December 2016 - Lost In Michigan

Milling About in Linden

Posted on December 26, 2016 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Grain Elevators, small towns, Winter Wonderland .

The Linden Mills were a vital source of the village of Linden’s economic growth. The first mill, located on land granted to Consider Warner, was used to cut lumber. From 1845-1850 Seth Sadler and Samuel W. Warren, local residents, erected both a saw and grist mill. Operating along with the earlier facility, this complex was called the Linden Mills. The grist mill continued to function for over a century until the machinery was dismantled and sold at auction in 1956. The village then purchased the building for municipal offices and a public Library.

Linden was settled in late 1835 by two brothers, Richard and Perry Lamb who provided housing for travelers. The Village was incorporated in 1871 and was named after the Linden tree.

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The First Day of Winter in a Michigan Wonderland

Posted on December 21, 2016 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Forgotten Places, Houses, Winter Wonderland .

It’s the first day of winter, and yeah I know, for some it’s their least favorite time of year, and the thing we complain about the most, but I don’t mind it. I have relatives who grew up down south, and have never experienced winter like we do in the the north, and they wonder how we can survive being cooped up in the house for a few months. I say it’s all about finding something to do in the winter, whether it’s skiing, ice fishing or snowmobiling you need to embrace the snow and the cold and it can be a lot of fun.

I still like to go out and photograph in the winter, and one thing I especially like about taking pics in the winter is I can find and see things that are hidden most any other time of year. With the trees bare, the old forgotten houses can not hide behind the lush green foliage of summer. I am not sure what I will find this winter, I have not been out taking pics in a while since I have been busy with the holidays coming up but I am looking forward to going out and getting lost in Michigan and seeing what I can find in the snow.

P.S. if you’re wondering, I saw this old house north of Ann Arbor. I imagine at one time there was a family inside all warm by the fire waiting for Christmas to arrive, but those days are long gone.
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The Historic St. Andrew’s Church

Posted on December 19, 2016 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Churches .

St. Andrew’s history traces its beginning to the founding of St. Mary’s Church by the Rev. Frederic Baraga. He built a small church, rectory, and school on the west bank of the Grand River and the people who attended the church were Native Americans. The Rev. Andreas Viszoczky was named the parish’s first pastor two years later. After the Native Americans left and the town of Grand Rapids grew, Father Viszoczky built a new church on Monroe Street which he named St. Andrew.

The church building was constructed of Grand River limestone and completed in 1850. Grand Rapids continued to grow as did the parish and a new church was soon needed. In 1875 the present church was started on Sheldon Boulevard and completed a year later. On May 19, 1882 Pope Leo XIII established the Diocese of Grand Rapids. The diocese’s first bishop Henry J. Richter chose Saint Andrew’s as his cathedral and was consecrated in it on April 22, 1883. Lightning struck the cathedral in 1901 and a fire destroyed part of the church building. It was rebuilt and expanded. Some of the wooden beams above the ceiling still show the charred marks from the fire.

A television studio was created in the cathedral in the 1950s to televise a weekly Sunday Mass. The cameras have been updated in the 21st century to provide for digital broadcasts. Another expansion of the cathedral facilities occurred from 1961-1963. The St. Ambrose Chapel wing was added at that time and Maple Street from Sheldon to Division was closed and a green space created. A major renovation of the cathedral in 1979-1980 brought the altar forward into the congregation and a vesting and gathering area was created. Another major renovation from 1997-2000 created a baptismal pool and refurbished the stained glass windows and the Stations of the Cross. The current pipe organ was installed in 2002. The front entrance of the cathedral was remodeled in 2009 and the Piazza Secchia was laid. It is patterned after the piazza created by Michelangelo on the Capitoline Hill in Rome.

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The Upper Peninsula Christmas Party That Changed America

Posted on December 17, 2016 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Historic Places, upper peninsula .

I wish this was a story of a wonderful Christmas miracle, but instead, it’s about a celebration that ended in tragedy. The town of Calumet, in the Keweenaw Peninsula, was one of the wealthiest towns in the United States in the late 1800’s because of its copper deposits and mining industry.

The Italian Hall in Calument, on the left side of the building you can see the arched doorway that remains as a memorial to those who died.

