The Champion Mining Company was created in 1899. This headframe was constructed in 1902 near Painesdale at the base of the Keweenaw Peninsula. The mine closed in 1967. The old mine is not far from M-26 and the Bill Nicholls Trail passes by the remnants of the old mine buildings. It is still private property but you can see a lot of it from the road and trail.
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This row of officers housing sits in Fort Wayne near Detroit along the Detroit River. The fort was built to defend an invasion by Canada in the early years of the county. The invasion never happened, but the fort served the military for a long time.
I have a story about the historic fort in volume 4 of my Lost In Michigan book series available HERE
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Traveling down M-25 from Bay City into the Thumb you pass through the town of Unionville. The sign welcoming travelers proudly says “Gateway To The Thumb” The town was founded in 1854 when Horace C. Marvin built the first home in the area. He also built and operated a general store and was the town’s first postmaster. He named the town Unionville after his native town of Union Ohio.
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The old coal tower and railroad station in New Buffalo was a busy place decades ago. It was the largest train yard in Southwest Michigan and many steam trains would stop to get fuel and water. The old station is now a railroad museum and I am thinking it has been a long time since trains stopped for coal to fire the boilers. If you want to visit the museum you can learn more on their website HERE
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St Helena Island lies on the western side of the Straits of Mackinac and the lighthouse was constructed in 1872 to guide ships past the island. This was the first Michigan lighthouse to lose its keeper. In 1922, the lighthouse was automated and the tower was fitted with a tank of acetylene gas, a pilot light, and the “sun valve” recently invented by Nobel Prize-winning engineer Gustav Dalén. When the sun set, the temperature would drop slightly, causing the valve to open and acetylene to be released against the pilot flame. The light would then relight itself and shine throughout the night. With the sunrise the next morning, the valve would close. The St. Helena Island Light innovation was successful, and in the years after 1922, many other Michigan lighthouses would be refitted with sun valves.
The light is illuminated by electricity instead of acetylene and remains an active aid to navigation. The lighthouse is maintained by the Great Lakes Lighthouse Keepers Association (GLLKA)
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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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