Mike Sonnenberg, Author at Lost In Michigan

Lost In Alpena

Posted on March 30, 2017 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in cities .

Beautiful downtown Alpena along the Thunder Bay River. If you’re wondering, Alpena is the Indian name for partridge. I took this photo last year when we had lots of cold and snow. For some reason, I never got around to posting it. I have been busy writing my book and I have not had time to get out to explore and get some new pics so I thought I would post this one. I have been through Alpena a few time but have been busy traveling to other places so I did not spend a lot of time there, I need to get back to Alpena and spend a day or two exploring the city and try some new restaurants.

I can never say thank you enough for following me on my journeys around Michigan. I have not done as much as I would like to lately, but hope to get back to it soon.

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The Manistee Light

Posted on March 25, 2017 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Lighthouses .

It’s been a long dreary and gray winter in Michigan and I am looking forward to the warm sunshine of summer. A few years ago I took this photo of the Manistee North Pierhead Light. The cast Iron light was built in 1927 and getting a little rusty, but last summer restoration has begun to shine up the old light. I guess I will have to make another trip to Manistee and see the light with its new paint job.

The first lighthouse built in Manistee was destroyed by the great fire of October 8th, 1871 that also ravaged the town of Manistee and most of the thumb. October the 8th, 1871 was the same day Mr’s O’Leary’s cow kicked over a lantern starting the great Chicago Fire.

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Lost In Michigan T-Shirts are on SALE this Week

Posted on March 23, 2017 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Uncategorized .

I hope you won’t mind me doing a shameless plug for my T-shirts. I am working on my book, ( which I hope to have available in May) and although it’s not that expensive to publish a book, I do have some expenses to pay for. Lost In Michigan and Pure Michigander T-shirts and Hoodies are on SALE this week. Including the new Sapphire Blue Pure Michigander T-Shirt. As always shipping is FREE,

CLICK HERE to order T-shirts and Hoodies.

Lost In Tuscola

Posted on March 20, 2017 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Churches, Forgotten Places, Schools .

I was heading back home to Saginaw after taking some pics in Clio. I did not want to take the same way back home down I75 or Dixie so instead, I went east a couple of miles then turned north figuring if I got lost I would eventually hit M46, and then I could take that into Saginaw. I got to a point where a sign told me to turn left to Frankenmuth, and while I was thinking about it for a second, I could see down the road what looked like a town in the distance. I headed straight into the town of Tuscola, and then I saw this grand old building towering up like an elder statesmen looking over the town. I am not sure if it was a school, a church or what it was since it has a barn door on the front, but whatever it was, it sure was striking and I had to stop and take a photo. I am glad I decided to take a different way home.

Lost In Michigan books are ON SALE this weekend on Amazon HERE

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Finding Truth In Battle Creek

Posted on March 14, 2017 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in cities .

I was roaming around Battle Creek on a quiet Saturday morning and I saw this colorful and profound mural on the back of a building. Hand painted murals have a way of brightening up some rather dull spaces, and I love finding them in unexpected places. Not only is this a beautiful mural, but it also made me learn something new. I was thinking the woman in the mural was Harriet Tubman, but like many things I think, I was incorrect. The woman depicted in the mural is Sojourner Truth who was an escaped slave and women’s rights activist who died at the age of 86 in her Battle Creek home.

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The Spooky Old House on the Highway

Posted on March 6, 2017 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Forgotten Places, Houses .

I saw this old house, that’s beautiful in a spooky kinda way, near Clio. It’s on Dixie Highway, or at least that is what I call it, maybe it’s Dort, but I digress. I know absolutely nothing about this house, but I had to stop and take a photo of it as it looks out at the cars speeding past it. Someone is still mowing the lawn so I know it’s not abandoned, but I wonder what the story is with this old house being on such a prominent north-south road thru the eastern side of Michigan.

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Penniman Castle

Posted on March 2, 2017 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Houses .

