March 2020 - Lost In Michigan

The Michigan House on the Underground Railroad

Posted on March 31, 2020 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Historic Places, Houses .

Cars zoom past this old brick two-story house on M-60 but I wonder how many people know the story of its past. The home is west of the town of Vandalia in southwestern Michigan. In the mid-1840s James E. Bonine and his wife built this house and by 1853 they were one of the largest landowners in Cass County. As members of Young’s Prairie Anti-Slavery Friends and staunch abolitionists, they helped many runaway slaves that were searching for freedom on the Underground Railroad. They hid many slaves in their carriage house across the street. The home is currently owned by the Underground Railroad Society of Cass County.

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The Castle and Free E-books

Posted on March 30, 2020 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in castles .

This French Norman chateau-style castle stands along the riverbank of the Shiawassee River in Owosso. It was built by James Oliver Curwood one of the country’s best selling authors at the turn of the century. The early 1900s, not Y2K. He wrote several books with many of them based on life in the remote northern wilderness. His final book was inspired by the sawmill town of Damon near West Branch. ( you can see my post about it HERE) His books have been out of print for years and because they are old enough, they are no longer protected by copyright laws and in the public domain. You can download them and several other books for free from the Gutenburg Project at Gutenberg.org.

James Oliver Curwood books can be downloaded HERE and you can find the most popular downloaded books HERE They are available in pdf and epub along with many other popular file formats.

If you are looking for something to read with the library and book stores closed this is an option. Most of the books are older books but many are popular are literary classics. It’s interesting looking at the list, I think almost all of them have been made into movies. probably because the studios did not have to pay the author for use of their work.

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An Idlewild Mystery Solved

Posted on March 29, 2020 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Forgotten Places .

A while ago I posted about a big old forgotten building I saw in the secluded town of Idlewild HERE Someone posted in the comments that it was the old Casa Blanca Hotel. I did a little digging around on the internets and found an old photo of the hotel.

Judging from the cars I am guessing this pic was from the late 40s or early 50s. It is so strange to look at this photo and see the building without the enormous tall pine trees. It looks like they had planted some small pine trees for landscaping and over three-quarters of a century those little trees grew up.

Idlewild was a thriving resort community for African Americans with places like the Flamingo Club which you can read about in my post HERE

If you like this story I am sure you will love my Lost In Michigan books. They help me with expenses and are available on my website HERE

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Historic Dam Photo

Posted on March 28, 2020 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Dam .

If you have followed me for a while on my journey around the Mitten State you know the I love taking dam photos. I had to stop and get a pic of the Croton Dam east of Newaygo. It’s listed on the National Register of Historic Places and has a Michigan Historical marker nearby that reads:

The Grand Rapids – Muskegon Power Company (a predecessor to today’s Consumers Energy Company) built the Croton Hydroelectric Plant in 1906 – 1907. The plant and its 110,000-volt transmission line (the highest voltage in use at that time) attracted international attention. Curious spectators rode excursion trains to the site, where they received a tour of the dam and powerhouse, as well as a grand dinner. When the plant went into full service in September 1907 it represented the latest advances in electric power generation and transmission. Engineers from Russia, England, France, Italy, Japan, and India came to tour the plant when it opened. The facility is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

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Ruins of the Abandoned Ironworks

Posted on March 27, 2020 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Forgotten Places .

These deteriorating brick walls not far from Lake Michigan are slowly crumbling, but a reminder of Michigan’s past. They are the ruins of the Frankfort Iron Works built in 1870 that smelted iron ore mined from the Escanaba region in the Upper Peninsula. They are named the Frankfort Ironworks but they are actually in Elberta on the other side of Betsie Lake across from downtown Frankfort. The workers used surrounding hardwood to fuel the furnaces, but over time they had to travel further and further into the Michigan wilderness to source the firewood. By 1883 they stopped production because of the limitations of fuel for the furnace. The railroad purchased the old ironworks and converted the grounds for use as a place to load railcars onto ferries. They also converted the buildings into shops and a roundhouse for maintaining locomotives. The marine terminal remained in operation until 1982. The grounds are now part of Elberta’s Waterfront Park.

The ruins are fenced off so you can’t walk inside them, probably because of falling bricks, but you can get rather close to the remains to view them. I have been to Frankfort many times, but I never went around to the other side of the lake, and did not know this place existed. If you are up that way you need to take a short trip over to the park.

P.S. If my website is running a little slow it is because I turned on my online store to sell books. Amazon has slowed down the production of books for things that are more important which I fully understand in the challenging times. If you want to order a book you can get them from my website and you will receive them much sooner. You can order them HERE

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Maybee the best Little Town In Michigan

Posted on March 26, 2020 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in small towns .

