Author Archives: Mike Sonnenberg

Little River Schoolhouse

Posted on by Posted in Schools .

This old school house sits in School Section Lake Veterans Park. It is a Mecosta County park near the town of Mecosta.

Issac Berry was born a slave in 1831. He escaped from bondage in Missouri and made his way to freedom in Canada in 1858. There he married Lucy Millard. The Berrys moved to Morton Township in 1877 with other black and multi-racial families. They bought cutover land and Isaac served as the postmaster, blacksmith and school director. Lucy became the Little River Schools first teacher.

The original school was a one-room, log schoolhouse built in 1877. The current school still standing in the park was constructed in 1905. It was the local school and community center until 1935. The Berry family landscaped the property around the lake, including the beach, calling it Pleasant View. They sold it to Mecosta County for a park after Lucy Berry’s death.

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The Speakeasy In The Park

Posted on by Posted in Historic Places, Parks .

McCourtie Park sits in Somerset Center along US-12. It is mostly known for its ornate concrete bridges. Before it was a park it was a sprawling estate owned by William Herbert Lee “Herb” McCourtie who built a mansion and the bridges on the property. The large mansion was razed years ago and the estate is now open to the public as a county park.

One interesting feature of the park is a rather unappealing looking structure cut into the hillside. It was built as a garage by McCourtie but also used as what he called the “Rathskeller,” (German for a beer hall that was underground or in a basement). Inside was a fully functional English-style bar, with brass foot rails, hand hewn ceiling beams, leaded windows and dark oak-paneled walls adorned with swords, spears and shields. A swinging door led to a card room that was rumored to be the site of all-night poker parties, one reportedly attended by Henry Ford

Because McCourtie enjoyed partaking in the consumption of alcoholic beverages during prohibition the rathskeller had a 10 foot by 10 foot vault with a hidden entrance to the outside. It is believed to be used for stocking the vault with bottle of liquor. There are even rumors that Al Capone has visited the rathskeller. I am not sure how much of it is true but the old garage still remains in the park. Too bad the old mansion did not survive.

For more about the concrete bridges you can read my post about them HERE

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Ontonagon Poor Farm

Posted on by Posted in Barns and Farms, Forgotten Places .

A few miles east of Ontonagon is a massive old building covered up by trees and bushes. The dilapidated structure was part of the Ontonagon County Poor Farm. The county’s first poor farm was constructed in 1855 to help take care of lumberjacks and people in need of assistance. The building that stands today was built in 1900 on a 200 acre farm. The people who lived there and were able to work grew crops and raised livestock until the facility closed in the 1945. The old building now sits on a privately owned cattle farm.

I found an old photo of it. Sad that the trees are now covering it up. It was a beautiful building back in the day.

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The Smallest Post Office In Michigan

Posted on by Posted in Iconic Buildings, small towns .

The small town of Elm Hall is located west of Alma near the center of the mitten. The thing it is most noted for is the small post office building that sits near the center of town. The little building is not much more than a shed but it serves the community and is still important to those in the area. You know what they say “its not the size of the post office that is important, It’s how you use it”

It is not the smallest post office. It is located in Ochopee, Florida and used to be a shed that stored irrigation pipe for a tomato farm.

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Jackson Mine

Posted on by Posted in Forgotten Places, upper peninsula .

In the old town section of Negaunee is a large hole covered with old iron fencing. This opening in the side of a cliff was part of the Jackson Mine. The mine was the first iron ore mine in the Lake Superior region. In 1844 surveyor William Burt noticed some strange fluctuations  on his compass and upon further investigations he noticed iron ore deposits. Soon afterwards the first mine was dug.

The mine was closed in the 1950s and is now a historic site. In 2003 the area was converted into a park by the city of Negaunee and has mining artifacts on display. The area of the mine is known as Old Town Negaunee and has foundations and stairs from the houses and buildings that once stood on the land. You can read more about it on my post HERE. 

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The Park In Michigan’s Hart

Posted on by Posted in Parks .

The Small town of Hart is a few miles southeast of Pentwater on the west coast of Michigan’s Lower Peninsula. Just north of town is the archway for John Gurney Park welcoming visitors. The park was one of the first auto tourist camps developed along the West Michigan Pike during the 1920s. As the affordability and popularity of the automobile grew Michiganders began to take day trips and the tourist parks gave the motorists a place to stop and rest and even camp overnight. Former state senator Theron Gurney and his wife, Helen, donated land to the village of Hart in 1912 for a park to honor their son. Lieutenant John Gurney died at the Battle of Santiago de Cuba during the Spanish American War.

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Pigeon River Foot Bridge

Posted on by Posted in Bridges, Nature .

This foot bridge crosses over the Pigeon River in the Agnes S. Andreae Nature Preserve near Indian River. The preserve has five miles of hiking trails that wind their way along the river. It is also home to the Nature Megaphone that you can read about in my post HERE

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Raisin Valley Friends Meetinghouse

Posted on by Posted in Churches .

North of Adrian along M-52 is a single story white building. Known as the Raisin Valley Friends Meetinghouse it is the second oldest continuously operating church building in the state of Michigan. Quakers from New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania settled in southeastern Michigan in the early nineteenth century. The Quaker missionary evolved into the Raisin Valley Friends and they initially worshipped in a log cabin located near the present church property. In 1834 settler David Baker made a six-acre parcel available, and the congregation raised $800 to build this church, which opened in 1835. Over the years some additions have been added to the church and continues to house the Raisin Valley Friends Church. A Michigan historical marker stands nearby noting its significance to the state’s history.

P.S. The oldest continuously operating church is the Mission Church on Mackinac Island.

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Big Red

Posted on by Posted in Lighthouses .

On the south side of the Holland Chanel is one of the most photographed lighthouses in Michigan. The 1907 building was built as a fog signal building only. The light stood adjacent to it as a separate structure until 1936 when the Coast Guard consolidated the two by putting a light tower on top of the fog signal. In 1956 the tan colored building was sandblasted and painted red and was affectionately given the nickname of “Big Red”

If you love lighthouses I hope you will take a look at my new Lighthouse book HERE

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The Old Building in Pequaming

Posted on by Posted in General Store, Ghost towns, upper peninsula .

This old building stands in the trees in the Upper Peninsula town of Pequaming. There is not much remaining in the town today but back in its heyday it the entire town was owned by the Ford Motor Company. It was a sawmill town making lumber for Model-T bodies. I am not sure what this old building was, maybe a general store or an old boarding house. It seemed kind of lonely and forgotten surrounded by trees.

You can read more about Pequaming in my other post HERE

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