Historic Places Archives - Page 11 of 14

The South Haven Scott Club

I was leaving South Haven, headed to Holland, and I passed this beautiful stone building. I thought to myself, that’s a beautiful but strange looking church. I circled back around and to take a photo and then I saw the historical marker on the side. I found out it wasn’t a church after all, but a temple to books. The marker read

This federated women’s club, founded as a reading circle in 1883 and named for Sir Walter Scott, merged with the Literary and Antiquarian Societies to build a clubhouse in 1892. John Cornelius Randall designed the sandstone Queen Anne structure, built by local artisans and completed in 1893. Two stained glass windows created in Austria portray Sir Walter Scott and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. This building has been in continuous use by the Scott Club as a cultural center providing fellowship for women of the area.

Get your Lost In Michigan book before the sale ends, you can order your copy HERE

I hope you will subscribe to email updates since facebook prioritizes your friends a family they will not show you many of my posts, I promise I won’t email you a bunch of junk email, it’s only to notify you of a new post which will be two or three times a week.

[fbcomments]

The New Two Story Outhouse

Posted on March 1, 2018 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Historic Places, Iconic Buildings .

If you have followed my website or read my book you probably know about the two-story outhouse in Cedar Lake. I was traveling near it recently so I decided to drive by and see how the old privy was doing. I was shocked as I came upon the location to see a new two-story outhouse standing tall and proud on the lot where the original one once stood. If you look to the left of the outhouse you can see a small structure behind a tree and that is all that remains of the original historic two-story outhouse. Last time I was there the house that stood in front of the old privy was destroyed by fire and was a burned pile of rubble. I learned from the Vestaburg Historical Society facebook page that someone recently purchased the lot and built the new outhouse in honor of its historic past.

Lost In Michigan books are ON SALE this week you can order your copy HERE

Want to win a Lost In Michigan Book? to find out how CLICK HERE

I hope you subscribe to email updates so you won’t miss any new posts,

[fbcomments]

The Old Ford Sawmill and the Charcoal Briquette

Posted on July 16, 2017 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Historic Places, upper peninsula .

Henry Ford was obsessed with building the Model-T as efficient and inexpensive as possible. To do that he used the process of Vertical Integration where Ford Motor Company created companies that supplied the factory with materials. Ford made their own steel, harvested rubber and built sawmills to supply lumber to the factory.

A few miles south of L’Anse on U.S. 41 is the town of Alberta where Henry Ford built a sawmill town in 1936 to supply lumber to his grown auto company. The town was named after the daughter of one of his executives. The community consisted of a sawmill, houses for the workers and their families, and two schools to educate the children while their parents were working.

Henry Ford saw all the sawdust that was created by his sawmills and felt it was going to waste. At his sawmill in Kingsford Michigan, named for Edward G. Kingsford who worked for Ford managing his lumbering operations, the mill created an enormous amount of sawdust. A University of Oregon chemist, Orin Stafford invented a method for making pillow-shaped lumps of fuel from sawdust and called them charcoal briquettes. Thomas Edison designed the briquette factory built next to the sawmill and Edward G. Kingsford managed it. Ford sold the briquettes at his dealerships and after world war II as the suburbs grew and the Webber grill became popular, the demand for the bags of black briquettes soared. Ford sold the company in 1951 and it was renamed Kingsford in honor of Edward G. Kingsford.

In 1954 the town of Alberta was donated to Michigan Tech and is still used today for forestry education. If you’re in the area they give tours of the historic town and sawmill to visitors.

Lost In Michigan books are ON SALE this weekend on Amazon HERE

If you like what I post it would really mean a lot to me if you will subscribe to email updates so you won’t miss any new posts,

[fbcomments]

The Wizard of Oz Castle in Michigan

Posted on May 18, 2017 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in castles, Historic Places .

Standing near the shoreline of Lake Michigan, south of Holland, is an old brick castle. The castle was built in 1894 by German Immigrant and Chicago businessman Michael Schwarz. The family with their six daughters lived in the castle for about a year but then moved to Holland and left the old castle abandoned. In 1896, Dr. John Parr purchased the Castle making it into a summertime camp for the boys and girls of Chicago Preparatory School in Chicago where he was the head minister.

It must have been a magical place for a summer camp and many of the children’s parents loved the area so much that they built summer homes near the camp. Dr. Parr and his wife ran the camp until 1917 when his nephew Carter Brown and his wife took over the duties of running the camp. Over the years their children took over managing the camp. by 1960 the camp had grown tremendously, and the taxes and maintenance had become too much and the camp became Camp Park, a private association. The association owns the magnificent castle and it is used as a library and meeting place.

