Lost In Michigan
  • HOME
  • Books
  • the Images
  • The Artist
  • The Journey

Category Archives: Ghost towns

Sac Bay

Posted on January 18, 2023 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Ghost towns, upper peninsula .

Sac Bay is in the Garden Peninsula south of Fayette in the Upper Peninsula. It is a small bay on the shores of Big Bay De Noc and a town of the same name was started in 1853. It was given a post office in 1860, but was closed after a post office was opened in Fayette. This old building stands across from an old farm where the town once stood. It looks as if it was a general store at one time and then it had a metal addition added to it. There is a little county park along the bay and it is a nice quiet place to visit if you are at Fayette.

Thank you for Subscribing to Lost In Michigan, If you have not subscribed yet, It would mean a lot to me if you did.

enter your email address, I promise I won't send you any spam, it's just an automated email that lets you know there is a new post to read

Leave a comment .

A Ghost Town Bridge

Posted on January 8, 2023 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Ghost towns, Thumb .

Nestled among the trees and over a small creek is an old iron truss bridge. The sign hanging from the top beams reads: MICHIGAN BRIDGE AND PIPE CO. LANSING MICHIGAN. You can see the old bridge from M-25 near Port Austin and it was part of the old sawmill town of Port Crescent. The town started back in 1844 when Walter Hume built a hotel and trading post near the mouth of the Pinnebog River. A few sawmills sprang up in the area around the river and the town was known as Pinnebog but another town upriver had the same name. It was decided to change the name of the town to Port Crescent for the crescent shape the river made as it flowed into the Saginaw Bay.

The lumber town continued to thrive and even survived the Great Fire of 1871. Woods and Company built a large steam-powered sawmill with a brick smokestack that soared into the sky. The town had several houses and even built a large two-story schoolhouse to educated the children.  By 1881 the lumberjacks had cut most of the timber, and what was still standing, was mostly destroyed by the great fire that swept through the thumb. Slowly houses and buildings were moved or dismantled and taken to the surrounding towns such as Port Austin and Bad Axe.  By 1894 all the buildings were gone and very little remained of the once prosperous town. The trees were gone, but a few people realized the sand was valuable for glass making and copper smelting and began mining and shipping the sand around the Great Lakes.

By the 1930s sand mining operations have ceased and that would have been the end of the land being used for anything. After WWII and the prosperity that followed Michigan families began vacationing during the summer. The state of Michigan acquired the property along the shoreline in 1959 and established the Port Crescent State Park. Little remains of the town of Port Crescent. The old bridge is used for a hiking trail and the foundation for the sawmill chimney stands near the entrance to the campground. Next time you visit Port Crescent State Park, or drive past the sign for it on M-25, maybe you will remember the town and the hard-working lumberjacks who lived there.

Thank you for Subscribing to Lost In Michigan, If you have not subscribed yet, It would mean a lot to me if you did.

enter your email address, I promise I won't send you any spam, it's just an automated email that lets you know there is a new post to read

Leave a comment .

The Ghost Town of Hagensville

Posted on November 2, 2022 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Ghost towns .

After stopping at a roadside park to read about the devastating fire in the small town of Metz,  northwest of Alpena. ( can read my post about Metz HERE)  I  wanted to go to the Presque Ilse Lighthouse (you can read my post HERE) and I knew it was northeast from where I was, so I just started heading north. A few miles from Metz I saw this old building that looked like it had been a boarding house, or saloon, or general store, or probably all the above. I stopped and got a pic but I really had no idea of where I was.

When I got home I found out on google maps that I was in Hagensville, or at least what was left of it. An old building and some modern day farms. According to records, I found the Post Office was open from 1886 to 1912 and that William Hagen was the first postmaster. He and Wilson Pines owned the local sawmill.

I can only imagine at the turn of the 20th century that travelers would stop by on their arduous journey across northern Michigan while at the turn of the 21st century travelers whizz by at 55 miles per hour, and if they blink, they will miss it.

FYI Lost In Michigan wall calendars are 50% OFF today on my Zazzle store HERE

 

Thank you for Subscribing to Lost In Michigan, If you have not subscribed yet, It would mean a lot to me if you did.

enter your email address, I promise I won't send you any spam, it's just an automated email that lets you know there is a new post to read

Leave a comment .

The Old Store in the Leelanau Peninsula

Posted on September 18, 2022 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in General Store, Ghost towns .

