January 2020 - Page 2 of 3 - Lost In Michigan

La Rue House

Posted on January 20, 2020 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Houses .

I saw this old house in Elberta on the world famous M-22 Scenic Byway. I don’t know much about the house other than the sign out front declares it is the La Raue house build tin 1882 and designed by architect George F. Barber.

Since I don’t have a story to go along with the house now is a perfect time to announce the winner of the calendar giveaway. Congratulations to Kevin Witkowski, he is the winner of the Lost In Michigan wall calendar giveaway, please email me at Mike@huronphoto.com with your address and I will send out your calendar.

Thank you, everyone, for all the nice comments and suggestions of places to see and visit. I feel truly blessed to have so many kind and supportive people who read my posts every day.

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 Red Barns of Leelanau

If you have ever made the trip out to see the Grand Traverse Lighthouse at the tip of the Leelanau Peninsula you probably have seen these bright red barns. They stand along the road between the lighthouse and Northport. I have always wondered about the big barn with all the doors along the side. I am no expert on agriculture and farming and have never been able to figure out what all the doors are for.

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 Historic Courthouse in Monroe

Posted on January 17, 2020 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in courthouses .

I have been slowly visiting all the historic courthouses in Michigan as I travel around the state. I made a recent trip to Monroe which is the second oldest county in Michigan, second only to Wayne county. I love their old courthouse that was built in 1880, It was almost lost to a fire set by an arsonist back in 1992. Unfortunately, that person was never apprehended and brought to justice but the courthouse was repaired and is still standing today.

If you live in or near Monroe the Book Nook in downtown Monroe started selling Lost In Michigan books. You can find more about them on their website by clicking HERE

P.S. I have lots of photos and stories to post from the Monroe and Adrian area in the next few months that I am sure you will enjoy reading.

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 Delano Mansion

Posted on January 16, 2020 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Houses .

I saw this old victorian house in Allegan. The sign out front reads that it is The Delano Mansion Inn. Other than that I was not able to find any history on this spectacular looking house. I thought it was worth stopping for a photo.

I guess this gives me some extra time to just say thank you for taking the time from your busy day to stop and look at my posts. I hope you enjoy seeing them. I do my best to keep them random and interesting. It is a little challenging to get some nice pics during the winter with little snow but I still like to get out and see what I can find.

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 Mystery of the Newberry Tablet

Posted on January 15, 2020 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Uncategorized .

I am not sure if it is a hoax or real, but it is an interesting story. Way back in 1896 two lumberjacks were hired to clear some land for a farmer near the Upper Peninsula town of Newberry. They happen to stumble upon two small clay figures and a tablet. The 19 x 26 inch tablet had 140 characters carved into a grid pattern. No one knew what to make of them so photos were sent to the Smithsonian and University Of Michigan. The experts at the time could not recognize the writing and they deemed the tablet as a hoax. Some modern experts believe the text is similar to Minoan writing. The Minoans lived from about 3000 BC to about 1100 BC on the Greek island of Crete.

The tablets remained somewhat of a local curiosity. Eventually, they ended up at a St. Ignace tourist destination called Fort Algonquin. ( you can see my post about the fort HERE) The fort was built by Vaughan Norton in the 1920s to look like an old fort from Michigan’s fur trading days. Somehow Vaught acquired the mysterious tablet to display for the tourist.

Photo of the tablet sent to the Smithsonian

Eventually, the tablets and figures were purchased by Dr. Donald Benson. A doctor from Lansing who moved to St. Ignace. He loved to collect odd and historic artifacts and displayed them in the gift shop he owned. After his death, the artifacts went on display at the Fort De Buade Museum in downtown St. Ignace. The tablets, or more like what is left of them because they have been reduced to a couple of crumbling pieces with none of the writing remaining, is on display with the worn-down figures.

One theory is they have to be a hoax because if they are supposed to be hundreds or even thousands of years old, from the time of the Minoans, how did they survive for so long only to be eroded away in a short amount of time after they were discovered. Like I wrote at the beginning of the post, I am not sure it is real or a hoax, but it is an interesting story.

Lost In Michigan books are ON SALE this weekend at Amazon to learn more click 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.

Lost In Michigan Calendar Giveaway

Posted on January 14, 2020 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Giveaways .

Here is your chance to win a Lost In Michigan wall calendar. I sold out of them in the middle of December but I saved a few just in case any got lost in the mail or something. I figured I would give away a calendar to one lucky subscriber chosen at random. 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

I am out of calendars but Lost In Michigan books are available on Amazon and the first volume is ON SALE HERE ( please note: I have turned off the e-commerce part of my website. with the traffic I have been getting lately it was overloading my web hosting. For now I am using Amazon to sell my books online.)

I have been working on getting my books in book stores. It has been a slow process but I am working on it. Currently, books are available at these stores. Click on the links to go to their websites and learn more about them.

