August 2016 - Lost In Michigan

The Story of North Grove School

Posted on August 31, 2016 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Forgotten Places, Schools .

I got a call last week from Andrew at the Tuscola County Advertiser after seeing my photos of the old North Grove School that sits empty between Caro and Mayville. He was writing a story about it, and wanted to know what I knew about the school, and why I took a photo of it. Sadly, I did not know any of the history of the school, but I took a photo of it because it looked like something that needed some love and attention. Thanks to Andrew I do know the history of the school, and if you want to read his article you can do it HERE

P.S. I love it when I post a pic and I get ” the rest of the story” as Paul Harvey would say.

it would really mean a lot to me if you Subscribe to Lost In Michigan

[fbcomments]

Where Faygo Comes From

Posted on August 30, 2016 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Detroit .

I was roaming around Detroit getting pics of old fire houses when I came upon the Faygo Bottling Plant on Gratiot Ave. I took a pic of it with no intention of ever posting it but I figure since Labor Day is coming up why not post a pic of a plant in Detroit that’s not abandoned. I love buying stuff made in Michigan and I like seeing where its made, my kids always get annoyed with my when we are driving somewhere and I point out different factories like Flint Truck and Bus ” that’s where the trucks are built” or the Jiffy Mix mill in Chelsea “that’s where the cornbread comes from” I wish I could point out more places where things are made instead of ” used to be built”

What are your favorite Michigan Products? I would love to know in the comments below

P.S. In case you don’t hear from me before then, have a safe and relaxing Labor Day Weekend, and thank you for following me and reading my posts.

it would really mean a lot to me if you Subscribe to Lost In Michigan

[fbcomments]

The Old Farmhouse Near Holly

Posted on August 29, 2016 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Forgotten Places, Houses .

Traveling the back roads near Holly, I found this old farmhouse. It has watched that pine tree grow up over the years, and now the pine trees is still standing there, watching over the old house. Like most of the old houses I photograph, I don’t know anything about it, but I had to stop and take a photo.

it would really mean a lot to me if you Subscribe to Lost In Michigan

[fbcomments]

The Mysterious Death of Sand Point’s First Female Lighthouse Keeper

Posted on August 25, 2016 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Lighthouses .

The United States Lighthouse Service approved construction of the Sand Point Lighthouse in Escanaba at a cost of $11,000. Construction began in the fall of 1867, and was completed in early spring 1868. John Terry was appointed the first lighthouse keeper of the new lighthouse in December 1867, but he became very ill and died in April 1868 a month before the lighthouse was ready to be manned. With the lighthouse nearly completed, but with no lightkeeper ready to report to duty, John Terry’s wife, Mary, was appointed lightkeeper and subsequently became one of the first female lightkeepers on the Great Lakes Mary was the one who lit the fourth order Fresnel lens on the night of May 13, 1868. which could be seen for 11.5 miles.

Mary Terry was a well-respected citizen in the community and fulfilled her duties as lightkeeper with efficiency and dedication.She lived there alone, as she and her husband had no children and was lightkeeper until 1886, when a mysterious fire severely damaged the lighthouse and took her life. To date, no one knows exactly what happened or why it happened. Some speculate that it was an attempted burglary and that the suspect set the lighthouse afire to cover any evidence of wrongdoing. The south entrance door showed signs of forced entry, yet none of Mary Terry’s valuables were taken, and the fact that Mary was found in the oil room and not in her bedroom, led people to believe there was foul play. Deep snow made it impossible for fire fighters to reach the lighthouse before it was very badly damaged. Some people who knew Mary Terry found it hard to believe that this was an accident since she was so careful and efficient.

One other strange fact about the Sand Point Lighthouse is that it was constructed with its tower facing the land instead of facing the water. Whether this orientation was intentional or an engineering blunder is unknown.

Find Interesting locations throughout the Mitten State with a Lost In Michigan book Available on Amazon by clicking HERE

it would really mean a lot to me if you Subscribe to Lost In Michigan

The Problem With Traveling Around The State Of Michigan

Posted on August 23, 2016 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Restaurants .

