Category Archives: Barns and Farms

The Barn Church

Posted on by Posted in Barns and Farms, Churches .

Traveling around Michigan, I have seen a lot of barns and churches but this is the first barn church I have seen. Standing in Troy it was built by William Lakie as a dairy barn in 1912 At one time the electric interurban railway ran past this barn and picked up milk cans gathered from surrounding farms. After the Presbyterian Church purchased the building in 1928, they removed the silo and added a steeple and an appropriate entranceway. Thus the barn was adapted as a church with the hay loft becoming the chancel. The massive yet graceful lines of the former barn, now a Unitarian church is still being used for worship by the Beacon Unitarian Universalist Congregation.

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World Champion

Posted on by 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 Silos in Old Town Saginaw

Posted on by Posted in Barns and Farms .

These colorful silos stand in Old Town Saginaw along the Saginaw River.  They were painted by Madrid artist Okuda San Miguel with the help of a team of local artist. It is said to be one of the largest murals in the United States. If you want to check it out for yourself you can see it at 105 Lyon St, Saginaw, MI 48602. If you do go to see it be sure to check out some of the local shops, restaurants and bars in the area along Hamilton and court streets. If you have young kids the Saginaw Children’s zoo is not far away.

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Big Red Round Barn

Posted on by Posted in Barns and Farms .

I saw this big red round barn south of Traverse City. I don’t know anything about it other than it is nifty looking.

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The County Poor Farm

Posted on by Posted in Barns and Farms .

I was roaming the backroads near Greenville and I came upon this enormous farmhouse. I figured out it was the old Montcalm county poor farm since it was on County Farm Road.  It was a different time in our society when people went to live on the farm and worked to support themselves. The old farm was used as an adult care facility. New owners have been working on the historic structure. You can see more at their Facebook page HERE https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61554576433189

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Clare County Poor Farm

Posted on by Posted in Barns and Farms, Cemetery .

South of Harrison is a stairway that leads to a small field surrounded by stone pillars and metal fencing. It is the cemetery  and all that remains of the old Clare County Poor Farm. There are no headstones or markers but it is believed that about 100 bodies are buried in the cemetery. The were former residents of the poor farm and died while living their.

The poor farm in Harrison was the third one constructed in Clare County, It was built in 1912 and renamed the Clare County Infirmary. It closed in 1945 and burned down a few years later. The former residents lay in their final resting place nearby without markers to remember their names.

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The Big Weather Vane in Gladwin

Posted on by Posted in Barns and Farms .

Northwest of Gladwin near the intersection of Bard Road at Eagleson Roads is a massive weather vane. Constructed by a local farmer, it has an antique tractor an plow on it that points in the direction of the wind.  In the west Michigan town of Montague is a weather vane that has claimed to be the largest weather vane. You can see it on my post HERE I am thinking the one in Gladwin is larger.  I am not sure which one is officially larger but both weather vanes in Michigan are impressive and worth a road trip to see.

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The Old Farmhouse

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

I saw this old farmhouse while I was out roaming the back roads near Harrison. I am not sure what the story is with this old house but it looks as if it has been a long time since anyone has trick or treated at this place for Halloween.

Thank you for taking the time to look at my posts from my travels around Michigan. If you want to see posts from other states, I hope you will take a look at my other website. Lost In The States HERE

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Treat’s Farm

Posted on by Posted in Barns and Farms, Sleeping Bear Dunes .

South of Empire where Norconk Road makes a sharp bend about a mile west of M22 is the Treat Farm Trail. The trail is not posted but it is part of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lake Shore. It is along the trail that you will find an old farm. It is not abandoned but maintained by the National Park Service.

The farm was originally started in the 1840s by John Tweddle. After living in a log cabin on the property for decades he built the current farm house in the 1880s. In 1912 Charles Treat and his wife, Martha bought the farm and raised their family on the remote countryside along Lake Michigan. The barn on the property was purchased near Detroit by Charles and he had is disassembled and shipped by rail to Empire. The pieces where transported by horses to the farm and reassembled.

Charles Treat’s education was in engineering and he used his knowledge on his farm. The house did not have running water. He tried drilling a well but it was plugged with sand. He set up a set of eve troughs on the house to collect rainwater in a cistern for the house. He also experimented with concrete making a root cellar in the side of the hill and a unique concrete domed garage. Eventually the property became part of Sleeping Bear Dunes and is  open to hikers to explore and a trail leads up to a bluff overlooking Lake Michigan.

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The Big Corn Stalk

Posted on by Posted in Barns and Farms .

Along M-46 next to the McDonalds in Lakeview is a giant corn stalk. It reminds me of the giant sized objects along Route 66 designed to attract tourists. A sign nearby reads that it is for Carr Farms an their roadside sweet corn stand. I took this pic last fall. I seem to pass by it when sweet corn is out of season. I love fresh Michigan sweet corn and hope I am in the area sometime when they are selling it.

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