Forgotten Places Archives - Lost In Michigan

The Mysterious Mansion at the Soo

Posted on July 8, 2020 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Forgotten Places, Houses, upper peninsula .

I was not sure where to start with my pics of the eastern Upper Peninsula so I figured I would start at the beginning. I had to get something to eat when I got up there, so I went over to Clyde’s for a burger. I went past this old house or whatever it was along the St. Mary’s River east of downtown. I am not sure what the story is, but it looks really old with its cobblestone foundation. It must have been a fantastic place back in the day looking out the windows as ships sailed past.

I looked online, but I could not find any info. It looks like someone is doing some work to it and there are no trespassing signs on the front porch. I stopped and took a pic from the road. If you know anything about this place I would love to know. please post a comment below.

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Passenger Cars at the End of the Line in Yuma

Posted on June 27, 2020 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Forgotten Places .

I was roaming the back roads near Yuma, ( Michigan not Arizona) and I came across these old railroad passenger cars. You can’t see it in the photo but the railroad tracks end a few hundred feet from the rail cars. It seemed peculiar to seem them way out in the middle of nowhere. I can only assume they parked them until they are needed again.

P.S. if you are wondering Yuma (Michigan not Arizona) is south of Mesick near the Manistee National Forest.

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The Shack at the Beginning

Posted on June 26, 2020 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Forgotten Places .

I took a pic of this old shack way back in the summer of 2013. It was before I even started my website. It was one of the places that inspired me to create Lost In Michigan. It sits northwest of Cadillac along M-115 and I took a pic when I went past it seven years ago. I past by it often and still wonder what its story is.

Just to let you know. I will be traveling around the Upper Peninsula at the end of June and the beginning of July so if you don’t see any new posts from me for a while that is the reason. I hope to do some new posts while I am camping in my travel trailer. I am not sure how good of a connection I will have to the internet, so I just want to give you a heads up if I “disappear” for a while.

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The Houses of Wahjamega

Posted on June 18, 2020 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Forgotten Places, Thumb .

If you have ever driven down M-81 west of Caro you have probably seen the resort-like buildings that are part of the Wahjamega complex. I say resort-like because they have an American southwestern architecture look to them with stucco walls and reddish-brown tile roofs. It started out as the colony for epileptics with good intentions but soon took a sinister turn when eugenics was practiced and patients and residents underwent forced sterilizations. Most of the buildings are vacant now and the main building is now the Caro Center. When drove through the complex I saw these old houses and I wonder if they were used by the doctors and administration way back when the colony first opened. If you want to learn more about Wahjamega you can read my other post HERE

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Summer Road Trip Memories

Posted on June 10, 2020 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Forgotten Places .

Growing up in the ’70s my family would pile into the big blue Oldsmobile Delta 88 and take a road trip. A few times we stopped at Deer Acres near Pinconning. It may not have been Disneyland but for a little kid, it sure felt like it. My favorite was the old-timey model T cars on the rails that I could drive. Feeding the deer was also a thrill but a little scary when they all come running at you when they see a handful of feed.

It has been closed for a while and traveling around the state I see a lot of old tourist places that have closed and sit forgotten. Maybe it’s because travel has gotten easier, or maybe it takes a lot more to impress today’s kids with their video games and modern technology, but I miss some of the old family-friendly tourist traps.

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Camp Lunden’s Little Michigan

Posted on June 5, 2020 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Forgotten Places, Historic Places .

These small ponds dug in the shape of the Great Lakes are located on County Road 612 between Lewiston and M-33. They are what remains of a Civilian Conservation Corps Camp.

A few months after Franklin Roosevelt created the CCC the camp was created outside of Lewiston and given the name Camp Lunden. It was one of 103 camps in Michigan. Men training to be draftsmen and civil engineers arrived. In their spare time, they dug the ponds created the shape of Michigan at the entrance. The camp closed in 1936 and only the ponds remain along with a historical marker to mark the spot where the CCC camp once stood.

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The Old Scottville School

Posted on May 15, 2020 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Forgotten Places, Schools .

This old school stands silently in the town of Scottville a few miles east of Ludington. The main building was built in 1888 and additions were added later in the early 1900s. It was used as the high school and middle school until 1976, when the Mason County Central Middle School was built. In the 1990s it was used for retails stores for a short period. It now sits empty but recently sold to a new owner who is trying to renovate the old building. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985

I live in Saginaw and I have seen photos of several old schools, similar to this one in Scottsville, that no longer exist. They have been replaced years ago with newer advanced buildings to mee the needs of students and more energy efficient. It is a good thing that new schools are constructed to provide students with the best education but most of the old large school buildings are gone or neglected and waiting for demolition. I hope the owner is able to restore this old school building for some purpose like retail stores. It would be interesting to visit to get a feel for what the old schools were like.

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Hagensville Shack

Posted on May 12, 2020 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Forgotten Places, Houses .

So I have been going through my massive archive of photos lately, and I came across this photo of an old shack I saw somewhere near Hagensville. I took this pic about four years ago and I don’t even remember where exactly it was located. The funny thing that I do remember is, I had one of those computer thingys from the insurance company plugged into my Jeep to get a discount. I saw this old shack and stopped suddenly and it registered on my insurance “black box” and it limited my discount. Oh well easy come easy go.

P.S. I guess that is why I like driving the back roads, I can stop and take pics and nobody is around to care if I hold up traffic. There are still a few places I am trying to get pics of but they are on busy roads with no good or safe places to stop.

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Cabin Fever

Posted on May 5, 2020 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Forgotten Places, Houses .

I saw this old cabin in the woods in the northwestern Lower Peninsula. It looks as if it has been abandoned for a long time as the trees are growing around and through it. It’s not a big deal for me to hop into my Jeep and drive a few hundred miles exploring one of the state’s peninsulas.

I imagine back when this cabin was built and before the automobile, it was rare for a Michigander to travel a few miles from their home. Being isolated is something strange to us but for people in northern Michigan over a century ago it was just life as they knew it. There was no such thing as cabin fever back then. They were probably happy to have a cabin to go home to.

P.S. There are times I would like to just live in the middle of the woods with nobody around, but I could not go for long without access to the internet.
P.P.S I took this pic from the road, I do not trespass. Even though it looks abandoned, it is still on someone’s property.

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Zig Zagging in Snay

Posted on May 4, 2020 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Forgotten Places, Thumb .

I was zig-zagging the gridwork of rural roads surrounding the farm fields in the Thumb. I came across this old brick building with a cobblestone foundation. I am not sure if it was a school or some other government building but it was interesting looking. Not far down the road was the Snay cemetery. Michigan had a post office for the town of Snay in a general store operated by Charles Snay. It was opened in 1889 and closed in 1901. It looks like the cemetery and possibly this building is all the remains of the little town.

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