Historic Places Archives - Lost In Michigan

Camp Pori

Posted on December 8, 2023 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Historic Places, upper peninsula .

deep in the Ottawa National Forest on the west side of the Upper Peninsula is the location of Camp Pori. It was a CCC camp during the depression and then used as a prisoner of war camp during World War II. After the war the camp was used by Michigan Tech as a training ground for its forestry students. The camp closed in 1954 and all of the buildings were removed. The only thing remaining is a sign. Nothing from the camp stands today, but sometimes it is more about the journey then the destination. It is a nice drive through the forest to see this historic sites location.

If you love exploring the Upper Peninsula or reading about its unique places, I hope you will take a look at my new book LOST IN MICHIGAN’S UPPER PENINSULA available on Amazon HERE

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Presque Isle Lodge

Posted on August 25, 2023 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Historic Places .

Lumberman Newell A. Eddy, Sr.and his wife Marianna purchased the land around where the Lodge sits for their personal recreational use. The land was purchased in several transactions from 1908 to 1913. With the Construction of US-23 tourists began visiting the area. The Eddy’s son, Newell A. Eddy Jr. who also vacationed at the property constructed a lodge in 1920. Eddy also built the knotty pine furniture within the Lodge, with the help of area craftsmen. After the opening of the Lodge, Eddy established the “Habitant Shops of Presque Isle Lodge,” which constructed similar furniture for guests. The shop first operated from the Presque Isle Lodge property, but by 1922 had moved to Bay City.

Newell A. Eddy Jr. died in 1940 and his family sold the Lodge in 1944. The lodge, placed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2008. It is an example of rustic architecture popular in Michigan in the first half of the twentieth century. During this time Michigans lumber industry became a leading manufacturer of rustic-styled, board-and-batten siding, and rough-hewn logs. The historic lodge still operates to this day.

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The Hidden Log Cabin Church

Posted on July 31, 2023 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Churches, Historic Places .

The steeple for St Lorenz Church towers over the town of Frankenmuth. An old graveyard sits across the street from the church and is the final resting place of some of the towns earliest residents. In the back of the graveyard is a building constructed out of logs. It is a recreation of the original log cabin St Lorenz Church dedicated on Christmas Day in 1846. The original church was built by 15 German immigrants who came to the area in 1845. The settlers named the “colony” Frankenmuth, by combining the name of their home region, Franconia, with mut, the German word for courage.

P.S. I live and was raised in nearby Saginaw and have visited Frankenmuth many times. I just recently seen this old log building behind the graveyard. It reminds me that no mater how much I explore Michigan there is still more locations and stories to find.

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Bay Furnace

Posted on July 28, 2023 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Historic Places, upper peninsula .

Bay Furnace Campground sits west of Christmas off M-28. Here you will find the ruins of an old iron smelting furnace that gives the campground its name. There is a parking area along the driveway to the campground that has a short trail that leads to the ruins. They were built in the 1870s and were part of the town of Onota. The town burned down in 1877, and all that remains is the stone furnace. Not only is it an interesting historic site to check out, but it has a great view of Lake Superior.

If you love exploring the Upper Peninsula I hope you will take a look at my new book Lost In Michigan’s Upper Peninsula available on Amazon HERE

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The Sacred Rock

Posted on June 28, 2023 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Benchmarks, Historic Places .

Along the shoreline of Lake Huron is the Sacred Rock and it is huge. It’s about 20 feet long and 8 feet wide and 4 feet tall out of the sand. The Native American tribes used the rock as a boundary marker to separate two tribes hunting grounds. Legend has it that the two tribes chiefs argued over the hunting ground and Kitchie Manitou, the Great Spirit, dropped the massive boulder on the two chiefs to keep the tribes from going to war. It is said that when it rains the blood from the two chiefs underneath it weeps out of the rock. The rock is about a mile north of P.H. Hoeft State Park near Rogers City in front of private cabins. You can hike along the shoreline to the rock from the state park.

besides being a historic landmark the rock has a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers mark secured to the top of it. The top of it is a little scuffed up and I can only assume the wind was pushing the ice from Lake Huron across it.

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The Gordon Beach Inn

Posted on June 16, 2023 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Historic Places, Iconic Buildings .

This historic inn stands in the southwest corner of Michigan in the town of Union Pier. It is nestled among the trees and summer vacation homes not far from Lake Michigan. The historical marker standing next to it reads:

Built in 1924 by Louis and Lena Gordon, and expanded four years later, Gordon Beach Inn was the centerpiece of the Jewish resort subdivision of the same name. The Gordons operated the inn for a decade before losing it in the Great Depression. Robert Miller, an African American and a former Chicago alderman, purchased the property in the 1960s as Gordon Beach was integrating. The inn was restored in 1991 to its 1920s appearance.

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The First Women’s Club In Michigan

Posted on May 8, 2023 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Historic Places, Library .

The Ladies’ Library Association of Kalamazoo officially incorporated in 1852 and it was the first women’s club organized in Michigan and the third organized in the United States. Its purpose was to promote the cause of equal education for women. The organization built This building in downtown Kalamazoo in 1879, and it is the building first in the nation erected for the use of a women’s club. Yearly subscriptions cost fifty cents and were available to both men and women, however, only women could be members of the organization. In addition to creating Kalamazoo’s first lending library, the LLA activities have included advocating for the right for women to vote, the creation of day nurseries for working mothers, founding Kalamazoo’s first art club, and establishing a community education program for women

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River Raisin Battlefield

Posted on May 3, 2023 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Historic Places .

A 15 star American Flag waves over the historic River Raisin Battlefield in Monroe. It commemorates the Battles of Frenchtown and the deadliest battle in Michigan’s history.

The first battle was fought on January 18, 1813, when a small American force under the command of Colonel William Lewis attacked a British and Native American force at Frenchtown. The Americans were victorious, driving the British and Native Americans from the town.

The British and Native Americans retaliated four days later. Many of the Americans were inexperienced troops from Kentucky sand they were ill-prepared and unable to retreat. Of the thousand American soldiers 397 were killed, and 547 were taken prisoner. The prisoners were marched to Detroit and those to weak to walk were killed.

The battleground officially began operation as a national park on October 22, 2010 and is the only national battlefield marking a site of the War of 1812. A newly constructed visitor’s center is open seven days a week.

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The PBB Catastrophe of 1973

Posted on May 1, 2023 by Mike Sonnenberg 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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Lakeview’s Jail Cell

Posted on April 25, 2023 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Historic Places .

The town of Lakeview stands along the shores of Tamarack Lake in central Michigan. It is there that you will find the Lakeview Area Museum. Next to the building is an old metal cage with faded red paint that was once a jail cell. It has two cots and I could only imagine what it would be like to be imprisoned in the confined cage for any length of time The museum was not open when I saw the old jail cell to learn more about it so I guess I will have to stop by some other time.

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