July 2020 - Lost In Michigan

Pike Lake Mini Mall

Posted on July 31, 2020 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Forgotten Places, upper peninsula .

I was traveling from the Two Hearted River over to Crisp Point Lighthouse along the roads in the Upper Peninsula. When I say roads I mean rough seasonal dirt roads that are used as snowmobile trails for half of the year. I had been traveling quite a bit and I looked at my gas gauge in the Jeep and it was half full or half empty depending on your disposition. I was thinking after miles of dusty roads and trees that this would be a bad place to run out of gas. It was a few minutes later that I thought I saw a Mobil sign sticking out of the trees. I rounded the bend and there it was. The Pike Lake Mini Mall. I did not need any gas but an ice cream sounded good. Unfortunately, the mini mall was closed and it looks as if it had been a while since it served its last customer.

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The Company Store of Johannesburg

Posted on July 30, 2020 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Forgotten Places .

About 15 miles east of Gaylord on M32 is the town of Johannesburg. I saw this old building painted white and had to stop and take a pic of it. I thought it looked like an old general store or something. later that day I was in the grocery store in Gaylord and they had some old photographs hanging on the walls. I saw a photo of a building with two arches over the windows then it hit me. That’s the building in Johannesburg I saw earlier.

In the late 1800s, the town was built by Johannesburg Manufacturing Co who operated a sawmill in the area. The town and the company were named after Johanna Hanson the wife of one of the founders of the company. The town was given a post office in 1901 with Thorwald W. Hanson as the first postmaster. The company built this store which still stands today. It must have worked out well for the company, they paid their workers and then got their money back when they bought what they needed at the store. I would assume they also lived in company owned houses too. I know the mining companies would pay with company money only good in the company store. I am not sure if that was done in the sawmills or not, but it must have been difficult to leave town as Tennesee Ernie Ford sang “I owe my soul to the company store”

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The House Down The Road

Posted on July 29, 2020 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Barns and Farms, Forgotten Places .

In my half-century of living in Saginaw, I have traveled to Bay City countless times. I can’t even tell you how many times I have passed by this old farmhouse and never even noticed it. I probably missed it because there was a large gas station that stood in front of it. Now that it has been torn down I saw this magnificent looking old wooden farmhouse standing back off the road. I am still surprised I never noticed it before. I guess when you travel somewhere frequently you stop paying attention to what is around you.

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The Old Benton Schoolhouse

Posted on July 28, 2020 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Schools .

Somewhere south of Cheboygan I came across this old boarded-up building. I thought it looked like a schoolhouse so I stopped and took a pic. When I zoomed into the pic I can read BENTON 1918 on a stone in the front above the entrance.

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Historic Fort Wayne

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

Fort Wayne sits near Detroit along the Detroit River and was built to defend and invasion by Canada. The invasion never happened but the fort served the military for a long time. The building in the photo was the enlisted men’s barracks. I believe that is where they stayed before and after being sworn into service in the United States Military. It was built in the 1890s and I can only imagine how many men stayed in the old barracks going to war from the first World War all the way to Vietnam.

Some say the old fort is haunted, you can see my post about that HERE

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Three Oaks Depot

Posted on July 26, 2020 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Train Depots .

The southwestern Michigan town of Three Oaks was named after, you guessed it, three oak trees that stood nearby when the area was settled in 1850. This adorable little brick depot was constructed in 1898. It was used by the railroad until 1959. The little depot sat empty for years before it was restored in 1980. It is now used for retail and community space.

I did not get to spend a lot of time in Three Oaks when I passed through last year. It seemed like a charming little town. I guess I will have to take a trip back down there sometime soon.

P.S. Yesterday I had some wire crossed or something on my website and the link did not work correctly on yesterday’s notification post. I got it fixed so if you missed my post about the Sky Pilot of the Great Lakes you can see it HERE

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Sky Pilot of the Great Lakes

Posted on July 25, 2020 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in people .

A few miles north of the Upper Peninsula town of Hessel is the Rockview Cemetery. Reverend William Hainstock Law is laid to rest in the small township graveyard. In 1852 Law was born in Canada and in his late 20s he traveled to the Upper Peninsula to minister to the Lumberjacks. He settled in the town of Hessel and sailed to the many islands in the Les Cheneaux Islands. During a storm, he was rescued by the U.S. Lifesaving Service and stayed with them for a few days until the storm subsided. He got to know the men and the families living there and vowed he would support them through ministry. He collected books for the keepers along with toys and crafts for their children. Many were isolated from civilization and had little contact with the outside world. The reverend brought much joy and comfort to many keepers and their families. He also worked tirelessly to help pass legislation giving the men pensions after their retirement.

“Sky Pilot” is slang that sailors used for a chaplain. He continued his dedication to the families of the Life Saving Service until his death in 1928. His great-grandson, John Kotzian, wrote a book about Rev. Law titled Sky Pilot of the Great Lakes. It is a well-writen book about both Rev. Law and the hardships early keepers and life saving stations had on the Great Lakes. I think it is out of print but you may still find copies of it at your local book store, library or used copies on Amazon HERE

Although Rev. Law died many years ago, I like to connect with the people and places I write about by visiting their home towns and/or graves. I knew he was laid to rest with some of his relatives in Rockview Cemetery. It is not a large cemetery so I figured I would not have too much trouble finding his grave. I looked all around at the headstones in the cut grass and I could not find it. I noticed in the middle of the cemetery a section of waist-high weeds and bushes and a few headstones hidden in the green foliage. I tromped through the weeds and pulled them back to find a stone with the word LAW chiseled into it. I am not sure why this section was not maintained like the rest of the cemetery, but it seemed sad that someone who did so much for the men who braved the Great Lakes storms has been forgotten.

P.S. If you got a notification for this post earlier but it did not work I had a hiccup with my website. Sorry for the inconvenience. Hopefully, everything is working now.

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Elk Rapids’ Island House

Posted on July 24, 2020 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Historic Places, Library .

Michigan has some spectacular and impressive library buildings throughout the state. This library in Elk Rapids is rather unique being in a historic house on an island. Known as the Island House, it was built in 1865 by local businessman Edwin S. Noble. He converted a four-acre sand bar into an island by covering it with clay and dirt and planted over sixty different species of trees on it. After building a bridge to the island he lived in the house with his family. Noble died in 1922 and in 1949 the house became a public library.

It reminds me of a quote by Lemony Snicket “A library is like an island in the middle of a vast sea of ignorance, particularly if the library is very tall and the surrounding area has been flooded.”

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The Old Mill in Hart

Posted on July 23, 2020 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Mills .

This old mill sits near downtown Hart near Silver Lake. The building is part of a complex of buildings that make up Hart’s Historic District. Next time you are over on the west side of the state near Pentwater and Ludington be sure to take a trip through the historic district. You can learn more at their website HERE

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The Quincy Mine Ruins

Posted on July 22, 2020 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in upper peninsula .

Just outside of Hancock in the Keweenaw Peninsula is the old Quincy Mine. It’s not hard to miss the massive lift tower that can be seen from Houghton. These old coble stone ruins sit on the property along with a few other decaying buildings. One of these days I am gonna take the tour and see more of it. The few time I have been in the area it was out of season and they did not have tours available and I was short on time. I wish the western side of the U.P. was not so far away from my hometown.

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