February 2020 - Page 2 of 3 - Lost In Michigan

On My Way Through Onaway

Posted on February 17, 2020 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Forgotten Places .

I was traveling through beautiful downtown Onaway when I saw this strange looking building with the double-decker wrap around porch. I can only assume it was a motel or something back in the day but I am not sure. It looks as if it is not being used since the snow around it is undisturbed. I had to stop and get a pic of it. If you know anything about its history leave a comment below.

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The Love Shack

Posted on February 14, 2020 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Forgotten Places, Houses .

I came across this cute little building somewhere west of Alba. I am not sure what it was (or is) but I am calling it the love shack. I figured today is the perfect day for me to post this pic.

This is the part where I am supposed to write something profound and deep but that is not my thing so I guess I will leave you with a quote.

“Count your age by friends, not years. Count your life by smiles, not tears.” John Lennon

I hope my little emails bring some smiles to your life and I feel truly blessed that I have so many friends that read them.

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Going to Hollywood

Posted on February 13, 2020 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Forgotten Places, Ghost towns .

When I say the name Hollywood most people think of the giant sign on the side of the mountain in California. But did you know there was a town called Hollywood in Michigan? The town was a few miles south of St Joeseph and given a post office in 1888. I could not find out how the name was chosen or it’s origins but the post office closed in 1902. I saw this old house not far from where the town once was. I am not sure if it was standing in the time that Hollywood was in existence in Michigan. I think everything from the town is gone. Today a school and some newer houses are in the area where the town once stood.

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A Shipwreck and Free Gas

Posted on February 12, 2020 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Ships and Boats .

While doing research for Lost In Michigan I come across some strange and interesting stories. I stumbled upon the strange shipwreck and salvage of the J. Oswald Boyd. The 255 foot long steamer was transporting almost a million gallons of gasoline around the Great Lakes. During a winter storm in November of 1936, the steamer with tanks full of gasoline ran aground on Simmons Reif in Lake Michigan between Beaver Island and the Upper Peninsula. The captain was hoping a tug would pull the ship off the reef but after noticing the rainbow-like sheen of gasoline on the surface of the lake he ordered the crew to abandon the ship for fear of an explosion. The Coast Guard took the crew to Mackinaw City while a salvage tug tried to rescue the ship and it’s cargo. The tugs draft was too deep to get close to the J. Oswald Boyd.

I few enterprising fishermen used their boats to siphon off a few barrels of gas but it made little difference to the enormous supply still on the ship. It was Everett Cole who owned the Beaver Island Transit Company that made an effort to salvage the gas, free for the taking, as it remained stranded in Lake Michigan. He and a small crew made a few trips from Beaver Island to transport the gasoline by the barrel. By late December the ice was starting to form in the Upper Great Lakes and he used the iron-hulled ferry the Marold II to break through the ice and make another trip. His brother and three other men help with the operation when suddenly the Marold II exploded and burst into flames killing all five men.

After the fire had burned out the Marold II was in large pieces scattered around and on the J Oswald Boyd. The Boyd still had gasoline in its tanks, and now frozen in the thick winter ice, locals began driving out to the ships in their cars to get the free gas for themselves. Movie footage of this strange scene can be found on Youtube HERE

It seems kind of funny to see everyone scrambling for free gas, but I have a feeling if a ship full of gasoline was left frozen in the ice people would still do the same thing today.

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Big Red School

Posted on February 11, 2020 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Schools .

I have driven past this old building on M-25 east of Bay City several times. It looks like an old school but I have never been able to find any information about it. It looks to be a lot larger than just one room but it looks as if it has closed many years ago. I think it is used as a farmers market now. Anyways, I thought it was an interesting old brick building and looked beautiful in the white snow and blue skies.

If you live near Bay City, Lost In Michigan books are available at Coyer Candle Co. in downtown and Midland. You can visit their website for more HERE.

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Lost in Holloway

Posted on February 10, 2020 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Ghost towns .

I was traveling down the backroads from Dundee to Adrian when I came across this old building. It looks like it was a store, saloon, hotel or something. It was on Holloway road so I can only assume it is or was the town of Holloway. The town sprang up along the railroad tracks that were laid down in 1881. The town was originally named Butler after Butler Holloway who sold the lots in 1881 for the first homes in the town. Since there was already a town named Butler in Michigan the town was named Holloway and given a post office. The post office closed in 1962. Some houses and this old building along with memories are what make up the little town of Holloway in Southeast Michigan.

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An Old House and a Pine Tree

Posted on February 9, 2020 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Forgotten Places, Houses .