The Corner Bar in beautiful downtown Rockford

Most people would assume the difficulty in traveling around the state would be the road construction and orange barrels. Although that is an issue, that’s not to much of a problem for me since I like to travel the back roads that don’t get a lot of traffic, and the gravel ones get repaved with a dump truck emptying its contents onto the road and a grader spreading it out. The real problem I have is going to local places to get something to ea,t and then not being able to easily get back there to eat again. Places like The Corner Bar in Rockford or Spikes Keg O Nails in Grayling or Crazy Jim’s Blimpy Burger or Dog Central in Mt Pleasant just to name a few.

A while back I looked at doing some restaurant reviews, but it got to be a little to much for me, both cost and time, and I decided to do more history posts. I do like to stop to local places and eat when I can. I can’t possibly list all the places I have been too, so instead, I would love it if you posted some of your favorite places you have been to, or in your home town in the comments below, so I can torture myself and try some more new places.

I hope you will Subscribe to Lost In Michigan

[fbcomments]

Michigan’s Historic Two Story Outhouse

Posted on August 18, 2016 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Forgotten Places, Historic Places .

You have probably heard someone make a joke about a two-story outhouse. One of my readers told me about a two-story outhouse near Cedar Lake in central Michigan, so I had to check it out for myself. The house that it sat behind was recently was destroyed by fire, so you can’t get a real good view of the old weathered privy but I did get this pic of it from the road, you can also see it a little from the Fred Meijer Hartland Trail. I did some research on google and I figure this has to be one of the most famous outhouses since it’s even mentioned in Wikipedia about the history of the outhouse, and since it’s on the internet I am sure it’s true.

The two-story privy and house were built by William Nelson, a wealthy lumber baron that had 7 daughters. The girls lived upstairs and the lower part of the home was Mr. Nelson’s office and General store that was frequented by lumberjacks. The Lumber Baron wanted to keep his daughters separated from the men so he built the outhouse with a bridge to the second floor of the home but the bridge collapsed in the 50’s. I read that it’s a 4 holer top and bottom with different size holes to match different size people, I guess they just read goldilocks before they built it. I am not sure how it “works” if the holes on top are in line with the holes in the lower part and its “bombs away” or if there is a tube that channels down to the ground giving a whole new meaning to the term “poop chute”, you know I could go on forever with the puns and jokes. but I better not.

Sadly the old outhouse collapsed a few years ago and a new replica was built in its place. This was one of the first places I visited when I started Lost In Michigan and I included it in the first book.

Lost In Michigan books are ON SALE at Amazon, you can find out more about them by clicking HERE

I hope you will Subscribe to Lost In Michigan

The Sad Story of the Cat Lady’s House in Saginaw

Posted on August 17, 2016 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Houses .

As some of you know, I am from Saginaw, and have lived here my whole life (I even do a website about Saginaw HERE). Traveling around Michigan, I see so many beautiful old abandoned houses in other towns around the state. Saginaw has it’s own historic abandoned mansion near downtown that is well known by the people of Saginaw as the “Cat Lady’s House” because the most recent owner was Rosemary DeGesero, and she would walk her pet leopard Chichu on a chain around Saginaw.

The House was originally built in the late 1870’s by lumber baron Charles Lee, who had a sawmill near the house along the Saginaw River. In 1911, after Charles Duryea moved to Saginaw, he used one of Lee’s sawmill buildings near the house to build what he called a “Motor Buggy. After Lee’s death, the house was purchased by Dr Michael D. Ryan, and he became the first resident physician at St Mary’s Hospital in Saginaw. While working for St Mary’s, he would walk to lumber camps and sell the hospital’s $5 insurance plans that would provide medical treatment for one year. Dr Ryan was one of the last “ horse and buggy” doctors traveling to outlying lumber camps in the Saginaw Valley. During the great fire of 1893 Dr. Ryan joined in the bucket brigade on the roof of St Mary’s Hospital dousing embers from the fire, saving the hospital from the treacherous flames.

Dr Ryan’s daughter, Rosemary married Roy DeGesero and they lived in the house raising their family in the same house she grew up in. When the Saginaw Daily News building was demolished in 1960 some of the terracotta lions were given to her, and prominently displayed on the front porch. Rosemary was and eccentric and interesting person, she loved the theater and often helped out at Pit and Balcony. She was known for her love of cats and had several of them and was known by those who did not know her name as “the cat lady”.

