April 2020 - Page 2 of 3 - Lost In Michigan

School of Hard Knocks

Posted on April 14, 2020 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Schools .

I saw this old building somewhere near Evart. I can only assume it was a school at one time. I imagine the students have learned a lot about life in the hard time they witnessed. Students are not in school right now, including my daughter who is a senior in high school, but it does not mean they are not learning anything. Some of the most important lessons we learn in life are the experiences we go through. Unfortunately, some of life’s lessons are really difficult and I would much rather learn from a book then have to live through them if given a choice.

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Little Sable Point Lighthouse

Posted on April 13, 2020 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Lighthouses .

The Silver Lake Sand Dunes are mostly known as a playground for ORVs and dune buggies. In the southern end of Silver Lake State Park stands the historic Little Sable Point Lighthouse. After the April 1871 beaching of the schooner Pride. To aid in navigation around the hazard, the United States Congress approved funding in 1872 for the erection of a lighthouse. The location’s inaccessibility by road delayed the completion of the lighthouse until 1874. A house was constructed to board the keeper, his assistant, and their families. The tower was painted white in 1899 to make it more visible to ships during the day and was restored to its original brick in the 1970s. The lamp was electrified and automated in 1954. After automation, a keeper was no longer needed and the house and ancillary buildings were razed.

P.S. The word Sable is used to name a lot of places in Michigan. In French it means sand. With all the sand along Lake Michigan, Little Sable Point is a logical name And Big Sable Point is in Ludington State Park.

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Michigan’s Cross Near the Lake

Posted on April 12, 2020 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Churches .

French Missionary Priest Father Jacques Marquette came to the Great Lakes in 1668 and started a mission that became the town of Sault Ste. Marie. In the Lower Peninsula, he erected a cross on a bluff overlooking Lake Michigan. The Native Americans referred to the area as “The Land Of The Cross” and it became what is now Cross Village. A white cross still stands there today overlooking Lake Michigan.

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Alger Falls

Posted on April 11, 2020 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in upper peninsula, Waterfalls .

South of Munising near the intersection of M-28 and M-94 is Alger Falls. It sits a little ways off the road and most people driving past probably never even see it. Alger Falls is not the most impressive waterfall in the area, but if you are visiting nearby Wagner Falls, it is a quick stop to see Alger Falls and check it off your list of waterfalls you have visited. I kind of feel like that yellowish-green evergreen tree is photobombing the waterfall but as Bob Ross would say ” It’s a happy little tree”

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Michigan’s Unique Old Stone Barn

Posted on April 10, 2020 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Barns and Farms .

Michigan has several old historic barns and a few of them are constructed with stone. This old barn northwest of Manchester has to be one of Michigan’s most unique barns. It was constructed in 1853 by Michael Porter. He came to the area in 1834 and served as the district supervisor for a few years. The house he constructed burned down but this unique cobblestone barn constructed with hand-split fieldstone and trimmed with brick still stands as a reminder to the pioneers that came before us.

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The Incredible Story of Michigan’s First Woman Entrepreneur

Posted on April 9, 2020 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in people .

You may have walked past the stately Harbour View Inn on Mackinac Island but you probably don’t know the incredible story of the woman who originally built it as her home. Long before Michigan became a state and was known as the Northwest Territory fur trading was the primary means of business in the region. Marguerite-Magdelaine Marcot was born in February 1781 at Fort St. Joseph, near present-day Niles, Michigan. She was the daughter of a French man by the name of Jean Baptiste Marcot and her mother was Marie Nekesh and Odawa Indian. Her father was killed two years after she was born and she was raised by the Odawa tribe of which her grandfather was the chief.

Marguerite became immersed in the Native American culture and fluent in the Odawa, French, English, and Ojibwe languages. In 1795 she married Joseph La Framboise and they worked together in the fur trade in western Michigan. They built a trading post near Fallasburg Michigan and would travel back and forth from Mackinac Island trading with the Native Americans. Marguerite worked alongside her husband and her ability to communicate with the Indians allowed their business to prosper.

Tragically, Joseph La Framboise was murdered in 1806, and Madeline La Framboise took over their fur trade. She continued to manage several trading posts, and expanded her business throughout the western and northern portions of Michigan’s lower peninsula. Known to many as Madamme La Framboise she was the region’s most successful fur trader. At the age of 40 in 1820, she sold her business to another fur trader Rix Robinson. He was another early pioneer and the first settler in Kent County. He went on to become a Senator.

