July 2019 - Lost In Michigan

Lost In Michigan Book Giveaway

Posted on July 31, 2019 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Giveaways .

Here is your chance to win a Lost In Michigan Volume 2 paperback book. It is full of interesting places and their stories. If you are looking for somewhere in the Mitten State to visit that are a little off the beaten path, then I am sure you will love this book. Follow the steps below to enter the contest.

If you want to purchase a book or see a preview they are available on my website HERE or at Amazon HERE

To enter the giveaway complete all three of these tasks

You have to be a subscriber to Lost In Michigan. If you have not subscribed to email notifications you can do it HERE.

Share this post on Facebook by clicking on the Facebook button at the top of this post where it says “Spread The Love” or by cutting and pasting the URL to your Facebook profile.

Comment on this post down below on what your favorite beach in Michigan is. (Note that I use Facebook for comments If you are not able to comment be sure you have a facebook account and are logged in on the device you are using to post comments. )

I will choose a winner from the comments at random, and they will be announced in my post on August 8th. Good Luck and may the odds be in your favor.

P.S. Thank you all so much for taking the time to read my posts and especially to those of you that got a book or two from me. Your support really means a lot to me since it’s my book sales that help me with expenses to do this website.

I hope you subscribe to email updates so you won’t miss any new posts or giveaways,

Finlandia’s Old Main

Posted on July 30, 2019 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Schools, upper peninsula .

When thinking of colleges in the Upper Peninsula many people think of Michigan Tech in Houghton. Across the river is the city of Hancock and Finlandia University. It started out as Soumi College and this building was the first one on campus. The historical marker in front reads:

Suomi College was founded in 1896 by the Finnish Evangelical Church of America. The cornerstone of Old Main, the first building erected at Suomi College, was laid on May 30, 1898. Jacobsville sandstone, quarried at the Portage Entry of the Keweenaw waterway, was brought here by barge, cut and used to construct Old Main. Dedicated on January 21, 1900, It contained a dormitory, kitchen, laundry, classrooms, offices, library, chapel and lounge. The burgeoning college quickly outgrew this building, and in 1901 a frame structure, housing a gym, meeting hall and music center was erected on an adjacent lot. The frame building was demolished when Nikander Hall, named for Suomi’s founder, J. K. Nikander, was constructed in 1939. The hall was designed by the architectural firm of Saarinen and Swanson.

Lost In Michigan books are ON SALE this week, you can order your copy from my website HERE

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Copemish School

Posted on July 27, 2019 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Schools .

One of my readers told me there was an old school in Copemish I need to check out. I have traveled M-115 many times and noticed the “giant arrow” (you know what I mean if you have seen it.) but I have never gone thru downtown Copemish. I guess I a have always thought I have been to Copemish but actually M-115 passes next to it. I made sure to take a drive-thru town and I saw the light green school on the outskirts of town. It’s a rather large two-story building and much large than a little one-room schoolhouse. Standing beside the school is another building that I am assuming was the gymnasium since a small portion of the sign is left with a G and a Y and half of an M. I can only imagine the basketball games that were played there on a cold Michigan winters day. I wish I knew more about the school’s history, but I can only wonder as I look at it sitting abandoned.

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The Chief’s Dock

Posted on July 26, 2019 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in upper peninsula .

If you have ever been to St. Ignace you have probably seen the lighthouse at the end of the pier at Chief Wawatam Park. The park was named after the SS Chief Wawatam which was named after an Ojibwa chief of the 1700s; he was said to have rescued trader Alexander Henry during the Ojibwa uprising at Michilimackinac in 1763.

The massive concrete blocks are what is left of the dock where the ferry would tie up and offload rail cars. Built in 1911, the ship was a special combination icebreaker and ferry designed specifically for the Straits. It’s entire life it traveled back and forth from St Ignace to Mackinaw City. It continued to operate after the Mackinac Bridge was built because it carried train cars. By 1984 the railroad ceased operating the ferry and sold it to a Canadian company that converted it into a barge.

I don’t remember the days of ferries transporting cars and trains across the straits but I do remember the tracks and railyard that used to be in Mackinaw City. They were removed to build the Mackinaw Crossings Mall. The old depot still remains and is now a restaurant. I wish I had taken a photo of the old rail yard to remember what was. I guess that is why I take so many photos of random forgotten places. I figure it is nice to remember what used to be, not that I want to go back but I think remembering the past is a good way to help guide decisions for the future.