In southeastern Michigan is the small town of Maybee located somewhere between Milan and Monroe. With a name like Maybe I hade to drive through it on one of my road trips. I looked up the history hoping there was a funny story to the town’s name but it was named after Abram Maybe who settled the area in the mid-1800s

As the sign reads on the road heading into town “MAYBEE the best little town in Michigan” It seems like a nice little town to me so I am not going to argue with them.

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The Silent School In Boyne City

Posted on March 25, 2020 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Schools .

I love hanging out in downtown Boyne City. It has some wonderful bars and restaurants and nice gift shops to explore. A few blocks north of Downtown I saw this old building which I am safe to assume was a school. It is strange how there are no windows in the front other than the one in the center. I figure that must be where the chalkboards were hung. It reminds me of the Lincoln School in McMillan HERE. I am not sure what is happening with the old building now but it looks as if it has been a long time since school kids learned to read and write within its walls.

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The Secret Michigan Location Revealed

Posted on March 24, 2020 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Giveaways .

Time to reveal the answer to the clues of the secret location and announce the winner of the book giveaway from my post HERE

Above the hand and below the brown river is a place where smoke once rose. It is where the boys worked in the land of the great Indian chief. They guarded the enemy along the road that goes on forever.

Most people figured out Above the hand is in reference to the Upper Peninsula.

The Brown River is the Tahquamenon River the color of the water is a brown rootbeer color because of the tannins from the cedar swamps

Where the smoke once rose is for an old stone chimney

Where the boys worked is for the CCC camps during the depression.

The land of the Indian Chief is for Hiawatha National Forest.

They guarded the enemy because it was a POW camp in WWII

The road that goes on forever is for M-28 because if you have ever driven that road it seems like it goes on forever.

The answer to the riddle is Camp Raco, If you want to know more about it you can read my post HERE

If you want a book I am selling them on my website again. I was using amazon but they have slowed down shipping on books so I am selling the books that I have in stock for my presentations that were canceled. If you want to order one you can do it HERE I ship them media mail from Saginaw so if you live in Michigan you should receive them in a few days. For a list of local retailers that sell my books you can click HERE I hope you will support them and other local businesses when things change for the better.

I had about 15 people post the correct answer in the comments and chosen at random is Carl Cole, Please email me at mike@huronphoto.com with your shipping info and I will send out your book.

If you like this contest let me know in the comments and I will do more.

Be sure not to miss my next secret riddle and sign up for email notifications.

World Famous Eau Claire Michigan

Posted on March 23, 2020 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in small towns .

So I am hanging out at home flipping through the five hundred channels of nothing on TV. I get to ESPN2 and they were showing the World Championships of Cherry Pit Spitting. Living in Michigan I have spit a few cherry pits in my lifetime so I had to check it out. I figured it would be someplace like Traverse City but it was in the small southwestern town of Eau Claire.

Normally I would be scratching my head and looking up on google where Eau Claire is located, but I remembered taking a pic of this old building in downtown Eau Clair. I guess when sports are on hold, ESPN has to show something and I will say it was much better than the world championships of sign spinning and the hamburger eating competition. I can only imagine what they are gonna show next weekend.

If you are wondering the world record distance for cherry pit spitting is at 110 feet 4 inches.

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Michigan and the Loneliest Place In The World

Posted on March 22, 2020 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Lighthouses .

Hidden a few feet under the surface of the water in Lake Superior is Stannard Rock. It is about 24 miles offshore and somewhere between the Keweenaw Peninsula and Marquette. After the hulls of several ships were cut open by this submerged “can opener” a lighthouse was built in 1883 to warn ships of the dangers that lurked below.

In the lighthouse house service, it is known as a Stag Station since many remote lighthouse was manned by men who were not married. Because of its remote location, it was given the moniker of “The loneliest place on earth.”

The interesting thing about the human species is we can endure a lot of hardships, but it helps when we face challenges together. We have always been social creatures relying on one another for support and compassion and being isolated from one another one of the most difficult things we can do. I guess that is why solitary confinement is punishment for prisoners that don’t behave. Telling people to stay isolated from one another seems like a form of punishment but at least we have the internet and communications with each other. I could not imagine being stationed in a northern Michigan lighthouse without any form of communication and not knowing what is going on in the world until the supply ship comes once a month. That must have been a great day when they finally installed radios in the remote lighthouses.

Life would not be the same for me if I could not share my stories with you so thank you for taking the time to read them. It gives me great joy knowing people enjoy reading them.

P.S. I have not been to Stannard Rock Lighthouse on my quest to see all the lighthouses in Michigan. I hope to someday but for now, this is a pic from Wikipedia.

If you like this story I am sure you will love my Lost In Michigan books. They help me with expenses and are available on my website HERE

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