January 2016 – Lost In Michigan

Some Beautiful Carnegie Libraries in Michigan

Posted on January 31, 2016 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Library .

It’s common practice on the internet to say “unbelievable, jaw dropping places will leave you breathless and mind blown”, but then I have clicked on those links to be disappointed, so I am just going to say, here are some beautiful old Carnegie library buildings I have photographed while lost in Michigan. these are not all the libraries left standing, but I hope to eventually get pics of all of them, here are some that I have so far, and I think they are beautiful.

Escanaba Public Library

The Carnegie library opened in May 1903 located at 201 South Seventh Street in Escanaba, Michigan. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977, and constructed with $20,000 in funds donated by Andrew Carnegie. The city of escanaba promised additional yearly operation funds. The building was designed by local architect Theodore Lohff. In 1992, the city began construction on a new city hall and library complex. The library moved to the new location in 1995, and the old Carnegie building was sold to private owners, who refurbished it with the intention of converting it into a private home.

Houghton Public Library

The building was built with a 1908 grant from Andrew Carnegie. It served as the public library for Houghton, Michigan from its opening in 1910 until 2006. It is the former building of the Portage Lake District Library. The building was built in 1909, at the site originally occupied by the Armory Building for Company G of the Houghton Light Infantry, using a $15,000 grant from Andrew Carnegie. The building was declared a Michigan State Historic Site on June 18, 1976, listed as the Houghton Public Library. The building is built in the Classical Revival style.

Since 2006 it has been The Carnegie Museum of the Keweenaw that houses changing exhibits about local cultural and natural history. In October 2013, the museum became a Heritage Site of the Keweenaw National Historical Park

Iron Mountain Carnegie Library

While in Iron Mountain on business during 1901, Andrew Carnegie saw the need for a library on the Menominee Iron Range which was then a prospering area. He donated $15,000 for this building. Serving the community for over seventy years, the Neo-Classical Revival structure, designed by James E. Clancy, was one of the earliest Carnegie libraries in the Great Lake State. In 1971 this edifice became the Menominee Range Museum, featuring the history of its namesake.

Manistee City Library

In 1885 a group of Manistee ladies formed the Lakeside Club, whose primary goal was to create a library. In 1902 the club joined forces with the local literary society and successfully campaigned for a public library. The Andrew Carnegie Foundation funded the construction. The Manistee City Library opened in 1905. Designed by Port Huron architect George L. Harvey, the building, with its grand entrance pavilion, reflects Beaux Arts Classicism. The library is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.”

Marlette District Library

In 1914 the Marlette Research Club composed of women in the community decided to build a public library for Marlette. The club contacted the Carnegie Corporation for a grant to build the library. In compliance with the Carnegie Corporation’s rules, Marlette raised funds and instituted a quarter-mill tax for maintenance of the library. In 1918 the Carnegie Corporation agreed to fund the Research Club’s library project. The simple brick building was constructed in 1921. The building has a hipped roof and a portico of classical design. The library was the last in the Midwest to receive a Carnegie library grant and the second to the last to do so in the country. The Marlette District Library is one of fifty-three Michigan libraries funded by the Carnegie Corporation.

Owosso Public Library

The Shiawassee District Library branch in Owosso was built on a Carnegie library grant. The library was granted $20,000 on April 2, 1913

Petoskey Public Library

On 27 January 1908, Andrew Carnegie gave the City of Petoskey $12,500, and the Common Council agreed by definite resolution to maintain the library when completed The building was designed by the Grand Rapids firm of Williamson & Crow, Architects. It was constructed in 1908 and dedicated in 1909. Only the best stone and brick were to be used on the exterior, with black ash woodwork used extensively inside.The existing Carnegie Library building is one of the most significant historic buildings in Petoskey, architecturally as the most outstanding example of the neo-classical revival style, and historically as one of an ever-decreasing number of remaining Carnegie libraries in the country. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places by its inclusion in the Downtown Petoskey Historic District. It is the oldest municipal building in Emmet County in continuous original use.

