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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The town of Holly had two railroad lines and together they built this beautiful red and yellow brick depot. The Detroit and Milwaukee Railway and the Flint and Holly Railroad founded by Michigan Governor Henry Crapo carried passengers into Holly. Probably to the now famous Battle Ally, which you can read my post about it HERE. The two railroads built a wooden depot in 1864 which burned down in 1884. The current depot was constructed in 1886. It had two ticket windows, one for each railroad. The last passenger train left Holly and the brick depot in 1964.
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The Frankfort light was constructed in 1912 and stood on the end of a wooden pier. A concrete breakwater was constructed in the 1930s along with a two-story steel building. The light tower was placed on top of the two-story structure at the end of the breakwater. It has been stand vigilant ever since.
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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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I will pick a winner at random from the comments on Monday, April 1st and announce the name of the winner on a post that day on www.lostinmichigan.net
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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.