I was roaming the back roads and I saw this big old brick house in the town of Lyons near Ionia. Not to be confused with South Lyon near Brighton. I was completely amazed to see this house in a small town. I wish I had an interesting story about the house, but unfortunately, I don’t know anything about it.
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Near the town of Mayville is a unique looking octagon house with a cupola on the roof. The house was built in 1870 by William Randall. He was a Canadian born carpenter who traveled the United States working on construction projects. He retired and took up farming in Mayville and living in the house until his death in 1882. After he died The house and farm passed onto his son and his wife. Octagon houses were popular in the late 1800s because of Orson Fowler’s book A Home for All, which promoted the octagon form as a healthy place to live. This is one of a few octagon houses in Michigan that still stands today.
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I saw this old building in Quanicassee. I am not sure if it was a schoolhouse or not, it looks as if it had a sign above the door at one time. I don’t have a story to tell about this place I just thought it was interesting on one of my trips through the thumb. If you are wondering, according to Wikipedia the name Quanicassee is a Native American word meaning “lone tree”
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Ludington became the Mason county seat in 1873, when county offices were moved from the now-vanished village of Little Sauble. At that time Ludington was the county’s most prosperous settlement. Formerly called Pere Marquette, Ludington was platted in 1867 by Milwaukee lumberman James Ludington. The town served as a shipping center for West Michigan lumber. Erected in 1893-94, this is the fourth structure to serve as Mason County’s courthouse since the county was established in 1855. Grand Rapids architect Sidney J. Osgood designed the Richardsonian Romanesque structure, which was built of Jacobsville sandstone from Houghton County in the Upper Peninsula. The tower clock was built by Nels Johnson as one of his Century tower clocks and installed in 1907. The courthouse is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
I always marvel at the construction of these old brick buildings. I like to stop and get pics of them and I think they are a wonderful representation of a community. I wonder if the people who live near them take there beauty and impressive construction for granted.
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I was roaming around the city of Jackson and I came across this old firehouse. I like to have an interesting story to go with my pics, but I was not able to find any information about it on the internet other than it is closed. The ENGINE HOUSE No. 4 sign over the garage doors is the only thing I know about it. I can only imagine over the years many firefighters have gone on runs to save lives and property. It now stands empty and forgotten, I guess that is why I was compelled to stop and take a pic.
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Thank you so much for following Lost In Michigan and reading my posts. If you are not aware of it, I also do the Camp Michigan website which you can see HERE. I am giving away a copy of the Unofficial State Park Handbook to one of my lucky followers. It’s really easy to enter. Make sure you are a subscriber to email notifications, if not you can do that HERE. Then post in the comments at the bottom of this post where your favorite place is to visit Michigan in the summer
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Michigan has a lot of barns with silos but this one stands out among all of them in the Mitten state. It is hard to miss this red yellow and black silo with the New Era Potato Chips logo painted on it. It stands on East Grand River Rd. not far from the town of Portland.
New Era was founded in Detroit in the 1920s. They had four plants throughout the Midwest and was one of the dominant potato chips in the region. During the’70s, potato chips sales declined. The company was bought out by Frito Lay and closed in 1981. The barn and silo near Portland still remain as a reminder of the long-gone Detroit company.
P.S. I like how their slogan was “Scientifically Processed” I wonder how that would work out for them today, it sounds like the opposite of Organic.
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Michigan has a few lumbering and mining ghost towns scattered around the state. Near the old historic Quincy Mine north of Hancock, I saw these old forgotten houses. They are on US-41 in Franklin Township. I call them ghost houses because the area still has people living and working in it, but I assume these were old miners’ houses. The name of the town where these houses stand is or was Franklin Mine, named after the mine in the area. They look as if the historical society or someone is preserving them. They make me wonder about the people who lived in the Keweenaw and worked in the mines. It must have been a hard life back in the day.
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I am fascinated by the beauty and the history in the Keweenaw Peninsula and have more pics to post and stories to share. I hope you will subscribe to email notifications so you won’t miss any new posts.
On US-12 in the town of Somerset Center is McCourtie Park. The park has some wonderful concrete bridges that span a little creek which flows through the park. A Historical marker tells the stories of these bridges and the park:
Somerset Center native W. H. L. McCourtie (1872 – 1933) was introduced to the cement industry by W. F. Cowham of Jackson in 1897. McCourtie soon went to Dallas, Texas, where he made a fortune speculating in oil and established the Trinity Portland Cement Company. During the 1920s McCourtie returned to Somerset Center. In 1924 he acquired his family’s home and turned it into a community showplace. McCourtie sought to create a model town. He gave free white paint to any home owner that needed it. He also hosted the community’s annual homecoming celebration. Thousands of people came to “Aiden Lair” to witness stunt flyers and enjoy baseball, local musicians, dancing and unlimited refreshments. At the height of the Great Depression, McCourtie offered his estate as a place “Where Friends Meet Friends and Part More Friendly.”
The W. H. L. McCourtie Estate may contain the country’s largest collection of el trabeio rustico, the Mexican folk tradition of sculpting concrete to look like wood. Around 1930, most likely inspired by work he had seen in Texas, cement tycoon W. H. L. McCourtie hired itinerant Mexican artisans George Cardoso and Ralph Corona to construct seventeen bridges on his property. The artisans formed the bridges with steel rods and then hand sculpted wet concrete to resemble planed lumber, rough logs, thatch, and rope. Different species of trees can be identified. Two concrete trees that stand on the property continue to serve as chimneys for the underground rathskellar and garage. The McCourtie estate is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
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Flint and Pere Marquette Depot
The first twenty-five miles of track for the Port Huron & Northwestern Railroad opened from Port Huron to Croswell in 1879. Marlette residents lured the railroad by raising $15,000 toward construction of the tracks. The line extended from Saginaw Junction in St. Clair County to Marlette in January 1881, and Marlette and Mayville line opened in the fall. The Flint & Pere Marquette purchased the Port Huron & Northwestern in 1889. Flint contractor E.M. Stewart built this depot in 1890 with a double waiting room, an office and a baggage room. The Marlette Historical Society bought the building in 1999.
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