Sadly Rosemary died in 2012, a few years after moving to New Jersey to live with her daughter. The house went up for sale at that time and the City of Saginaw purchased the property ,and is the current owner. Unfortunately they did absolutely no maintenance to the house, and after several years of neglect the city has decided to demolish the home.

UPDATE: The house is currently for sale by the City of Saginaw. if no one purchases it by the end of October with a plan to restore it then it will be demolished. if you are interested in purchasing the historic home click HERE for info

Lost In Michigan shirts are on sale this week, if you want one before they are gone you can order them HERE Thank you to everyone who got a shirt, it really helps me out with expenses to do this website since I am an independant artist and not funded by any organization or advertising

It would mean a lot to me if you Subscribe to Lost In Michigan

[fbcomments]

Getting Lost in Alder Falls

Posted on August 17, 2016 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in upper peninsula, Waterfalls .

I have been to a lot of different waterfalls in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula but my favorite is Adler Falls. Located northwest of Marquette it can be a little tricky to find on a two-track road off County Road 550 near Big Bay. After parking near a little wooden sign for the falls you need to hike down into a gorge to see the waterfalls. There are no steps, so it can be tricky to climb down and back up, especially for someone out of shape like me. I think that is why I like these falls so much, they are hard to access, and find, so there is not a large crowd of people, the times that I was there, no one else was around and it was a peaceful place to relax and enjoy the falls as the water rushed around the large rocks in the river.

Besides the falls, you are near the Big Bay lighthouse ( you can see my post about it HERE) and the Tavern that was made famous in the Jimmy Stewart movie Anatomy of a Murder

Lost In Michigan books are ON SALE this weekend, be sure to get a copy before you head out for your summer vacation in Pure Michigan, you can order them HERE

I would love it if you Subscribe to Lost In Michigan

[fbcomments]

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.

I would love it if you Subscribe to Lost In Michigan

[fbcomments]

The Mount Pleasant Indian Industrial Boarding School

Posted on August 16, 2016 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Forgotten Places, Haunted Places, Historic Places .

The Mount Pleasant Indian Industrial Boarding School in Mt Pleasant is a strange and mysterious looking place, and doing some research I found that it’s history is strange and mysterious too.

According to wikipedia the first building was erected in 1892 for the purposes of educating Native American children and the eight-classroom building opened to the first seventeen students in June of 1893. Enrollment had increased significantly and in the coming years it was necessary to build additional buildings to house all of the students and their daily activities. These included separate boys and girls dormitories, a hospital, a woodworking and blacksmith shop; a building for industrial training, a dining hall, a clubhouse for the employees of the school, several farm buildings.

Some accounts I have read make it sound as if it was a wonderful place to “educate” Native Americans but while researching about the Marquette Orphanage, I know that many of these places run by the government were used as a way to “reform” native American children, I also found references that claim abuse of the children and strip them of there heritage.

The school closed on June 6, 1934 when the State of Michigan took over the property for Michigan Department of Mental Health services and it became The Mount Pleasant Branch of the Michigan Home and Training School. The intent of this home and training school was to house and train mentally handicapped young men. Many of the boys were abandoned; some were juvenile criminals that did not understand their crime or charges in court. Some of the residence were physically handicapped, but a majority of the residents had some kind of mental health issue.

There are rumors of abuse to the patents by the staff. I know what we find horrific, was accepted back then, but who knows what has happened at that facility over the years it was in operation.

I have had people tell me it also housed the criminally insane including murders and rapists but I am not sure about that, I think it gets confused with a correctional facility in Iowa called the Mount Pleasant Mental Health Institute originally known as the Iowa Lunatic Asylum which opened in 1861.

An old Native American cemetery is on or near the property and 174 undocumented children died at the school along with its history as a mental institution it is rumored to be haunted.

It was designated as a State Historic Landmark in 1986 and you can see some of the buildings on Crawford road, I took my photos from the road, I was told it was patrolled and they watch closely for trespassers. Patrolled or not, I don’t trespass and I would advise anyone against it.

If you like reading about some of Michigan’s strange history, Lost In Michigan books are available on Amazon HERE

I would love it if you Subscribe to Lost In Michigan Facebook does not show you all of my posts.