Forgotten Places Archives - Lost In Michigan

Michigan’s Creepy Hill Babies

I have driven all around Michigan but this has to be the creepiest thing I have seen. I saw these old abandoned dolls with a sign that reads HILL BABIES next to M-33 between Fairview and Comins.

I don’t know how these misfit dolls ended up here or who created it but it sure is creepy looking. They remind me of Sid’s room in the movie Toy Story. I do like these interesting pieces of roadside art. It breaks up a long and monotonous drive.

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The Stone Building

Posted on September 14, 2020 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Forgotten Places, Uncategorized .

I saw this old stone building or house or whatever it was in a field not far from Otsego Lake near Gaylord. On the side, there is a short wide door. I am not sure if that leads to a cellar or maybe a troll lived here. I figure that is a clue as to what this old building was used for but I do not know what that was.

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The Abandoned Fiborn Quarry in the Upper Peninsula

Posted on September 12, 2020 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Forgotten Places, upper peninsula .

Hidden in the woods in the central-eastern Upper Peninsula not far from Trout Lake are the remnants of the old Fiborn Quarry. The Fiborn Limestone Co. at its peak had two locomotives and a small town of 75 people that worked for the quarry. It operated until the 1930s when the depression crippled the company’s ability to operate. The ruins of some of the buildings are now part of the Karst Preserve which lies between St. Ignace and Newberry. It is about a mile hike to the ruins, but worth the walk to see some old historic building. The full story of the old quarry and how to find it is in Lost In Michigan Volume 3

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The Old Mill in New Troy

Posted on August 19, 2020 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Forgotten Places, Grain Elevators .

This old mill sits near the Galien River just outside of the town of New Troy. The town was going to be called Troy but that name was already given to a town a few miles to the west. It was given the name New Troy. The other town eventually changed its name to Sayer to honor the man who built a nearby sawmill.

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Lamb Knit Goods

Posted on August 9, 2020 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Forgotten Places .

I drove through the southern Michigan town of Colon and it was hard to miss the enormous brick building with LAMB KNIT GOODS CO. painted across the front above the door.

The building was built in 1863 as the Colon Seminary for educating and training teachers. In the 1890s it was converted into the Lamb Knit Goods Company’s factory. The company was named for Isaac Lamb, the inventor of the circular knitting machine, and part-owner of the company. In 1903, the company produced 58,457 pairs of knit gloves and mittens. Later on, they went into making sweaters and bathing suits, ( yes wool bathing suits). The company closed in the 1970s.

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The Ludington Caboose

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

This old caboose sits forgotten and decaying near the entrance to Ludington State Park. I passed by it frequently when camping at the park and I often wonder what its story is. With its faded yellow paint almost gone and bare wood showing it looks as if it has been sitting there for a long time.

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Pike Lake Mini Mall

Posted on July 31, 2020 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Forgotten Places, upper peninsula .

I was traveling from the Two Hearted River over to Crisp Point Lighthouse along the roads in the Upper Peninsula. When I say roads I mean rough seasonal dirt roads that are used as snowmobile trails for half of the year. I had been traveling quite a bit and I looked at my gas gauge in the Jeep and it was half full or half empty depending on your disposition. I was thinking after miles of dusty roads and trees that this would be a bad place to run out of gas. It was a few minutes later that I thought I saw a Mobil sign sticking out of the trees. I rounded the bend and there it was. The Pike Lake Mini Mall. I did not need any gas but an ice cream sounded good. Unfortunately, the mini mall was closed and it looks as if it had been a while since it served its last customer.

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The Company Store of Johannesburg

Posted on July 30, 2020 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Forgotten Places .

About 15 miles east of Gaylord on M32 is the town of Johannesburg. I saw this old building painted white and had to stop and take a pic of it. I thought it looked like an old general store or something. later that day I was in the grocery store in Gaylord and they had some old photographs hanging on the walls. I saw a photo of a building with two arches over the windows then it hit me. That’s the building in Johannesburg I saw earlier.

In the late 1800s, the town was built by Johannesburg Manufacturing Co who operated a sawmill in the area. The town and the company were named after Johanna Hanson the wife of one of the founders of the company. The town was given a post office in 1901 with Thorwald W. Hanson as the first postmaster. The company built this store which still stands today. It must have worked out well for the company, they paid their workers and then got their money back when they bought what they needed at the store. I would assume they also lived in company owned houses too. I know the mining companies would pay with company money only good in the company store. I am not sure if that was done in the sawmills or not, but it must have been difficult to leave town as Tennesee Ernie Ford sang “I owe my soul to the company store”

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The House Down The Road

Posted on July 29, 2020 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Barns and Farms, Forgotten Places .

In my half-century of living in Saginaw, I have traveled to Bay City countless times. I can’t even tell you how many times I have passed by this old farmhouse and never even noticed it. I probably missed it because there was a large gas station that stood in front of it. Now that it has been torn down I saw this magnificent looking old wooden farmhouse standing back off the road. I am still surprised I never noticed it before. I guess when you travel somewhere frequently you stop paying attention to what is around you.

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Historic Fort Wayne

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

Fort Wayne sits near Detroit along the Detroit River and was built to defend and invasion by Canada. The invasion never happened but the fort served the military for a long time. The building in the photo was the enlisted men’s barracks. I believe that is where they stayed before and after being sworn into service in the United States Military. It was built in the 1890s and I can only imagine how many men stayed in the old barracks going to war from the first World War all the way to Vietnam.

Some say the old fort is haunted, you can see my post about that HERE

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