Category Archives: Barns and Farms

The Big Weather Vane in Gladwin

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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

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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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The Barnboat

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This odd looking structure stands a few miles south of Oak Beach between Caseville and Port Austin. Titled CELESTIAL SHIP OF THE NORTH (EMERGENCY ARK) it was created by artist Scott Hocking. Constructed on Goretski Family farmland it was created using materials from a collapsed 1890s barn. It is an odd sight to see especially if you were unaware of it.

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The PBB Catastrophe of 1973

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

A stone marker stands next to the former train depot in St. Louis, Michigan. The depot now serves as a history museum and the mark once stood in a nearby field warning people of the contaminated soil from the former Velsicol Chemical plant.

In 1973 farmers around Michigan began to notice milk production of their dairy cows had begun to decline. soon after the cows stopped eating and their calves died. The after researching the illness the cause was traced back to the animal feed and it was found to contain high levels of polybrominated biphenyl, or PBB. A chemical used as a fire retardant.

It was a year later in April of 1974 That it was discovered that the PBB retardant was mistaken for instead of magnesium oxide, a cattle feed supplement. The two chemicals came from the Velsicol Chemical plant and the sacks of PBB were sent to the animal feed plants by mistake. 30,000 cattle, 4,500 pigs, 1,500 sheep, 1.5 million chickens were killed after the discovery of the mixup.

Fifty years later it remains as one of the largest environmental disasters in American history. The Velsicol plant closed down and was demolished and buried where it stood. The stone maker was placed in its location to warn people. It was moved in 2013 to its current location after local residents requested it be replaced with a less ominous warning. It stands as a reminder of that horrific incident a half century ago.

In 1981, Ron Howard and Art Carney starred in the TV movie Bitter Harvest that was based on the tragic event. I was too young to remember horrific event when it originally happened, but I do remember the Ron Howard movie with him as a Michigan farmer.

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The Barn in Bridgeport

Posted on by Posted in Barns and Farms .

The Hartley Barn is a historic barn located in the Bridgeport Historical Village in Bridgeport, Michigan. It was built in Kawkawlin between 1881 and 1885 by Henry Jones on a land grant signed by President Ulysses S. Grant. The farm passed to the Hartley family in the early 1900s and was used until the 1960s when the Bridgeport Players acquired the barn from Charles Hartley to use as a community theater and dance hall . The barn was moved to its current location in 1975 and restored. It is now maintained by the Bridgeport Historical Society and open to the public for tours and special events.

FYI: I will be giving a presentation at the Bridgeport Public Library on Wednesday May 3rd, at 6pm. Admission is free and if you live in the area I hope you are able to attend.

The Little Round Roof Barn of Rosebush

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rosebush Michigan Barn

I saw this little barn in the town of Rosebush, a few miles north of Mount Pleasant, and like so many other barns in the area, it has a round or arched roof.  The Round roof gained popularity in the 1920’s after WWI as it was found to have more room for storing hay and other items in the loft of the barn. The roof configuration is sometimes called Gothic, Gothic-Roof, Arched-Roof, or Rainbow-Roof.  After World War II barns with no sides were built with just an arched roof like a Quonset Hut.

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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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Marion Springs

Posted on by Posted in Barns and Farms .

I was out roaming the back roads in the Marion Springs area west of Chesaning. I came across this old barn and it reminded me of the motel I stayed at in the Keweenaw. When I checked in I told the owner I was exploring Michigan for my website and he said to me. ” I bet you don’t know where the town where I grew up in called Marion Springs is located.” I laughed because I grew up in Saginaw and yes I know where Marion Springs is located. Doing Lost In Michigan for almost ten years I have been to a lot of small towns but I still have a lot more to visit.

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