March 2021 - Page 2 of 3 - Lost In Michigan

Zeba and the Old Wooden Church

Posted on March 21, 2021 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Churches, upper peninsula .

Northeast of L’Anse in the Upper Peninsula is the small town of Zeba. I am not sure if it is correct but I read that the word “zeba” is Native American for “little river” In the town of Zeba, or more like what is left of the town of Zeba, is an old wooden church. The historical marker in front of it tells some of its history and reads:

Early Methodist missionaries came to Kewawenon from Sault Sainte Marie by canoe, often a two-week trip. Among then was John Sunday, a Chippewa, who arrived in 1832 to educate and Christianize his fellow Indians. John Clark came two years later and erected a school and mission house. By 1845 this mission consisted of a farm and a church with fifty-eight Indian and four white members. A second church, erected in 1850, was dedicated by John H. Pitezel, who served here from 1844 to 1847.
photo of Zeba Indian United Methodist Church

Indians from far and near came here to attend the annual camp meetings which began in 1880. The present frame church, known now as the Zeba Indian Mission Church, was erected in 1888. Completely covered with hand-made wooden shingles, this structure has changed little since its construction. The Methodist minister of L’Anse serves the congregation. The Zeba Indian United Methodist Church, the successor of the 1932 Kewawenon mission is an area landmark.

I passed by the old church on my way to the Ford ghost town of Pequaming which you can read about in Volume 3 of the Lost In Michigan books available HERE

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The Fire Barn

Posted on March 20, 2021 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Fire Houses .

The old Milan Fire Barn was built in 1897 and served as a fire station until 1979. The building housed the fire department and some of the city’s fire vehicles, including a 1938 Ford Fire Truck that Henry Ford traded to the city for an earlier Ford fire truck. Over time it also housed the police department, a jail (which consisted of a single jail cell), and the city library was housed upstairs.

In 1979 the fire department moved to a new station on Wabash street and the old fire barn was abandoned. In 1983 the city donated the fire barn to the Milan Area Historical Society which restored the building in 2002 with money generated by fundraisers.

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Sidnaw’s Main Street

Posted on March 19, 2021 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in small towns, upper peninsula .

The small town of Sidnaw is located in the western part of the Upper Peninsula. There is not much on Main Street but a few houses and what looks like a building that was a general store at one time. M-28 runs nearby and that is probably why most of the structures on Main Street are gone. Sidnaw is probably most famous for having a World War II POW camp. you can read my post about it HERE. The word “sidnaw” is Native American for small hill by a creek and that is supposedly where the town got its name from.

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Woodland Park

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

This historic building with the belfry on its roof sits along Woodland Lake in the Manistee National Forest. The old building was was part of Woodland park and a Michigan historical marker next to it tells the story of this old resort community.

During the 1920s, investors Wilber Lemon, A.E. Wright, Marion and Ella Auther, and others purchased land at Brookings, a former logging community. Here they platted Woodland Park as a summer resort for African Americans. These investors were also involved in developing the nearby resort Idlewild. Woodland Park, known for its quiet, residential atmosphere, had a clubhouse for property owners and lodging establishments, including the Royal Breeze Hotel. The Authers built the hotel around the original Brookings Lumber Company mill. Federal Civil Rights legislation passed during the 1960s gave African Americans equal access to public accommodations. This access allowed people to vacation where they pleased and lessened the need for resorts like Woodland Park.

Lost In Michigan books are ON SALE this weekend on Amazon HERE

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St. Patrick’s Church

Posted on March 17, 2021 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Churches, Thumb .

St. Patrick’s Church in Clifford began in 1879 with visits from Father Clement Krebs, pastor at St. Agatha Church in Gagetown. It later became a mission of St. Elizabeth in Reese, Sacred Heart in Brown City, and most recently SS. Peter and Paul in North Branch. In 1884 the Diocese of Detroit acquired property here and built this simple Gothic-inspired church. The stained-glass windows admit light into the sanctuary and honor the parish’s Irish founders. Father Krebs presided over the first wedding in the partially completed church in August 1886. St. Patrick’s originally served the communities of Marlette, North Branch, Mayville, Kingston, Silverwood and Wilmot. Among the pastors who served the parish was the Father Charles Coughlin, who ministered here in 1924-25 and later gained notoriety as “the Radio Priest” in Royal Oak.

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Coopersville Interurban Depot

Posted on March 16, 2021 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Train Depots .