On Christmas Eve in 1913, after being on strike for 5 months copper miners and their families gathered for a yuletide party on the second floor of the Italian Hall in Calumet. During the party for the striking miners and their families, someone yelled, “Fire!” Although there was no fire, seventy-three people died while attempting to escape down a stairwell. Over half of those who died were children between the ages of six and ten. The belief is the door at the bottom of the stairway opened inward, and other sources say it opened outward toward the streets, but the narrow stairway became congested and after the first person fell it became a ” Domino Effect” with people trying to escape what they thought was a fire. The tragic event was part of the reason building codes were enacted for building capacity and fire escapes. The perpetrator who yelled “FIRE” creating the tragedy was never identified. It is believed to by some historians that “fire” was called out by an anti-union ally of mine management to disrupt the party. The event was memorialized by Woody Guthrie in the song “1913 Massacre”, which claims the doors were held shut on the outside by “the copper boss’ thug men”

The Italian Hall was built in 1908 as headquarters for Calumet’s benevolent society. The Society, organized along ethnic lines, encouraged and financially aided immigrants and provided relief to victims of hardship. Following the 1913 Christmas Eve tragedy, the hall continued to be used for nearly five decades. The two-story red brick building was razed in 1984. Through the efforts of the Friends of the Italian Hall and Local 324 of the AFL-CIO, the site of the building became a memorial park dedicated to the people who lost their lives in 1913.

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The Old House Near Kalkaska

Posted on December 9, 2016 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Forgotten Places, Houses, Winter Wonderland .

I saw this old farmhouse while I was getting lost driving around Kalkaska. I often wonder about these old northern Michigan farmhouses and the difficulties of living and working in northern Michigan. It must have been a hard way to make a living, working on the hilly fields in the hot summer, and then fighting the cold in the winter all while being rather isolated from civilization. I wonder what they would have thought of all of us “tourists” that head up to the great white north to relax and enjoy Pure Michigan.

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The Old Mackinac Lighthouse: Like an Old Sailor

Posted on December 6, 2016 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Lighthouses .

The Old Mackinac Lighthouse, at the tip of the lower mitten, stands faithfully along the shoreline looking out at the magnificent green bridge that took over its duties. It stood for many years watching over the ships that passed thru the straights, and guiding them safely by as it’s light pierced the darkness. After the mighty bridge was built with lights that strung across the two peninsulas, the old lighthouse was no longer needed, like an old sailor that knew how to operate a steam engine. Now it stands next to the bridge that replaced its job, but it still enjoys telling visitors of days gone by.

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Durand Union Station Decked Out for the Holidays

Posted on December 5, 2016 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Train Depots .

Designed by Detroit architects Spier & Rohns, the 239-foot-long Grand Trunk Western Union Depot originally featured a spacious waiting room, a popular dining room, a lunch counter, areas for baggage and express mail, and telegraph and railroad offices. It was built of Missouri granite brick and Bedford cut stone and originally roofed in slate. Later roofs were of red tile and, in more recent years, of asphalt. Once the largest station in outstate Michigan, the depot is also one of the largest in a small town anywhere in the United States. On March 27, 1960, Grand Trunk Western train No. 56 left the depot for Detroit. It was the last regularly scheduled passenger train in the United States to be pulled by a steam locomotive.

The Detroit and Milwaukee Railway brought Durand its first rail service in 1856. In 1877 the Chicago & North Eastern Railroad reached the town, and in 1885 the Toledo, Ann Arbor and North Michigan (later the Ann Arbor Railroad) added its tracks. The Grand Trunk Railway System and the Ann Arbor Railroad built this depot in 1903, at a cost of $60,000, to serve the thousands of passengers who came to this railroad center. In 1905 the depot was nearly destroyed by fire; however, within six months this near replica had been completed. The last Grand Trunk Western passenger train stopped here in 1971. Passenger service resumed in 1974 with Amtrak. The city of Durand acquired the depot in 1978.

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Michigan Stairways to Heaven

Posted on December 1, 2016 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Lighthouses, upper peninsula, Waterfalls .

The stairway to Iargo Springs on the AuSable River

It seems like some of the most beautiful places in Michigan involve climbing stairs, and for someone like me that is allergic to stairs, it can make getting to these places a little challenging. I know it’s going to be an arduous trip when there is a warning sign at the top or bottom of the stairs telling you how many steps there will be. Even though it can be a lot of work transcending the stairway, I find in the end it’s always worth it, not only to see the magnificent beauty at the other end of the stairs, but to be able to say you did it. Some of my favorite places in no particular order are: Iargo Springs, Tahquamenon Falls, Sable Falls, Arch Rock on Mackinac Island or the spiral staircase of any lighthouse.

The stairway to Sable falls in the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore

The stairway at Point Iroquois Lighthouse

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