After Selling her business she retired to Mackinac Island building her home on Huron Street. She donated the land next to her house for St. Anne Catholic Church with the stipulation she would be buried underneath it. After she died in 1846 she was laid to rest under the altar. Her Home, which still stands next to the church, is now the Harbour View Inn.

P.S. There is a lot more to her story but much more than I want to do in a post. I guess it will have to write more in one of my books.

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The Second Secret Location Revealed

Posted on April 7, 2020 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Uncategorized .

As promised it is time to reveal the location from the clues given in my post HERE. Before I get to the answer, a quick shameless plug that I have books available to order on my website HERE

On the hand of a mob boss and where the trees fall is a place where hikers now roam. Down the road from the frozen cows, it once was a place that girls visited with cookies. Before that, it was built by a man from the midwest that packs in the union.

On the hand of a mob boss is a reference to a pinky ring which is the general location

where the trees fall is for the name Timbers

hikers now roam because it is open to the public for hiking

Down the road from the frozen cows because it is a couple of miles down the road from Moomers Ice Cream

girls visited with cookies Because at one time it was a girl scout camp

man from the midwest that packs in the union is a reference to J. Ogden Armour because he was a meatpacker at the union stockyards

so the answer is the Timbers Recreation Area. You can see my post and a pic of the amazing barn the Armour’s built for their estate HERE

Yeah I know some of the clues were a little vague and meant to throw people off but a few people guessed the correct answer. I am still surprised at how quickly some of you figured it out. I guess if you know the place I am referring to it is not that hard to figure out. I guess I will have to make the next one even more difficult. Maybe someplace few people have visited or know about. Maybe even someplace I have not posted about yet.

Congratulations to Ron Sweetman he was the winner chosen at random from the correct answers, please email me mike@huronphoto.com with your address and I will send out your book.

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The Purple Gang’s Ghost

Posted on April 6, 2020 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Haunted Places, Murders .

The Doherty Hotel in downtown Clare opened in 1924. The historic hotel has entered guests for almost a century, but one infamous day in 1938 has tied the hotel to the notorious Purple Gang. The gang was based out of Detroit but always looking for ways to expand their income. With the booming automobile business and the need for oil, some members of the Purples came to the Mt. Pleasant and Clare region to capitalize on the black gold that lay trapped deep in the ground.

Oil investor Carl “Jack” Livingston had a disagreement with his business partner and attorney Isaiah Leebove who was a Purple Gang associate. Convinced Leebove was going to have the Purple Gang kill him, Livingston shot and killed Leebove in the taproom at the Doherty Hotel. Some claim his spirit has never left and haunts the room today. I am not sure if the haunting is true, but I do know the Purple Gang had many connections to Michigan and the stores still linger today.

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

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The Magnificent Church in Ypsilanti

Posted on April 5, 2020 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Churches .

While traveling around the state I see several beautiful old churches and this one in Ypsilanti stood out to me. The twin steeples stand proudly over the city on the First Presbyterian Church. The historical marker on the front reads:

Originally built in 1857 with a single, central spire, the First Presbyterian Church was greatly enlarged and rededicated in 1899. Detroit architect Julius Hess redesigned the church, using the original sanctuary walls, and added a columned entrance portal and twin towers. The cupola-topped towers are reminiscent of English Baroque churches, yet the interior and overall design reflect Renaissance architecture. The rose window was made by Tiffany & Co. of New York.

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The Bishop’s House

Posted on April 5, 2020 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Houses, upper peninsula .

Michigan has several large ornate historic houses. This house in Marquette is neither large or ornate but it is historic. The historical marker that stands next to it reads.

Frederic Baraga was a lawyer, an artist and a Roman Catholic priest who came to the U.S. from present-day Slovenia in 1830. Baraga (1797-1868) served Native Americans in the Great Lakes region and wrote A Dictionary of the Otchipwe Language (Chippawa or Ojibwa), published in 1853. Named vicar apostle of the Sault that year, he became bishop of Sault Ste. Marie in 1857, and transferred the See of the diocese to Marquette in 1866. Baraga lived in a part of this house that was later moved from behind the cathedral and attached to an existing house on this site. He continued working with native people and helped them connect annuity from the U.S. government. Baraga died in this house on January 19, 1868, and was interred in the crypt of St. Peter Cathedral in Marquette.

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