I saw this old schoolhouse south of Standish. according to Google Maps it shows the town of Worth nearby so maybe this was the school for the town in its heyday. It looks like someone is in the process of fixing it up. It’s just another old country schoolhouse that I have found but don’t know anything about it.
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This beautiful brick church stands among other historic buildings in the West Michigan town of Hart. The Sackrider Church was built in 1897 in Elbridge Township. In 1988 it faced the wrecking ball so a group of citizens had moved it to its current location in Hart. Since then several other buildings have been moved to the historic district.
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This Victorian-era house in Coldwater is amazing. It was built by attorney Frank Skeels in 1886 and the woodwork on the outside is unbelievable. I can only imagine what it would cost to build a house like that today.
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I was roaming around the town of Michigamme in the Upper Peninsula and I saw a sign for the Dompierre House. It is an old log cabin that sits on the Michigamme Historical Society property. I walked up to the house and took a few pics then looked in the upper left window and my heart literally skipped a beat. I thought I saw a ghost but then realized it was a mannequin standing in front of the window. The historical society was closed when I was there so when I got back home I looked up some info on the old house and I am thinking it is probably haunted after what I had learned.
The original builder of the house was the Michigamme Mining Company and was one of the first structures in town. It has two entry doors because it was most likely a duplex when it was built. In 1896, Napoleon Beauvais purchased the home from the Mining Company. He and his wife, Julia Cadair Beauvias, moved in. Unfortunately, in 1903, Beauvais’ son from his first marriage attacked Julia and then killed himself. Julia was able to summon help before she died herself. The home remained vacant until 1916 when Eusebe Dompierre purchased the home for his daughter and her family for $200 which would be about $4560 today. The home remained in the Dompierre family until it was moved to its present location and restored in 2000.
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Along Rattle Run Road is an old cemetery. It is all that remains of the town of Rattle Run. The town was named after the Rattle Run river that runs nearby. The creek was given the name because on a quiet night the water running over the pebbles made a rattling sound. The town is gone but the memory of one of Michigan’s most infamous murders still remains. You can read about it in my post HERE
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This impressive-looking courthouse with its clock tower stands in the northern Lower Peninsula town of Onaway. It was constructed in 1908 by Meritt Chandler and donated to the county in the hopes to take the county seat away from Rogers City. Merritt Chandler was born in 1843 near Adrian, Michigan. He made a fortune in lumbering and building roads. In 1886 he platted the village of Onaway. By 1903, Onaway had a population of 3000, making it the largest settlement in Presque Isle County. He was unable to have the county seat moved to his new courthouse so in 1911 a drive started to create a new county for Onaway, to be called “Forest County.” The proposal failed, but as a compromise, county court sessions were alternated between Rogers City and Onaway until the 1940s when it remained in Rogers City.
In the late 1990s, restoration efforts began, and over $1 million was spent to improve the heating and electrical system, replace the roof and windows, refinish the interior, and install a clock in the clocktower. As of 2009, the building houses the Onaway Branch of the Presque Isle District Library, the Onaway Historical Museum, the Chamber of Commerce, and offices of the City of Onaway.
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Near Grand Rapids is the town of Ada. Rix Robinson built a trading post near present-day Ada in 1821 and made the first land purchase in 1833. A post office was established in 1837. Both the township and village settlement were named for Ada Smith, the daughter of the first postmaster. A Michigan historical marker proudly describes the history of the one of a kind bridge wooden bridge in Ada and it reads: An act of the legislature in 1867 authorized Ada Township to borrow up to $3000 for the purpose of building or repairing bridges in the township. This bridge was built about that time, apparently by William Holmes. The design for the trusses was patented by Josiah Brown in 1857. A timber bearing his name was uncovered during repair work. The bridge has been threatened by floods a number of times. It is said that farmers used to drive wagons loaded with stone onto the bridge during high water to hold it to the foundation. The bridge was closed to automobile traffic in 1930 and restored by the Kent County Road Commission in 1941.
If you are ever in the area be sure to stop by and walk across the bridge. It is like walking back in time.
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I know I am sometimes lost in Michigan but I am not that lost to be in Moscow Russia. The town of Moscow Michigan can be found along historic US-12. The first settlers came to the area in 1831 and it was Alonzo Kies who came to the area from Moscow, New York, and gave the town its Russian name. The old railroad depot is now used as a township hall but a historical marker gives some info and reads:
A grand celebration and a baseball game greeted the Michigan and Ohio Railroad when its track reached Moscow on September 4, 1883. This Stick Style station, completed the following month, was “quite an ornament to the place,” according to the Hillsdale Standard. The two-room depot serviced mail, freight, and passengers for the two freight and two passenger trains passing through Moscow each day on the Michigan and Ohio’s Allegan – Toledo line. In 1887 the Cincinnati, Jackson and Mackinaw Railroad purchased the Michigan and Ohio and its depots. Successive railroad companies maintained the depot until around 1930 when the New York Central closed the line. In 1933 the building became the Moscow Township Hall.
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Potawatomi Falls are located along the Black River and drop about 30 feet. There is an overlook along the Black River Scenic Byway where you can see this beautiful waterfall named for a local Native American tribe. It is hard to capture its size and beauty in a photograph but if you are in the western Upper Peninsula it is worth a trip to check out these waterfalls and the scenic byway.
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If you make a trip around Lake Charlevoix, which I highly recommend you do, you will travel through the small town of Horton Bay, Besides a nice little historic general store it has this white town hall. In front of it stands a Michigan historical marker that reads:
Named for pioneer settler Samuel Horton, this village was founded as a lumbering community in 1876, complete with sawmill, shanty boys’ boarding house, company store, blacksmith shop and draft horses. The store and many early buildings still stand. After the timber was gone, three fine restaurants opened: Dilworth’s, The Waffle Shop and The Red Fox Inn. Young Ernest Hemingway frequently came here to fish and camp on “The Point.” This area is the setting for several of his famous “Nick Adams” short stories. Hemingway was married here in 1921. Thank you for Subscribing to Lost In Michigan, If you have not subscribed yet, It would mean a lot to me if you did.