P.S. The story of the lighthouse at the end of the dock can be found HERE

You can learn more about the Chief Wawatam ferry at their website HERE

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

Thank you for Subscribing to Lost In Michigan, If you have not subscribed yet, It would mean a lot to me if you did.

Delicious and Refreshing

Posted on July 22, 2019 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Ghost Murals .

The north branch of the Kalamazoo River flows through downtown Albion. This building hangs over the river and I marveled at the mural painted on the side. I like seeing the old advertising murals. It’s rare to see a new advertising mural, mostly it’s just billboards with their digital signs illuminating something you can’t read as you pass by at 70mph. Sometimes newer is not better.

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Zeba Mystery Church

Posted on July 21, 2019 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Churches, Forgotten Places, upper peninsula .

Not far from the town of L’anse is the small town of Zeba and close by is this little church. It stands along the shoreline of Lake Superior’s L’anse Bay Lake Superior. I am sure it was a church with the cross proudly mounted to the top of the steeple. Other than that I don’t know anything about it. I can only imagine it has seen some beautiful sunsets over the bay and some ferocious winter snowstorms all while holding services inside for funerals, weddings, and baptisms.

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Camp Sidnaw

Posted on July 18, 2019 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Forgotten Places, upper peninsula .

The small town of Sidnaw in the central-western Upper Peninsula was home to one of several POW camps throughout Michigan. The camp was originally built as a CCC camp and after the capture of thousands of German soldiers in Africa, they were sent to the United States to be held as POWs.

Because of the large number of American men serving in the war the lumber industry requested POW’s be used to help with the labor shortage. 251 Germans were held in Sidnaw from February of 1944 until April of 1946. The camp did not have a fence around it just a couple of guard towers to watch the prisoners. It was not much of an issue. Most prisoners were young men who were drafted into the Nazi Army and would rather work in the sawmills than be shot at by the allied troops. One issue that did have was with the conservation officers who complained about the guards using machine guns and hand grenades to hunt deer while they POWs were out logging. The U.S. government sent limited supplies to the camp and some fresh venison was a welcomed meal.

Nothing from the camp remains. The guard towers stood for a long time, but they are gone now. I saw this old shack next to the tracks in town, and I can only imagine this little building saw many trains pulling in and out of town with POWs and supplies.

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

Near Brimley is the remains of another former POW facility called Camp Raco, you can read my post about it HERE

If you want to know more about the POW camps in Michigan I highly recommend reading the book by Gregory D. Sumner titled Michigan POW Camps in World War II. It was compelling to read, I did not know so many POWs were sent to Michigan to work in the fields and forests. You can check out his book on Amazon HERE

Thank you for Subscribing to Lost In Michigan, If you have not subscribed yet, It would mean a lot to me if you did.

Downtown Montague

Posted on July 17, 2019 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in small towns .

Noah Ferry founded the city at the northwest end of White Lake across from the town of Whitehall. He named it in honor of his father, William Montague Ferry, who founded the cities of Grand Haven and Ferrysburg in neighboring Ottawa County. The town is also home to the worlds largest weathervane but that is a post for a different day.

P.S. I am still working on getting comments to work since I switched over to a new server. Thank you for your patience.

Thank you for Subscribing to Lost In Michigan, If you have not subscribed yet, It would mean a lot to me if you did.

How To Track The Tall Ships

Posted on July 15, 2019 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Ships and Boats .

Want to keep track of the tall ships locations while they sail around the Great Lakes? With the Tall Ships Celebration that is happening in Bay City this weekend July 18th to the 21st, they will be traveling from Lake Erie up the Detroit River, the St Clair River and around the Thumb. You can find their location on the lakes at this website HERE

After the port of Bay City, they travel to Green Bay so if you are anywhere along Lake Huron you may see them sailing to Wisconson, The ultimate thing would be seeing them sail under the Mackinac Bridge. If you are in the straits next week be sure to track their location and maybe you will get that chance.

P.S. if you want to keep track of freighters and other ships you can do that HERE

Thank you for Subscribing to Lost In Michigan, If you have not subscribed yet, It would mean a lot to me if you did.

The Painted Lady in Ludington

Posted on July 15, 2019 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Houses .

Driving into Ludington I passed several beautiful old houses. This Victorian painted lady really caught my eye. Built in 1889, by Dr. Frank and Fanny Allen Latimer the house is now a bed and breakfast known as The Inn at Luddington.

Lost In Michigan books are ON SALE this weekend on Amazon HERE

Thank you for Subscribing to Lost In Michigan, If you have not subscribed yet, It would mean a lot to me if you did.