Prussian immigrant Michael Elowsky fled the turmoil brewing in Eastern Europe in 1862. He settled in Detroit, was joined by his family, and migrated to Presque Isle County around 1870. under President Lincoln’s Homestead Act of 1865, he obtained his land on the north branch of the Thunder Bay River near Posen at no cost. He built a log dam and moved a part of this structure from Trout River and eventually developed a complex of flour,shingle, siding, planing, and lathe milling operations. Residents of Metz, Posen, and Krakow townships brought grain and timber to this mill. With the help of Thomas Edison, Michael’s son Emil added a generator and electric lights to operate the mill 24 hours a day. When the Mill closed at the end of the harvest season in October of 1963, that became the last time it would operate. During the winter of 1963-4, a great amount of snow fell, so with the spring melt, a very great run-off on the river caused the original log dam to collapse. The great run off also wiped out the saw mill that the family had across the river on the south bank. All the equipment was left intact and remains to this day.

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