January 2021 - Lost In Michigan

Michigan’s Urban Legend of Hell’s Bridge

Posted on January 23, 2021 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Haunted Places .

Northwest of Rockford this rickety old metal footbridge crosses the Rogue River and has been dubbed as Hell’s Bridge. Urban legend has it that this is the spot where a man killed several children you can hear their screams at night and see their faces in the water of the flowing river. I have read different variations of the legend on the internets but As the story goes, In the 1800s, a man by the name of Elias Friskie who lived near the river either kidnapped children or was asked to watch a group of children. He took them down to the river where the current metal bridge crosses it. they say he was summoned by a demon to murder the innocent children. Either he buried their bodies under leaves near the river, or threw them into the river to be carried downstream. When the townspeople of Rockford began looking for the children they found Elias Friskie covered in blood and hanged him from a bridge over the Rogue River.

That is the gist of the urban legend. I am not sure how true it is or if any of it is true. I looked for Elias Friskie on www.findagrave.com but I did not see him listed on there or anywhere else. I am thinking he was a fictional person and a story created to scare the local teenagers and it has grown over time and especially on the internet. I think the name of Elias Friske was taken from Friskie Road which is where the trail to access the bride state from.

I stopped by and visited the legendary bridge, but did not see or witness anything out of the ordinary other than the graffiti on the tree. From what I could tell it looks as if it is a spot where you could launch a canoe or kayak. There is a small parking lot with a bulletin board, although nothing was posted on it. It looked like it was meant for public access, but there are houses around so I did not wander off the trail because I assume the surrounding property is private. I am guessing years ago the local teenagers hung out and partied at the remote spot on the river and that is how the legend of Hell’s Bridge began.

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An Old Farmhouse

Posted on January 22, 2021 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Houses, Thumb .

This old lonely forgotten house is near Watrousville in the Thumb. During these cold Michigan winter nights, I imagine there was a large family living in it that kept warm by the heat of the fireplace. I know people who heat their house with wood, and they do a lot of cutting and splitting. Myself being a lazy city boy, I just go over and turn up the thermostat, and burn some more gas. I was told when you heat with wood, ” it keeps you twice as warm, once while you are splitting and stacking it, and then again while you burn it”. This old house looks like it used a lot of wood to keep warm. I hope you are safe and warm wherever you are at.

Note: I only take pics from the road and do not trespass.

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Six Lakes Depot

Posted on January 21, 2021 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Train Depots .

This little old wooden depot served the town of Six Lakes. It is located between Alma and Newaygo at the junction of M-46 and M-66. It is named for (you guessed it) the six lakes that are nearby. It looks as if it has been a while since any trains have stopped at this old depot. The sign on it declares it is now a museum.

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McGulpin Point Light, A Spectacular View of the Bridge

Posted on January 20, 2021 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Lighthouses .

The McGulpin Point Light, a true lighthouse with a light tower and attached lighthouse keeper’s living quarters, was completed by the United States Lighthouse Board in 1869 at a cost of $20,000. The living quarters were built as a vernacular 11⁄2-story brick structure. The lighthouse operated during the Great Lakes navigation seasons from 1869 until 1906.

The design was so successful that the Lighthouse Board chose to use this 1868 design in the construction of Eagle Harbor Light in 1871; White River Light in 1875; and Sand Island Light in 1881. It is a “mirror image of the design” used at Chambers Island Light and Eagle Bluff light. The design is sometimes called “Norman Gothic” style

James Davenport was the only lighthouse keeper at this light, and served for 27 years. Correspondence files in the National Archives in Washington show that Davenport made weekly trips through the snow to the lighthouse to report on its condition to the District Inspector in Milwaukee. Perhaps more importantly, these letters also show that he may have played a critical role in the opening of navigation every spring by reporting weekly, and sometimes even more frequently, on ice conditions in the Straits. Because Davenport was the only Straits keeper to submit such frequent reports, it would appear that the Inspector used these reports to gain an understanding as to when navigation would be open throughout the lakes.

