August 2022 - Lost In Michigan

The Stone Home

Posted on August 12, 2022 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Historic Places, Houses .

I have seen some houses and buildings around the Mitten State that have been constructed using local field stones and rocks. This one is unique because the stones were shaped to be square and rectangle blocks. It was difficult for laborers to hand chisel these rocks into shape but it is a beautiful work of masonry. The house is located in the town of Hart near US-31 east of Silver Lake. It was constructed in the late 1800s for a local physician and druggist Harvey Jenner Chadwick. It later became the home of L.P. Munger, a physician and fruit-grower. It eventually became the offices of the Health Department for Oceana County and in the 1980s it became part of the Oceana County Historical Society.

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The Boat In The Park

Posted on August 10, 2022 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Ships and Boats .

I drove through Harbor Springs this summer and it has been a while since I was there. Right away I noticed a strange looking dark blue boat on display in the park. I had to stop and check it out.

The boat was named the “Aha” and built by inventor Ephraim Shay. He lived in Harbor Springs and his house stands across the road from the park. The boat was designed by Shay and built at his machine shop. It’s long an narrow hull made it one of the fastest boats at the time.

While being towed to storage in the 1930s the empty hull of the Aha took on water and was beached near Sucker Creek in the present day Wilderness State Park. The old boat sat there for decades slowly rusting and being used for target practice by hunters.

In 2003, the hull was brought back to Harbor Springs were it sat in storage. In 2019, it was trucked to Onaway and restored by the students at the Industrial Arts Institute. After restoring and repainting the hull the Aha was put on display at the park on the town were it was built.

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Upcoming Presentations

Posted on August 8, 2022 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in presentations .

I have some presentations about my travels around Michigan coming up. I hope you are in the area and can make it to one of them. Here is a list of dates and locations

Tamarack library in Lakeview September, 13 at 6pm

832 S Lincoln Ave, Lakeview, MI 48850

St Clair Shores September 26 at 6:30pm

St. Clair Shores Public Library

22500 E Eleven Mile Rd, St Clair Shores, MI 48081

West Bloomfield library Thursday October 27th at 7pm

4600 Walnut Lake Rd, West Bloomfield Township, MI 48323

Schoolcraft College Livonia April, 14th 2023

more info coming soon

The Playhouse In the Woods

Posted on August 6, 2022 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Historic Places, Michigan State Parks .

This log cabin sits on a hill in the Highland Recreation Area off M-59. It was constructed as the carriage house and chauffer’s living quarters for Edsel Ford’s Haven Hill Lodge that that stood nearby. The Chauffer ended up living in the lodge and Edsel’s children used the carriage house as a playhouse. The main lodge burned down in a fire several years ago. You can read about it in my post HERE

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Delicious and Refreshing

Posted on August 4, 2022 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Ghost Murals .

The north branch of the Kalamazoo River flows through downtown Albion. This building hangs over the river and I marveled at the mural painted on the side. I like seeing the old advertising murals. It’s rare to see a new advertising mural, mostly it’s just billboards with their digital signs illuminating something you can’t read as you pass by at 70mph. Sometimes newer is not better.

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The Log Cabin and the Co-op Community

Posted on August 2, 2022 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Houses, upper peninsula .

The Alva Kepler log cabin in Manistique’s Pioneer Park next to the water tower. The rustic house dates back to the 1880’s and was once part of the Byers’ settlement in Hiawatha Township, 12 miles north of Manistique. The cabin was part of the cooperative community known as the “Hiawatha Village Association.” It was formed in the 1890s when people were struggling from an economic depression at the time. About two hundred people agreed to turn over there assets to the community and live in the village. They had about 225 residents the first year and grew crops and made goods to sell in Milwaukee.

After the first year they were not successful because they could not sell there crops and the cost to ship the products they made were more than they could sell them fore. When Alva Kepler and his brother John were supposed to move into the village the following year they sued to withdraw from the community. Shortly afterwards many other people sued and the homes and items were split up among the members ending the short lived experiment.

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