This grand old castle made of field stone stands in a quiet neighborhood in Battle Creek. Known as Penniman Castle it was completed in 1906 to resemble a medieval castle with 4 towers at each corner and a great hall in the middle. The house originally had a 3rd floor, but it was destroyed by fire in 1941 and never rebuilt.

Postcard showing what the home originally looked like before the upper floor was destroyed by fire.

Built by Dentist John Penniman and constructed with one foot thick walls the home was one of the costliest built in southwest Michigan at the time. The house with its octagon towers took almost 6 years to build. The interior is trimmed with ornately carved quarter sawn oak including the garderobe ( a fancy term for a privy or latrine in a castle ). The castle has seventeen rooms, four of which are bedrooms. The house was added to the national register of historic places in 2001.

I am fascinated by castles in Michigan and you can see the pics I have of them so far HERE

If you like this story and are looking for interesting places in Michigan to visit, check out the Lost In Michigan books on Amazon HERE

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Climax Michigan RFD

Posted on February 23, 2017 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Iconic Buildings, small towns .

Delivering packages with drones seems really far fetched, but a century ago delivering mail to everyone in the united states seemed like an impossible task. Many small rural towns had a post office that was in a local general store, saloon, or inn. The farmers or ranchers would come into town and pick up their mail. In 1893 legislation was passed in the United State congress that required the post office to implement rural free delivery ( R.F.D). On December 3rd 1896, the post office in the town of Climax between Battle Creek and Kalamazoo was the first to start an R.F.D. route in Michigan. The letter carriers delivered the mail by bicycle and horse and buggy to the surrounding citizens. This is a pic of the old stone post office in Climax which is now a library.

The local business that contained the post offices were not too fond of the new delivery system since people did not have to pick up their mail, and possibly purchase something at their business while they are in town. It’s strangely similar to the online vs brick and mortar store competition. who knows in a hundred year there will be something new, some sort of outer space colony delivery system and they will think what we do now was old fashioned.

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Remembering The Oscoda County Courthouse

Posted on February 22, 2017 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in courthouses .

The internet can sometimes be like that friend who tells you things without any regards to your feelings, kinda like Dr. Sheldon Cooper. I was doing some research on Mio and then I saw it in big bold text on google Oscoda County Courthouse Destroyed by Fire May 6th, 2016. I remember making an image of the old courthouse a few years ago but for some reason, I never got around to posting it. I guess I can share it with you now. I suppose finding out on google is better than being in the area and stopping by to get a photo finding out that it’s gone, it’s happened to me before.

The old courthouse had a Michigan Historical Marker and here is what was written on it.

When the county government moved from a town called Union Corners to Mio in 1882, temporary offices were set up in a rented building owned by John Randall, one Mio’s founders. For permanent quarters the county supervisors purchased land from Randall in 1885. The county hired Bay City architects Pratt and Koeppe to design a courthouse. In contrast to the elaborate stone and brick courthouses being built at the time, the firm designed this modest wood frame structure, completed in 1889, for Oscoda County. Two wings were added in 1908 to house vaults for the county clerk and treasurer. In 1889 – 90 a courthouse almost identical to this one was built for Arenac County in Omer. That courthouse became a Masonic hall in 1892.

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Melonheads and Hauntings at Felt Mansion

Posted on February 16, 2017 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Haunted Places, Historic Places, Houses .

Six weeks after Dorr E. Felt and his family moved into the completed mansion in 1928 near Holland, his wife Agnes suddenly died. A year and a half later Mr. Felt died never having much time to enjoy their magnificent new home. Some believe their spirits still haunt the 25 rooms.

There is also an urban legend about an old hospital nearby where a doctor performed experiments on children with large bulbous heads and that some of the children escaped and lurk in the woods. I am not sure about the hauntings or the so-called melonheads, but it is a beautiful old mansion. It’s owned by Laketown Township now and the estate is a park with a disc golf course. ( if it were up to me, I would put some manikins with big heads hidden in the trees to mess with the disc golfers, but I guess that’s why I am not in charge of anything)

Lost In Michigan books are ON SALE this weekend on Amazon HERE

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