In 1906, the McGulpin Point Light was deactivated and privatized due to the Lighthouse Board’s judgment that the nearby Old Mackinac Point Light was performing an adequate job of marking the Straits of Mackinac.[9] At some point after deactivation, the lighthouse tower’s lantern room was removed, and the building passed into private ownership. The building then entered service as a private residence

In 2005 the Lighthouse was put up for sale and Emmet County purchased it, now the light is open for tours. It’s a couple of miles west of Mackinaw City, I have been to the top of the tower, and I will say, it has a spectacular view of the straights and the bridge.

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Barry County Courthouse

Posted on January 19, 2021 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in courthouses .

The Barry County courthouse stands in Hastings and was constructed between 1892 and 1894. After a devastating fire swept through the town of Hastings it was decided that a brick courthouse would be less susceptible to fire and would not burn as easily as the previous courthouse even though it was spared by the fire.

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Wolverine House

Posted on January 18, 2021 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Forgotten Places, Houses .

I saw this old house somewhere near Wolverine. I don’t know its story or any history on it but it looked lonely sitting in the snow.

Since I don’t have a story for this house I want to take the time to thank all of you for reading my posts. I especially want to thank those of you that have subscribed to email notifications. It is a tumultuous time but if you have been reading my posts for a while you know I have been posting my normal posts and have been avoiding discussing current events. I plan to continue down this path and hope that you enjoy seeing your daily email. It’s not that I don’t care or have an opinion about what is happening in the world right now, I just figure it’s best to do what I have always done and try to keep a sense of normalcy.

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The Church On The Other Side Of The River

Posted on January 17, 2021 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Churches .

I was in Lansing recently and I decided to take the long way home and drive through some towns I have never visited. I went through the beautiful town of Portland and I saw this old wooden church on the other side of the river from downtown. I had to stop and take a photo of it. It did not have a name and it seemed out of place like it was moved to that location. I have not had time to contact anyone in Portland about but I did find an old photo. I think it is the church but it must have lost the pointy part of its steeple sometime throughout its life.

Of course whatever someone had written at the bottom of the print was cut off. I think it was the Baptist church built in 1877. The beautiful little church stands separated from downtown, patiently waiting for someone to notice it.

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The Milwaukee and the Acacia

Posted on January 16, 2021 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Ships and Boats .

When you are driving along US-31 through Manistee it is hard to miss the SS City of Milwaukee and the USCGC Acacia. Both ships have been decommissioned and tied up on Lake Manistee and are serving out their retirement as museum ships.

The SS City of Milwaukee was built in 1930 for the railroad is a ferry for transporting railroad cars across Lake Michigan. She was retired in 1980. The Acacia was built for the Coast Guard during WWII and served as a buoy tender on the Great Lakes until she was retired in 2006.

The past few times I have been in Manistee it is has been in the off-season. Hopefully, I can stop by sometime in the summer and take a tour.

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The Office

Posted on January 15, 2021 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Iconic Buildings .

North of downtown Flint near the Flint River is this two-story brick building. It is not ornately decorated with victorian ara trim, nor is it extremely large but it is an important starting point for one of America’s largest companies. It was constructed in 1895 to be used as an office and showroom for the Durant-Dort Carriage Company. In 1915 the company became the Dort Motor Car Company manufacturing four different models of cars until production ended in 1924. It was Dort’s partner William Durant that went on to consolidate several automobile manufacturers into General Motors.

Over time the building went through a few different ownerships and configurations. It even had a third story floor and flat roof added to it. In the 80s, the Genesee County Historical Society restored the building to its original construction. In 2013 GM purchased the building and designated it a General Motors heritage site.

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The Concrete Depot

Posted on January 14, 2021 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Train Depots .

The Millersberg train depot looks a little different than other depots in Michigan. While most are made using lumber or bricks this one is made with concrete blocks. The town of Millersberg not far from Onaway suffered from three major fires. In 1908 the Metz fire swept through the town. In 1911 a fire in the summer burned over 30 homes and destroyed half of downtown. In 1929, a fire destroyed seven buildings and three homes in downtown.

The original depot built in 1898 burned down in 1914. This concrete depot was constructed in 1917 and has stood for more then a decade. The railroad abandoned it in the 1980 but it now used by the historical society.

P.S. The old railroad bed is now used by snowmobilers, cyclists, and hikers. If you are in the area and need a bathroom, they have a nice one next to the depot.

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