This old building stands in the Leelanau Peninsula not far from M-22. It is located where the town of Good Harbor once stood once stood along the shores of Lake Michigan between Glen Arbor and Leland. I am not sure if this building that looks like an old general store was part of the town but it looks as if it was built a long time ago.

In the 1860s H. D. Pheatt built a dock in Good Habor Bay to supply passing steamships with firewood. Over the next few decades, a couple of sawmills were built. The town had grown in population and had a hotel, general store, school, and some saloons. The interesting thing is Centerville and Cleveland townships boundary lines ran down the middle of Main Street in Good Harbor. Centerville did not allow saloons, so Good Harbor’s saloon was built on the Cleveland township side of the street. In1905 the last remaining sawmill caught fire and burned down. Because most of the timber had been cut in the area the sawmill was not rebuilt. in the 1920a the old wood buildings still standing in the empty town were dismantled and the lumber used to build them was sold.

Reminder: Lost In Michigan wall calendars are 50% OFF today. you can find out more HERE

Thank you for Subscribing to Lost In Michigan, If you have not subscribed yet, It would mean a lot to me if you did.

enter your email address, I promise I won't send you any spam, it's just an automated email that lets you know there is a new post to read

 

Leave a comment .

The Haunted Ghost Town of Iva

Posted on July 31, 2022 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Ghost towns, Haunted Places .

I found out about the old town of Iva north of Hemlock, in Richland Township, on the corner of Iva and Dice roads and I had to take a trip to see it since I don’t live far away. (Click HERE, if you wanna know where I live).  I was expecting to find a few houses, but when I got there, I found this beautiful old building that looked like it used to be a general store. According to records, the post office in Iva opened December 7th 1894 with John F. Shovan as its first postmaster. The post office closed in October of 1904. I could not find any other information about the town, but I can only assume it was another lumbering town that existed until the trees were gone, and then the lumberjacks moved away becoming a farming community. I would think some of the residence of Iva who died are buried in the cemetery on Dice Road.

The general store was featured in a documentary by Haunted Saginaw HERE

Thank you for Subscribing to Lost In Michigan, If you have not subscribed yet, It would mean a lot to me if you did. 

enter your email address, I promise I won't send you any spam, it's just an automated email that lets you know there is a new post to read

Leave a comment .

The Ghost Town of Deward

Posted on May 25, 2022 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Ghost towns .

This concrete block, with a metal eye in the top, sits along the Upper Manistee River. I think it was used by lumberjacks to pull logs from the river for the sawmill. It was part of the town of Deward northwest of Grayling. You can still find several concrete foundations and machinery supports. They are slowly being overtaken by the trees and vegetation. If you are looking for an adventure this spot in the state forest is a fun place to explore. You can read more about it on my post HERE

Thank you for Subscribing to Lost In Michigan, If you have not subscribed yet, It would mean a lot to me if you did. 

enter your email address, I promise I won't send you any spam, it's just an automated email that lets you know there is a new post to read

 

Leave a comment .

The Ghost Town of Winona

Posted on May 18, 2022 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Ghost towns, upper peninsula .

The town of Winona sits at the base of the Keweenaw Peninsula near the Twin Lakes. There are a few houses there but for the most part it is a ghost town. During its heyday in the 1920s, Winona had restaurants, a brewery, sports teams, churches, boarding houses, a train depot, a saloon, stores, boardwalks, a school, and a barber shop. The town of Winona sprung up around the mines that were started in 1864. The mine closed in 1923 and soon after the town began to dwindle and eventually almost everyone moved away. I saw this old building being consumed by the forest. I am not sure what it was, but its rather large, so maybe a store or boarding house.

Lost In Michigan Books are  ON SALE at Amazon. You can see more by clicking HERE

Thank you for Subscribing to Lost In Michigan, If you have not subscribed yet, It would mean a lot to me if you did. 

enter your email address, I promise I won't send you any spam, it's just an automated email that lets you know there is a new post to read

Leave a comment .

The Old Building in Pequaming

Posted on April 29, 2022 by Mike Sonnenberg 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

Thank you for Subscribing to Lost In Michigan, If you have not subscribed yet, It would mean a lot to me if you did. 

enter your email address, I promise I won't send you any spam, it's just an automated email that lets you know there is a new post to read

 

Leave a comment .

Lost In Pinnebog

Posted on April 25, 2022 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Ghost towns, Thumb .

