December 2019 - Page 2 of 3 - Lost In Michigan

The Hidden Tibbits Opera House

Posted on December 17, 2019 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Iconic Buildings .

It is hard to believe that such a magnificent and beautiful building would be changed and covered up. The historic Tibbits Opera House is the second oldest theater in Michigan. It was built in Coldwater because the town is located halfway between Detroit and Chicago it was a popular resting point for many travelers. In the 1930s it was converted into a movie theater and the second empire architecture was covered up and hidden underneath with a modern-looking facade.

The Tibbits Opera House converted into a movie theater in the 1930s from Wikipedia

By the 1960s the building was just an ordinary-looking brick building with some arched windows. it is hard to believe the once beautiful and ornate building was stripped of its grandeur and left standing as a plain-looking brick box in downtown Coldwater.

The Opera House as it looked in the 1960s from Wikipedia

With the old opera house slated to be demolished for urban renewal, a band of Coldwater citizens formed the Tibbits Opera Foundation and Arts Council in 1963. Over the decades they slowly began restoring the old building starting with the interior first. At the turn of the millennium the exterior was renovated and by 2011 the facade was brought back to its second empire design and looks the way it did when it was first constructed.

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Michigan Ghost Town of Porter

Posted on December 16, 2019 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Ghost towns .

Almost nothing remains of the town of Porter except for a few houses and an old service station. Michigan has or had a couple of towns named Porter and this one is along the Pine River between Midland and St. Louis. It was given a post office in 1869 and then it closed a few decades later in 1907. If you travel along West Pine River Road you may see the old gas station that people have told me was name Polly’s Place and hopefully you will remember the little town of Porter.

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Book Giveaway

Posted on December 14, 2019 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Giveaways .

Time for a giveaway to my subscribers. Here is your chance to win a Camp Michigan Unofficial State Park Handbook and Journal. You have to be an email subscriber to win so if you have not subscribed to Lost In Michigan, you can do it HERE or down below

If you want to order a book or just learn more about them you can see them on Amazon HERE If you like to camp or RV in Michigan be sure to check out my Camp Michigan website HERE

To enter the giveaway leave a comment on this post below and I will choose a winner at random from the comments. I will announce the winner in a post on Tuesday, November 17th. Thank you to all of you for taking the time to read my posts. I do my best to keep them interesting and random and hope you look forward to getting my daily email.

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Chesaning’s Stewart House

Posted on December 13, 2019 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Houses, Uncategorized .

Leamington and Madeline Stewart built this Queen Anne house in 1895 – 1897. The design was based on Design No. 53 in George F. Barber’s The Cottage Souvenir No. 2, a pattern book published in 1891. Barber advertised the house’s cost at $5,250. Pattern books were popular in the late 1800s as a way to obtain contemporary house plans at bargain prices. An Ontario native, Stewart practiced medicine in Chesaning until his death in 1933.

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Ypsilanti’s Firehouse

Posted on December 11, 2019 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Fire Houses .

Not far from Depot Town in Ypsilanti is one of Michigan’s oldest firehouses. It was built in 1892 and used by the city fire department until 1975. It is currently the home of the Michigan Firehouse Museum.

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What is That Brick Structure in Port Hope?

Posted on December 10, 2019 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Forgotten Places, Thumb .

From a distance, this tall structure in Port Hope looks like lighthouse since it is so close to Lake Huron near the tip of the Thumb. After you get up close to it you realize it is something different. Thankfully there is a historical marker next to it that tells you what it is and its significance. Maybe I am one of the few people that bother to read the signs but I appreciate them. In this day and age of google sometimes a plain old sign still works extremely well and reads:

This chimney was built in 1858 by John Geitz. It is all that remains of the lumber mill established that year by William R. Stafford. Port Hope grew up around the mill. For a score of years, this town was the center of lumbering in the Thumb. It also became an important producer of salt. In 1871 and again in 1881 the mill, the docks, and possessions of hundreds of people were destroyed by fire. This chimney is a monument to those pioneers who by their courage and industry developed this area.

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The Ghost Town of a Ghost Town

Posted on December 9, 2019 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Ghost towns, small towns .

Believe it or not this small town in southern Michigan got its unique look from the invention of Kitty Litter. In the 1940s people used sand for their litter boxes and one day Ed Lowes neighbor asked him for some sand for her litter box. He gave her some dried up clay granules instead for her to try. She was amazed at how well it worked and that was the inspiration that created Ed’s multi-million dollar business Kitty Litter and Tidy Cat.

In the 70s Lowe had the idea of converting downtown Jones into a wild west looking ghost town for a tourist attraction. It seems like an odd location located between Cassopolis and Three Rivers. I am assuming he thought it would flourish with Swiss Valley Ski Resort being only a few miles away. Sadly the town did not attract the business Lowe was hoping for and slowly the buildings faded away. The town of Jones has several residents and is not a true “ghost town” but the buildings along Main Street still have the remnants of the former tourist attraction facades

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Last Chance to get your Lost In Michigan Calendar

Posted on December 8, 2019 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in calendars .

This is your last chance to get a Lost In Michigan wall calendar. I have 5 left and once they are gone they are gone and you will have to wait a year to get one because it is too late in the year for me to have more printed.

I only have about 20 Lighthouse calendars left and those will be gone soon too. If you want to order a wall calendar or a book be sure to do it soon from my website by CLICKING HERE

Thank you to everyone who got a book or calendar from me this year. It really means a lot to me and helps me with expenses to do this website.

God’s Little Acre Chapel

Posted on December 8, 2019 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Churches .

Michigan has some large historic stone churches with steeples that seem to reach endlessly into the sky. This is not one of those churches but it has enormous country charm. According to the sign posted out front this is the God’s Little Acre Wayside Chapel. I had to stop and get a pic of this cute little church outside of the mid-Michigan town of Blanchard.

Just to let you know I have about 5 Lost In Michigan calendars left and I am getting low on my lighthouse calendar. If you want one you need to order them soon before it’s too late. you can order them from my website HERE

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The High Place in Da U.P.

Posted on December 7, 2019 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Iconic Buildings, upper peninsula .

I was traveling through Ishpeming and I saw the red stone and brick building that is the town’s city hall. I had to stop and get a photo of it. Ishpeming is the Chippewa name for “High Place” and it was given that name in 1862 when the post office opened.

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