While living in Petoskey in 1919, the library was a favorite haunt of Earnest Hemingway’s and, in December, wearing his Italian cape and Red Cross uniform, he spoke here to the Ladies Aid Society about his world war I experiences. At that event he met the Connable family who led to his connection with the Toronto Star newspaper and his employment as its European Correspondent

Port Huron Public Library

The Port Huron Public Library opened on May 26, 1904. The keynote address was delivered by Melvil Dewey, State Librarian of New York, and creator of the Dewey Decimal System. The building was financed by a $40,000.00 donation from Pittsburgh philanthropist and steel entrepreneur Andrew Carnegie. In 1967, the Port Huron Public Library was moved and reconstituted as the St. Clair County, Michigan Library System. the building was slated for demolition. Through the dedicated efforts of concerned volunteers, the Museum of Arts & History opened its doors on May 3, 1968.

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Will The Tawas Point Lighthouse Light be Extinguished ?

Posted on January 27, 2016 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Lighthouses .

I just found out that the Coast Guard is looking at removing the Fresnel lens from the Tawas Point Lighthouse and moving the light to the fog signal tower farther down the point. the Coast Guard press release is HERE . The current lighthouse was completed in 1876 and still currently guides ships into Tawas Bay with its 4th order Fresnel lens. One of the few lighthouses in the nation still using the old original lens, the Coast Guard owns the light, but the Michigan DNR owns the lighthouse. The Coast Guard said they are removing the lens to preserve it, and usually loan them to museums, and since the lighthouse is a museum, I am hoping that they decide to keep it at Tawas Point. I also hope they will have a light in the lighthouse, not for an aid to navigation, but it is nice to see a light emanating from the tower. While I was camping at the state park, at night you could see the light from the campground.

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the Remains of the Detroit House of Corrections in Plymouth

Posted on January 25, 2016 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Forgotten Places .

Traveling down 5 mile in Plymouth township I came across this complex surrounded by razor wire, and I knew this was not your typical abandoned motor-court. I stopped and took a few pics ( I got some from the parking lot, I don’t trespass ) and then when I got home I found out it was the old Detroit House of Corrections or DeHoCo. Interestingly, the main building was designed by famed architect Albert Kahn.

The first Detroit House of Correction opened in 1861 near Detroit’s Eastern Market. In 1919, the city of Detroit purchased approximately 1,000 acres in Plymouth Township to house a new Detroit House of Correction. A prison farm, with inmates sleeping in tents, was opened in 1920 of which there is a group of silos from the farm still standing in a field next to the defunct prison.
A permanent maximum security facility was completed towards the end of prohibition in 1930, I imagine there were some bootleggers and members of the Purple Gang that paid there debt to society at DeHoCo. It was eventually sold to the Michigan Department of Corrections int the 80’s and renamed Western Wayne Correctional Facility and became a women’s facility, The prison closed in December 2004, it is slated for demolition. Many places I photograph, I like to see saved, but in this case, I can’t see where this would be of use to the community, it’s not like a school or church that people have fond memories of. I am glad I was able to get some photos of it, in case it’s gone soon.

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McGulpin Point Light, A Spectacular View of the Bridge

Posted on January 21, 2016 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Lighthouses .

The McGulpin Point Light, a true lighthouse with a light tower and attached lighthouse keeper’s living quarters, was completed by the United States Lighthouse Board in 1869 at a cost of $20,000. The living quarters were built as a vernacular 11⁄2-story brick structure. The lighthouse operated during the Great Lakes navigation seasons from 1869 until 1906.

The design was so successful that the Lighthouse Board chose to use this 1868 design in the construction of Eagle Harbor Light in 1871; White River Light in 1875; and Sand Island Light in 1881. It is a “mirror image of the design” used at Chambers Island Light and Eagle Bluff light. The design is sometimes called “Norman Gothic” style

James Davenport was the only lighthouse keeper at this light, and served for 27 years. Correspondence files in the National Archives in Washington show that Davenport made weekly trips through the snow to the lighthouse to report on its condition to the District Inspector in Milwaukee. Perhaps more importantly, these letters also show that he may have played a critical role in the opening of navigation every spring by reporting weekly, and sometimes even more frequently, on ice conditions in the Straits. Because Davenport was the only Straits keeper to submit such frequent reports, it would appear that the Inspector used these reports to gain an understanding as to when navigation would be open throughout the lakes.

In 1906, the McGulpin Point Light was deactivated and privatized due to the Lighthouse Board’s judgment that the nearby Old Mackinac Point Light was performing an adequate job of marking the Straits of Mackinac.[9] At some point after deactivation, the lighthouse tower’s lantern room was removed, and the building passed into private ownership. The building then entered service as a private residence

In 2005 the Lighthouse was put up for sale and Emmet County purchased it, now the light is open for tours. It’s a couple miles west of Mackinaw City, I have been to the top of the tower, and I will say, it has a spectacular view of the straights and the bridge.

