July 2021 - Page 3 of 4 - Lost In Michigan

The Pioneer Church in Da Upper Peninsula

Posted on July 11, 2021 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Churches, upper peninsula .

This cute little log cabin church sits in the heart of the Upper Peninsula in what remains of the small town of Mansfield not far from Crystal Falls. Built in the late 1800s it was the only church in Mansfield. It was maintained by a Lutheran Congregation but used by other faiths. As the town’s population dwindled the church was used as a shingle mill and later fell into ruin.

In 1987 the Mansfield Memories Committee restored the old church and is known as the Mansfield Pioneer Church. It welcomes guests that visit the historic area and is used for special occasions.

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White Shoal Lighthouse

Posted on July 10, 2021 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Lighthouses .

Guiding ships into the western end of the Straits of Mackinac the White Shoal Lighthouse sits miles away from land in northern Lake Michigan. The light was a marvel of engineering when it was constructed in 1908 and compleated in 1910. The lighthouse with its unique “candy cane” red and white stripes, is the only lighthouse on the great lakes with a helical style paint scheme.

The tower is 121 feet tall and has living quarters inside for the keepers to maintain the beacon. It is also unique because it is topped with an aluminum lantern room instead of cast iron. The lighthouse was automated in 1976 and is now maintained by the White Shoal Light Historical Preservation Society.

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Three Oaks Depot

Posted on July 9, 2021 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.

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Glass Bottom Time Machine

Posted on July 8, 2021 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Ships and Boats .

If you have lived in Michigan for a long time you have probably visited Mackinaw City, The Island, and the Fort along with other sites at the tip of the mitten many times. On my last trip to northern Michigan, I took a ride on the Yankee Sunshine. It is a glass-bottom boat operated by Nautical North Family Adventures in Cheboygan.

We went out of the Cheboygan River and saw the 14-foot shoal lighthouse and then went over to Duncan Bay and through the windows in the hull saw three shipwrecks. I have always been fascinated by shipwrecks and wanted to scuba dive on one. With my health and vision, I am not sure it is possible but the Yankee Sunshine was an amazing way to experience some historic shipwrecks without even getting wet. It was like looking back in time through the glass at the old timbers of ships built over a century ago. It is difficult to get a good photo through the glass but incredible to view in person.

They do offer the option to snorkel the wrecks if you want to get up close to them. The crew was fantastic and knowledgeable. They gave a lot of information and stories about the shipwrecks and the area. They were also a pleasure to hang out with for the hour and half the tour lasted. They say “what is better than owning a boat, is a friend with a boat” and that is what it felt like was hanging out with friends on a Pure Michigan afternoon adventure.

If you are up near the bridge and looking for something different to do, be sure to check out Nautical North Family Adventures. You can find their website HERE

Full disclosure, I paid for a ticket and was not given anything in return for this post. I usually don’t do review posts like this, but I was so impressed with my experience I wanted to share it with others that don’t know about the glass bottom boat tours in Cheboygan.

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The Cliff Mine and Ghost Town Ruins in the Upper Peninsula

Posted on July 7, 2021 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Forgotten Places, upper peninsula .

Deep in the forests in the center of the Keweenaw Penisula is the stone ruins of a once prosperous mine and town that supported it. The Cliff Mine is the first successful mine in the Michigan Copper District and dates from 1845. The highly successful mine was the largest copper mine in the US for more than a decade after it was started. By the 1870s the veins of copper had been extracted from the ground and the mine closed.

You can still see the stone walls and foundations from the buildings among the trees behind the tailings (piles of rocks) dug out from the mine. I was amazed by the stone tower that I am thinking was a chimney. You can find the old Cliff Mine ruins hiking over the west branch of the Eagle River off Cliff Drive where it connects back to US-41.

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The White Rock

Posted on July 6, 2021 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Thumb .

Along the Lake Huron shoreline in the Thumb is the town of White Rock. It was named after, you probably guessed it, a white rock. They rock is about a half-mile offshore. Over the years it has broken up in the ice and is not as prominent as it once was but it is still visible. The rock was used as a boundary marker to define the territory ceded by Ottawa, Chippewa, Wyandot, and Potawatomi Native Americans with the Treaty of Detroit in 1807. A roadside park was built on M-25 and an overlook allows visitors to see the rock. The lake levels also have an impact on how much of the rock is visible. Next time you are taking a drive down M-25 and you see the roadside park be sure to stop and look at the rock that helped define Michigan.

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Pears Mill

Posted on July 5, 2021 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Grain Elevators .

In the heart of downtown Buchanan is the Pears Mill. It was built in 1857 and is the last of thirteen mills that were built on the McCoy Creek. It was slated for demolition in 1983 after the co-op that used the building moved out. A group of citizens saved and restored the historic mill and it is open to visitors on Saturdays in the summer months. My thought was it seemed strange to build a mill next to downtown but, then I realized the mill was built before most of the town.

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Happy Birthday America

Posted on July 4, 2021 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Historic Places .

I feel fortunate to live in a country that I can travel freely and pursue my happiness. My ancestors came to this country looking for a better life for themselves and their families. I feel as if I owe it to them to do what I can to continue on with the dream this great nation was founded on. I know it’s not perfect and has many problems to still figure out, but I am grateful for the opportunities given to me. Thank you all so much for following my journey around Michigan and hope you are able to celebrate this wonderful day.

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The Flamingo Club

Posted on July 3, 2021 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Forgotten Places .

The town of Idlewild near Baldwin was started as a resort town for African Americans in the early part of the 1900s. Because of discrimination, many African Americans were limited to where they could vacation. Called the “Black Eden of Michigan”, from 1912 through the mid-1960s, Idlewild was an active year-round community and was visited by well-known entertainers and professionals from throughout the country. The Flamingo Club opened in 1955 was a popular place for many of the top African American entertainers to perform such as Sarah Vaughan, Jackie Wilson, and the Four Tops. After the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 opened up more opportunities for African Americans to purchase cottages and vacation in other parts of the state, the popularity of Idlewild declined. By 1968, the Flamingo Club closed.

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The Company Town of Nahmah

Posted on July 2, 2021 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in small towns, upper peninsula .

This general store, the Nahmah Inn next to it, and some houses still remain in the company town of Nahmah. It stands along the Lake Michigan shoreline in Big Bay De Noc east of Escanaba. The town was established in 1881 by the Bay de Noquet Lumber Company of Oconto, Wisconsin. At Its peak, the company employed over 1500 people and built housing and stores for its employees. The company closed in 1951 and the town made national headlines when the company sold the entire town to an Indiana playground manufacturer. They intended to convert the town into a resort community but never had the funding to do it. The town still survives today as individually owned houses and businesses and welcomes tourists enjoying the Upper Peninsula.

P.S. My plan was to get a pic of the silo-like structure that stood along the shoreline. It was a wood burner used by the Bay de Noquet Lumber Company. To my disappointment, I learned the historic wood burner collapsed in 2019.

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