Charlin’s Book Nook in Frankenmuth

Coyer Candle Co. in Midland and Bay City

Rooted in Mancelona

The Windowsill Book Store in Ludington

Annie’s Book Store in Manistee

Book Nook in Monroe

To enter the giveaway leave a comment on this post below, preferably someplace you would like me to do a post about, but It can be any comment to enter. I will choose a winner at random from the comments. I will announce the winner in a post on Monday, Jan. 20th. 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.

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 Michigan Legend of Indian Dave

Posted on January 11, 2020 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Uncategorized .

If you travel along M-25 near Unionville you will pass by an old Historical Marker standing in front of the Wisner Township Cemetery. It tells the story of a remarkable and enigmatic man known as Indian Dave.

It is unclear exactly when and where he was born but he was given the name Ishdonquit or, Crossing Cloud. He claimed to be the son of Chief Nipmup of the Chippewa tribe but he was considered an outcast by the tribe. He is officially recorded as David Stocker but most people in the area called him Indian Dave.

He witnesses the beginning of Michigan and was at the signing by the tribal chiefs for the Treaty of Saginaw. He lived off the land in the Tuscola County area making baskets, arrows and carving wooden toys for children. He would travel into the different towns around the thumb selling his trinkets and telling stories of days gone by to the local children.

Indian Daves’s most notable contribution to Tuscola County came when he transported the county records by canoe to the new courthouse in Caro. At the beginning of the county’s history, Vassar was the county seat. It was decided to move the county seat in 1866 to Caro which was more centrally located in the county. Local businessman Peter D. Bush donated the land for the courthouse. Vasser was not willing to transfer the county records to the new county seat. As legend has it, Mr. Bush and Indian Dave snuck into the Vassar building holding the records. After retrieving the records they went by canoe down the Cass River and promptly secured the records in the new courthouse in Caro.

He was believed to be 106 when he died and is buried in an unmarked grave in the Wisner Township Cemetery. The historical marker stands as a reminder of the man who was an important part of the Thumbs history so long ago.

Lost In Michigan books are ON SALE this weekend at Amazon to learn more click 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 Ruins in the Upper Peninsula

Posted on January 10, 2020 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Forgotten Places, upper peninsula .

Along the shoreline of Lake Superior are a tall smokestack and concrete ruins. It is near the town of Freda west of Houghton in the Keweenaw Peninsula. The maze of weathered concrete and rusty rebar is what remains of the Champion Mill that processed the copper-rich rocks. Trains would pull into the mill and dump their cars filled with copper infused rocks. The mill would pulverize the rocks and mix them with water from lake superior creating a sludge rich in copper. It was then taken by train to Houghton for further processing and then poured into ingots and shipped around the world.

Close-up view of the ruins

The mill closed in 1967 and it was stripped of any metal for scrap. I made the trip to see the ruins, but the road stops at a cliff that overlooks the remains. A barbed-wire fence restricts people from getting to close. It was interesting to see and hard to capture the immense size in a photo. Unfortunately, access to visitors is not allowed. I also stopped to see the waterfalls and old train bridge in nearby Redridge. You can find the post by clicking HERE

Lost In Michigan books are ON SALE on Amazon HERE

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The Old Farmhouse

Posted on January 9, 2020 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Houses .

I saw this old farmhouse somewhere near Ionia. I don’t have any history or story to go with it. I saw it by the road as I was driving by so I had to stop and take a photo. If walls could talk I am sure they could tell a great story but unfortunately, they don’t. Sometimes I have to let the photo and your imagination create the story for me.

Thank you for following and I hope you are having a warm and safe winter.

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 Ghost Town of North Unity

Posted on January 8, 2020 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Ghost towns .

In the 1850s, With the lack of work in Chicago, some Bohemian ( present-day Czech Republic) and German immigrants left the city and sailed Lake Michigan looking for paradise. They landed in Good Harbor in the Leelanau Peninsula. After trekking about 10 miles inland they found a beautiful piece of land to establish a new community they called North Unity. With the spread of Typhoid throughout Chicago, their family and friends left in October to start a new town in Northern Michigan. With winter coming they decided to build a large 150-foot long barrack. It was divided up inside with walls to house each family until they could build houses and establish farms in the spring.

The first winter was extremely challenging for the group. They had brought little supplies with them, and because of the winter, they were not able to grow food to feed their families. The local ponds and lakes were frozen over and they could not fish either. They purchased some corn from the local Indians and managed to keep off starving to death in time for the spring thaw.

In the spring they built permanent houses and farms and over the next few years, the little community began to prosper. Other people began moving to the little town in the Leelanau Peninsula. Eventually, a schoolhouse and a gristmill were constructed and John Shalda built a general store. Sadly in 1871 forest fires swept through Michigan and with it destroyed most of the buildings and houses of North Unity.

The people of the devastated community moved further inland to the area near the corner of M-22 and Bohemian Road. (County Road 669) They started a new community and built new houses and other buildings including a church. John Shalda built a new general store and a log cabin. Not far away a new school was constructed. Most of the buildings are gone and nothing remains of the original site of North Unity. The log cabin John Shalda constructed and the old log schoolhouse can still be seen today along M-22.

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.

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