This depot and substation in downtown Coopersville served the Grand Rapids, Grand Haven & Muskegon Railway, an electric interurban railroad that operated from 1902 to 1928. The train was powered by electricity and a third rail provided power in the country. Overhead wires were used in cities and the tower next to the depot housed the power equipment and supported the overhead wires that came out of the top of the tower. Frequent runs made travel possible between cities and outlying communities. The rising popularity of automobiles resulted in the decline of interurbans. The depot is now used as a historical museum.

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The New Presque Isle Lighthouse

Posted on March 15, 2021 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Lighthouses .

This is the “new” Presque Isle Lighthouse, even though it was built in 1870, because the old Lightouse on the other side of Presque Isle was built and 1840. Built by Orlando M. Poe, it is one of three Great Lakes towers built from the same plans. The conical brick tower rises 113 feet from a limestone foundation and one of the tallest on the great lakes. The Third Order Fresnel lens was made by Henri LePaute of Paris. Patrick Garrity, the keeper of the harbor light, lit the lamp for the first time for the opening of the 1871 navigation season. Garrity served here until 1885 when he became keeper of the Harbor Range Lights. His wife, Mary, sons Thomas, Patrick, and John, and daughter Anna all served as light keepers and his son Thomas became the head light keeper in 1891 and remained so until 1935.

Elmer C Baynes was transferred from Point Iroquois Lighthouse to take over as head light keeper in 1935. His Children decided they could use a little extra money, and without their father knowing it, they would hang out in the parking lot and would tell visitors the lighthouse was closed, but for a little money, they would let them climb the tower. Once their father found out about the money making scheme, he grounded his kids for a week. Accepting gratuities for tours was strictly forbidden, and Keeper Byrnes was afraid he could lose his job.

The Lighthouse Tower is the tallest tower accessible to the public, and if you want to visit it, you can find more info at the museum website HERE

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Sharon School

Posted on March 14, 2021 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Schools .

I saw this little brick schoolhouse north of Manchester. The stone over the front door reads SHARON DISTRICT #1 1890. It looks as if someone is taking good care of this old school. It has new windows and a new roof. I could not pass up stopping to take a pic.

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313 Day

Posted on March 13, 2021 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Detroit .

March 13th is a popular day with Detroiters because 313 is the area code for Detroit. According to the show How The States Got Their Shapes the larger cities in the United States got low number area codes. Detroit is 313, New York City is 212, and Washington DC is 202 and so on. It is because low digit numbers are easier to dial on a rotary phone. It is a long way around to dial the number 9. With touchtone phones, it is not that important to have low-numbered digits. I will say I don’t miss the days of rotary phones and long-distance calling fees. Other dates for area codes in Michigan are 517 and 906. I used to be in 517 but my area got changed to 989. Maybe someday there will be 89 days in September and we can have an unofficial day to celebrate.

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Big Rock Nuke Plant

Posted on March 12, 2021 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Forgotten Places .

I did a post about the forgotten town of Big Rock between Gaylord and Alpena. Some people commented that they thought I was posting about the Big Rock Point nuclear plant near Charlevoix. I did not think about it until one day I stopped at a scenic roadside park on US-31 that overlooks Lake Michigan. It was there that I saw a marker for the Big Rock Nuclear power plant. It reads:

Consumers Power Company (later Consumers Energy) opened the Big Rock Point Nuclear Power Plant just west of here in 1962. It was the world’s first high-power density boiling water reactor, and the fifth commercial nuclear power plant in the U.S. The plant began as a research and development facility, with the first goal being to prove that nuclear power was economical. In addition to generating electricity, the reactor produced cobalt 60 that was used to treat an estimated 400,000 cancer patients. In 1991 the American Nuclear Society named the plant a Nuclear Historic Landmark. When it closed in 1997, Big Rock was the longest running nuclear plant in the U.S. Consumers Energy later restored the site to a natural area.

The interesting thing that I found out, that the marker does not describe, Is the issue found with the safety system when the plant was dismantled. During the decommissioning process, it was discovered that a backup safety system at the plant had been inoperable for at least the previous 14 years. In the event of a control rod failure, the system would have drained a boron solution into the core halting the nuclear chain reaction. However, during decommissioning when technicians attempted to drain the tank they were unable to do so due to a corroded pipe. If something would have gone wrong at the plant the system used to contain it may have not worked.

The plant is gone now and the road leading to where it once stood is gated off. The Michigan historical marker is about all that remains of the plant but I wonder how many people read it.

P.S. If you are in the area it is a nice little roadside park and rest area and a good place to look for stones along the shorline.

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