or No Sawdust,” represented the demand for a ten-hour day, higher wages and semimonthly pay. On July 9, 1885, D.C. Blinn, editor of Bay City’s Labor Vindicator and a member of the Knights of Labor, held a rally at Bay City’s Madison Park. After the rally, millhands left by barge for Saginaw, where they closed the mills the next day. The demands of the millhands were rejected, and the sporadic violence that followed led the mayors of Bay City and Saginaw to seek help from the state militia and private detectives.

On July 19, 1885, Governor Russell A. Alger, a wealthy lumberman came to Bay City to attempt to resolve the strike that had closed Bay City and Saginaw mills. From the steps of the Frazer Hotel, across the street from this site, he spoke to a crowd of millhands, warning against further violence. On July 29, Terence V. Powderly, Grand Master of the Knights of Labor, came to the valley. He urged the millhands to return to work with a ten-hour day and reduced wages. Nevertheless, the strike continued for several weeks, with support from the people of Bay City. The mill owners, however, remained intransigent, and by late September the strikers were defeated. The ten-hour workday went into effect on September 15, 1885, by an act of the state legislature, but wages remained low.

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The Michigan School For the Deaf – Michigan Historical Marker

Posted on September 3, 2016 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Houses, Michigan Historical Markers .

The Superintendent’s Cottage, completed in 1890, is the oldest building on the campus of the Michigan School for the Deaf. With the exception of the masonry work, the cottage was built almost entirely by male students. In addition, students made the furniture for the house in the school’s shops. The building reflects the craftsmanship of the boys who studied under instructors Edwin Barton and James Foss. Student labor saved the state money while preparing the boys for future employment. Construction of the cottage began during an 1880s diphtheria epidemic when faculty housing was reorganized to make room hospital space. Beginning with Francis Clarke and his family, who lived in the house from 1892 to 1913, every superintendent has resided in the cottage.

In 1848 the Michigan legislature established the Michigan Asylum for Educating the Deaf and Dumb and the blind. Flint was selected as the site for the new institution. The first student arrived on February 6, 1854. After the School for the Blind opened in Lansing in 1880, the Flint facility began serving only deaf children. The curriculum, which combined academics and practical training. emphasized “market gardening and general farming.” Boys studied carpentry, printing, tailoring and farming, while girls learned the sciences of cooking, sewing, darning and patching. The schools mission was to educate deaf children so that they “may earn a living … may have culture enough to enjoy that living … (and) may be fitted for citizenship.

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E. S. Swayze Drugstore – Michigan Historical Marker

Posted on August 16, 2016 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Michigan Historical Markers, small towns .

when I was in Otisville, I saw this Subway and thought “wow what a beautiful old building” then I noticed it even had an historical marker sign next to it. I thought what a remarkable building for a national franchise chain to be in, and in an era where most chain restaurants bulldoze old buildings and build new ones, It’s nice that they restored this old building and continue to use it, and yes I stopped and had a sandwich and the inside is just as nice as the outside. I wish more people, and companies, would take an interest in using old buildings, instead of building new ones.

The Michigan Historical Marker Reads

E. S. Swayze opened a drugstore on this site prior to 1870. When the store burned in 1874, Swayze built this one. Members of the Free Methodist Church used the second-floor meeting hall for services from 1887 to 1890. In 1903 Masonic Lodge #401 and the Order of the Eastern Star bought the building which they owned until 1970. This intact commercial building is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

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