I saw this old building, or at least what is left of it in the town of Pinnebog. It’s located near the tip of the thumb on the Pinnebog River. It was started back in the 1840s as a lumbering town. Another sawmill town had the same name, but when they established a post office the town changed its name to Port Crescent. That is where the state park is now and is named after the former town.

Some of the buildings from Port Crescent were moved to Pinnebog. I am not sure if this one was one of them but maybe it could have been. There is only a few houses left in the small town and I am sure it has been a long time since it heard the whirring of saw blades at the sawmill.

Thank you for Subscribing to Lost In Michigan, If you have not subscribed yet, It would mean a lot to me if you did. 

enter your email address, I promise I won't send you any spam, it's just an automated email that lets you know there is a new post to read

Leave a comment .

The Store in Herman

Posted on April 12, 2022 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Ghost towns, upper peninsula .

This old building stands along the tracks that pass through the Upper Peninsula town of Herman. It is located a remotes section of the Huron Mountains southeast of L’Anse. The town was named for lumberjack Herman  Keranen who took up farming in the area. Over the decades the population has dwindled and it is mostly a ghost town. I am not sure what this old building was but it looked like a store that was supplied by the railroad at one time.

Lost In Michigan Books are  ON SALE at Amazon. You can see more by clicking HERE

Thank you for Subscribing to Lost In Michigan, If you have not subscribed yet, It would mean a lot to me if you did. 

enter your email address, I promise I won't send you any spam, it's just an automated email that lets you know there is a new post to read

Leave a comment .
Next Page »

Subscribe to Blog

Enter your Email to receive new posts notifications

Categories

  • Artesian Springs
  • autumn
  • Barns and Farms
  • Bars and Restaurants
  • Benchmarks
  • Bridges
  • calendars
  • castles
  • Cemetery
  • Churches
  • cities
  • courthouses
  • Dam
  • Detroit
  • Fire Houses
  • Forgotten Places
  • General Store
  • Ghost Murals
  • Ghost towns
  • Giveaways
  • Grain Elevators
  • Haunted Places
  • Historic Places
  • Houses
  • Iconic Buildings
  • island
  • Landscapes
  • Library
  • Lighthouses
  • Michigan Historical Markers
  • Michigan State Parks
  • Mills
  • Murders
  • Nature
  • Parks
  • people
  • Photography Tips
  • presentations
  • Restaurants
  • Schools
  • Ships and Boats
  • Sleeping Bear Dunes
  • small towns
  • SP March Madness
  • State Parks
  • Thumb
  • Train Depots
  • Uncategorized
  • upper peninsula
  • Water Tower
  • Waterfalls
  • Winter Wonderland

Archives

Pages

  • Books
  • Cart
  • Checkout
  • My Account
  • Shopping Cart
  • Store
  • the Images
  • The Journey
  • The Artist

Archives

  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013

Categories

  • Artesian Springs (2)
  • autumn (73)
  • Barns and Farms (91)
  • Bars and Restaurants (5)
  • Benchmarks (1)
  • Bridges (23)
  • calendars (11)
  • castles (10)
  • Cemetery (65)
  • Churches (120)
  • cities (8)
  • courthouses (26)
  • Dam (16)
  • Detroit (22)
  • Fire Houses (26)
  • Forgotten Places (213)
  • General Store (24)
  • Ghost Murals (3)
  • Ghost towns (63)
  • Giveaways (21)
  • Grain Elevators (34)
  • Haunted Places (69)
  • Historic Places (122)
  • Houses (242)
  • Iconic Buildings (37)
  • island (1)
  • Landscapes (9)
  • Library (26)
  • Lighthouses (115)
  • Michigan Historical Markers (85)
  • Michigan State Parks (22)
  • Mills (4)
  • Murders (15)
  • Nature (28)
  • Parks (18)
  • people (32)
  • Photography Tips (5)
  • presentations (12)
  • Restaurants (13)
  • Schools (99)
  • Ships and Boats (23)
  • Sleeping Bear Dunes (3)
  • small towns (78)
  • SP March Madness (5)
  • State Parks (12)
  • Thumb (69)
  • Train Depots (68)
  • Uncategorized (153)
  • upper peninsula (198)
  • Water Tower (11)
  • Waterfalls (36)
  • Winter Wonderland (24)

WordPress

  • Log in
  • WordPress

CyberChimps WordPress Themes

© Lost In Michigan