I saw this old house on the backroads somewhere near Alba. I imagine the pine tree in front of it was just a little sapling when the home was constructed. The house and its family watched the little sapling grow over the years. Now the house is empty and the towering old pine tree kindly watches over the lonely dilapidated home.

Thank you for taking the time to read my posts and I hope it brings a little joy to your day. It is a lot of fun for me exploring Michigan, and sharing my posts makes it even more enjoyable. If you know anyone that would like my website, I hope you will share it with them.

I hope you have a wonderful week ahead.

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The Five Channels Dam

Posted on February 8, 2020 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Dam .

The lower peninsula does not have many waterfalls compared to the U.P. If you are near the Ausable River, not far from lumberman’s monument, is the Five Channels Dam. If the gate is open water comes gushing out like a spectacular waterfall. With all the rain we have been getting and high water levels I imagine the gate is open frequently.

A historical marker stands near the dam and reads:

Consumers Power Company (now Consumers Energy) built Five Channels Dam in 1911 and 1912. It was the second of six hydroelectric plants to be built on the lower Au Sable River by the Foote brothers of Jackson (founders of Consumers Power). During construction, the company sought to provide a healthy environment for workers and their families by building a forty-five-acre camp complete with a central water supply and sewage system, icehouse, school, washroom, store, and boardinghouse. Workers received land on which to build a house. Housing ranged from log or clapboard to tarpaper shacks and tents. Camp buildings were moved to the next site (Loud Dam) or razed as the plant neared completion in late 1912

Flowing water has long provided power to mines and mills. With advances in electricity in the 1880s, waterpower was soon used to generate electricity. The first public demonstration of hydroelectric power in the country occurred on July 24, 1880, when sixteen carbon arc street lamps lit up Grand Rapids using a belt driven dynamo (generator) powered by a water turbine at the Wolverine Chair Factory. Michigan’s extensive water resources were harnessed to power electric generating equipment, first at existing dams and mills and later at sites built expressly for hydroelectric generation. The electricity from these plants provided power for homes and businesses and helped fuel Michigan’s growth as one of the nation’s premier industrial states.

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The D. H. Day Farm

Posted on February 7, 2020 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Barns and Farms, Winter Wonderland .

If you have ever been to the dune climb in the Sleeping Bear Dunes than you have seen the D.H. Day farm. It was also known as “Oswegatchi” after the New York community where his father was born and the Oswegatchi River where D. H. Day played as a boy. David Henry Day built this farm in the 1880s and its unique looking barn is one of the most photographed barns in Michigan.

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The Hoax and the Hack House

Posted on February 6, 2020 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Houses, people .

Just outside of the southern Michigan town of Milan is a beautiful pale green farmhouse. It is a little more ornate and larger than your average farmhouse. The house was built by Olive Friend on land purchased from her uncle Henry Hack. Olive, who was a native of Milan, built the home for her family with the money from her husband’s business. Henry Friend and Olive created and owned the Electric Sugar Refining Company in New York. It was founded in 1884 and used a unique way of refining raw sugar using electricity.

Henry Friend claimed his secret machine and process could refine sugar for ten percent of the cost of the current method. Investors would go into a room in an old flour mill with a barrel of raw sugar. They were asked to leave so Mr. Friend could process the sugar in secret because he did not want his process to be revealed for competitors to copy. The investors came back into the room and the barrel of raw sugar had been turned into pure refined sugar.

For a short time, investors clamored to purchase stock in the new company and its prices and value soared. In 1888, tragedy struck the company when Henry Friend suddenly died. As experts in sugar refining began questioning the process they became suspicious as to how the process worked. Olive moved back to Milan to live in the house she had built and had promised to reveal the process used for the right price.

Investigators had discovered the whole process and the company was a hoax. The old flour mill in New York was altered with trap doors and a secret room above. When investors stepped out of the room Henry Friend, his wife Olive and some of her relatives helped execute the scheme. The raw sugar was dumped down a hole in the floor and pure refined sugar they purchased elsewhere was poured into the barrel from the secret room above. It gave investors the appearance that he successfully refined the sugar.

Olive and some of her family were arrested in Milan and were extradited and transported to New York to face charges. Olive’s stepfather was convicted and sentenced to 9 months of hard labor in Sing Sing prison. Olive and her mother pled guilty and were sentenced with time served and returned to Milan to live in the house she had built. Olive now a widow remarried and sold the house back to her Uncle Henry Hack.

Today the old farmhouse is known as the Hack House and is a historical museum.

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