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The Old House Near Watrouseville

Posted on January 18, 2016 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Forgotten Places, Houses .

I saw this big old lonely forgotten house south of Watrousville in the Thumb, and during these cold Michigan winter nights I imagine there was a large family living there that kept warm by the heat of the fireplace. I know people who heat their house with wood, and they do a lot of cutting and splitting. Myself being a lazy city boy, I just go over and turn up the thermostat, and burn some more gas. I was told when you heat with wood, ” it keeps you twice as warm, once while you splitting and stacking it, and then again while you burn it” and this old house looks like it used a lot of wood to keep warm. I hope you are safe and warm wherever you are at.

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St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church – Michigan Historical Marker

Posted on January 12, 2016 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Churches, Michigan Historical Markers .

Between Bay City and Freeland, German missionary Pastor Ferdinand Sievers organized St. John Church in June 1852 to serve a colony of German migrants, some fleeing the turmoil that followed the European revolutions of 1848. Initially, the church met in a log cabin that once housed recent arrivals to the colony of Amelith. In 1870 a wood-frame Gothic style church was built. The present structure was completed in 1912. Schools run by the church began in 1853 with instruction in German surviving until World War I. Some church services continued in German until 1979. During World War II, German prisoners housed at Freeland Camp were ministered to by St. John Lutheran. An addition to the church was completed in 1997.

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The house of Seven Gables at Huron City

Posted on January 9, 2016 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Houses .

The house of Seven Gables in Huron City, near the tip of the thumb, is a beautifully preserved Victorian home, sits on a bluff overlooking Lake Huron. It was named by William Lyon Phelps, for the house of the same name in the Hawthorne novel. This is the third house built on this site. The forest fires of 1871 and 1881 destroyed Forestview and Lakeview, its predecessors.

The house has large double parlors, a graceful stairway, an elegant Victorian dining room, and is home to a portion of William Lyon Phelps’ personal library

Annabel Hubbard decorated Seven Gables in 1886 for her father Langdon Hubbard. After her marriage to William Lyon Phelps, Annabel added “modern” bathrooms and updated several rooms in the early 1900’s. Seven Gables has always been owned by family members. The furniture you see is original to the house and major portions of the house still have the original 1886 decorations, giving you a unique view into history.

you can learn more about Huron City at their website HERE

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The Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse

Posted on January 7, 2016 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Lighthouses .

In 1832, Congress authorized a lightship to be placed on Waugoshance Shoal as the first attempt to mark the western entrance to the Straits. In 1838, Lieutenant James T. Homans reported that the lightship was wholly inadequate. He recommended a better solution for Waugoshance and also that a light be built on the point to the west of Mackinaw Harbor. Nothing came of Homans’ recommendations. In 1854, the new Lighthouse Administration decided (against the recommendation of local residents) to put a light at McGulpin Point, approximately 3 miles to the west of Old Point Mackinaw.

In 1889, the United States Lighthouse Board realized that Mackinaw Point was a better location. Their first inclination was to put a fog signal there, but when asking Congress for funding, they requested funding for both a fog signal and a first class lighthouse. Congress chose to accept their recommendation, but only voted the funding for a steam-powered fog-signal. The fog signal was built in 1890. The signal proved to be exceptionally necessary for navigation in the often fog-choked Straits of Mackinac.

.In March 1891, Congress finally authorized the funding for a light station and the board acted quickly. Bidding was difficult, but in 1892, “on a foundation of ashlar limestone, the tower and attached keeper’s dwelling were both constructed of Cream City brick, trimmed with Indiana Limestone. The double-walled cylindrical tower was laid with an outside diameter of 13 feet 4 inches , and as each course was added, rose to a height of 45 feet , surmounted by a circular iron gallery and an 8-foot-8-inch diameter watch room, which was in turn capped by a prefabricated octagonal iron lantern.”The lens is a fourth order Fresnel Lens.

Its light was visible for 14 nautical miles; (16 Miles), which made it “particularly valuable” to the railroad car ferries SS Chief Wawatam and SS Sainte Marie operating between Mackinaw City and St. Ignace.

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