Mike Sonnenberg, Author at Lost In Michigan

The Lone Pine Log Cabin School

Posted on September 12, 2024 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Schools .

The small town of Lovells sits northeast of Grayling along the north branch of the AuSable River. Next to the township hall is a log style building with a bell next it mounted on a log framework. The building was the Lone Pine School Built in 1907 by Ed Kellogg and Gustav Ernst. It was located at Jackson Hole on the North Branch of the AuSable River about seven miles downstream of Lovells. The school was used until 1936 when the schools were consolidated and the students were bussed to Grayling. The school was Moved from Jackson Hole, seven miles down Lovells Road in July 1991, and renovated and is now used as a museum.

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Only Choice Lighthouse

Posted on September 9, 2024 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Lighthouses, upper peninsula .

Not far from US-2, near the town of Gulliver, between the “Bridge” and Escanaba, is Seul Choix Point Lighthouse. Seul Choix is a French word for “only choice” and is pronounced “sis shwa”. It is one of the few harbors along the southern shore of the Upper Peninsula. That is how the name of the lighthouse came to be. It is still used as an active aid for navigation but also serves as a museum for visitors.

Stories claim the lighthouse is haunted by keeper Joseph Willie Townsend, who served at the structure from 1902 until his death in 1910. It is said that he passed away while in the bedroom that is located upstairs. Townsend and his wife lived in the lighthouse, and he was known to enjoy smoking cigars. Unfortunately, his wife was not a huge fan of the smell and smoke associated with the cigars, and forbade him to smoke in the house. Since his death, many people have claimed to smell burning cigars in the house. It’s believed that Townsend purposely smokes in the house in the afterlife as his wife can no longer stop him from doing it. People also claim to have seen Townsend’s ghost and that furniture is rearranged. Another strange occurrence is that when the table is set for dinner with the forks facing up, if you leave to retrieve something and return to the table, sometimes the forks are facing down. Townsend was known to set his forks down in that position.

If you enjoy reading stories of lighthouses I hope you will take a look at my book Light From The Birdcage available on Amazon HERE

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Ohioville Cemetery

Posted on September 5, 2024 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Cemetery .

Southwest of Burt Lake a few miles off M-68 is the Ohioville Cemetery. The sign shows it was established in 1882. From what I could find on the maps and my reference books there was no town in Michigan called Ohioville. Many of the veterans tombstones in the historic cemetery show that they were in the Ohio Infantry. It looks as if many Buckeyes moved from Ohio and settled in the area and I am wondering if it got the unofficial nickname of Ohioville. Whatever the story is, it is a beautiful old cemetery and I can understand moving to northern Michigan from Ohio. The area around Burt Lake is where I vacation every year for the past three decades.

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The Sit Down Strike

Posted on August 30, 2024 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Historic Places .

A few blocks northeast of the Flint Truck and Bus assembly plant is a small park with a memorial to the Sit Down Strike. On December 30th, 1936 the workers at General Motor’s Fisher Body Plant stopped production and barricaded themselves inside the plant. They learned the company was going to move the dies that stamp out most of the body parts for GM’s cars. Rather than picketing outside, they occupied the plant so GM could not move the stamping dies or bring in scab workers to break the union strike. Without the body parts, most of General Motor’s production came to a halt. Governor Murphy sent in the Michigan National Guard, not to help one side or the other, but to keep the peace. After 44 days the United Auto Workers of America and GM came to an agreement and production resumed.

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The Center of the Lower Peninsula

Posted on August 26, 2024 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Historic Places, Parks .

This stone marker stands in Clapp Memorial Park in St Louis, Michigan. It declares that it is the geographical center of the Lower Peninsula. It stands near another stone that has a plaque on the top of hit that reads: Sidney S. Hastings placed this stone here in 1876 to mark the geographical center of lower Michigan. If you want to stand in the middle of the mitten this park in St Louis is the place to do it.

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Luckhard Museum and Indian Mission

Posted on August 23, 2024 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Thumb .

On Bay Street in Sebewaing near the Christ the King Lutheran School is a house like building with a concert structure that looks like a log cabin attached to it. It is the Luckhard Museum and The Indian Mission. In 1845 three Lutheran missionaries Rev. Johann J. F. Auch, Rev. J. Simon Dumser, and Rev. George Sinke arrived in Sebewaing. The Lutheran leader, Rev. Friedrich Schmid, sent them from Ann Arbor to evangelize the Chippewa Indians. They constructed a log chapel at a site just north of town but this proved to be inadequate. In 1846, they purchased lumber from Bay City and ferried it to Sebewaing and constructied this mission house and Auch used it as a combination chapel and home.

After a few years Auch moved on and the building was alternately occupied and abandoned over the course of decades. In 1954, C.F. Luckhard purchased the building and extensively restored it. Luckhard moved the structure to its present location, and used it to display his collection of pioneer-era artifacts. Luckhard also constructed a replica from concrete of the first log house built by Auch.

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The Old Bailey School

Posted on August 21, 2024 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Schools .

Next to the parking lot for the Sturgeon Point Lighthouse is the Bailey School. It is a one-room schoolhouse originally operated west of Mikado. The Norway pine structure was built in 1907 and it is one of the few remaining one-room log schoolhouses still standing in Michigan. The schoolhouse closed after the 1940-41 school year and the following year the students were transported to Oscoda schools. In 1973, Mikado Township began a partial restoration of the building and in 1998 it was disassembled and moved to the Sturgeon Point location.

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The Tweddle School

Posted on August 19, 2024 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Schools .

The Tweddle Schoolhouse sits along M-22 about 2 miles south of Empire. It was built around 1895 and served the little farming community in the region until the schools were consolidated. After that, the school was converted to a residence. It has two front doors because one is for boys and one for girls. The school has been recently restored and is part of the Sleeping Bear National Lakeshore.

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World Champion

Posted on August 16, 2024 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Barns and Farms .

At the southern end of the Traverse City Commons near the historic barns is a stone marker for the world champion cow Traverse Colantha Walker. Before it became the commons the buildings and the property were the Northern Michigan Asylum. It was a self sufficient asylum with barns and crops to care for the nearly 3500 people within its walls.

It also had livestock that included a herd of cows. The most famous one was Traverse Colantha Walker. She was born in 1916 and produced over 200,000 pounds of milk in her lifetime which is more than two times what most cows can produce. When she died in 1932, she was buried on the asylum’s property. A banquet was held in her honor and the stone marker erected in her memory, the one that stands to this day.

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The Big Chief

Posted on August 14, 2024 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in people, upper peninsula .

The town of Ironwood in the Upper Peninsula sits next to the Wisconsin border. About a mile south of downtown is a small park with an enormous statue. It is of Hiawatha, a legendary leader of the Iroquois Confederacy, and a sign below the statue declares it to be the world’s tallest Indian. The park is the site of the old Norrie Iron Mine. The 52-foot-tall fiberglass statue was erected in 1964, and funded by local auto dealer Charlie Gotta. It was built to help draw tourists to travel through downtown Ironwood. I am not sure how much it helped, but it is definitely an attention grabber.

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