But as Paul Harvey would say, here is the rest of the story. Author L. Frank Baum had a summer cottage nearby in Macatawa and it is said that the castle partly inspired the Wizard of Oz. and that some of the residents of castle park were his inspiration for a few of the characters in the book, such as the tinman. Exactly how much the castle inspired Baum is unknown but west Michigan was where he went to relax and get away from the pressures of daily life.

Castle Park remains as a private community.

If you like this story you will love my Lost In Michigan books, you can order your copy HERE

If you like what I post it would really mean a lot to me if you will subscribe to email updates so you won’t miss any new posts,

The old Mansion in Bad Axe and the State Police

Posted on April 19, 2017 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Historic Places, Houses .

A few years ago I saw this old mansion in Bad Axe, and after I posted a photo of it, some of the locals told me it was the former Michigan governor’s home of Albert Sleeper. I found out some interesting facts about Governer Sleeper and one of them was he created the Michigan State Police.

100 years ago today The Michigan Department of State Police began as a temporary, wartime emergency force for the purpose of domestic security during World War I. On April 19, 1917, Governor Albert Sleeper created the Michigan State Troops Permanent Force, (also known as the Michigan State Constabulary). With Colonel Roy C. Vandercook as the first commanding officer, this new force consisted of five Troops of mounted, dismounted and motorized units, totaling 300 men. On March 26, 1919, Public Act 26 reorganized the Constabulary as the permanent, peacetime Michigan State Police.

I find interesting facts just by traveling around the state and asking questions. I have been waiting a while for this day to come around so I can do this post. I hope you liked it. I am not sure what is happening with the old mansion since I have not been out to Bad Axe in a while, but I hope someone is showing it some love.

Lost In Michigan T-Shirts are on SALE this week, I don’t do advertising on my website and it’s just me that does all the photos and writing. T-shirts help me with expenses to keep doing Lost In Michigan, I hope you will take a look at my shirts HERE

If you like what I post I hope you will subscribe to email updates so you won’t miss any new posts,

[fbcomments]

Melonheads and Hauntings at Felt Mansion

Posted on February 16, 2017 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Haunted Places, Historic Places, Houses .

Six weeks after Dorr E. Felt and his family moved into the completed mansion in 1928 near Holland, his wife Agnes suddenly died. A year and a half later Mr. Felt died never having much time to enjoy their magnificent new home. Some believe their spirits still haunt the 25 rooms.

There is also an urban legend about an old hospital nearby where a doctor performed experiments on children with large bulbous heads and that some of the children escaped and lurk in the woods. I am not sure about the hauntings or the so-called melonheads, but it is a beautiful old mansion. It’s owned by Laketown Township now and the estate is a park with a disc golf course. ( if it were up to me, I would put some manikins with big heads hidden in the trees to mess with the disc golfers, but I guess that’s why I am not in charge of anything)

Lost In Michigan books are ON SALE this weekend on Amazon HERE

I hope you subscribe to email updates so you won’t miss any new posts,

Some Interesting Facts about The Owosso Casket Company

Posted on January 8, 2017 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Cemetery, Historic Places .

I was told this old building was part of the Owosso Casket Company, and while I was lost in Owosso, I took a pic of it figuring it was something important without knowing anything about the company history. As I normally do, I did a little research on google, and found out that at one time the Owosso Casket Co. was the largest casket manufacturer in the United States. The company supplied the coffins for two president’s funerals, William McKinley after he was assassinated in Sept. 1901, and former President Benjamin Harrison, who died March 13. 1901. The Company was started in 1882 and closed in the 1940’s and was producing up to 150 caskets per day during its peak.

I hope you subscribe to email updates so you won’t miss any new posts,

[fbcomments]

The Mysterious House On Gull Island

Posted on January 5, 2017 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Forgotten Places, Historic Places, Houses .

1966 postcard of Gull Island

A strange and mysterious house still sits on the lonely and desolate island in the Grand Traverse Bay. The island sits offshore from Northport in the Leelanau Peninsula. It is called Bellow Island, and has an old abandoned house on it that is now occupied by a flock of Herring Gulls.

The Island was purchased by Edward Taylor Ustick, a prominent businessman in St Louis Mo. He had the cottage built on the island around 1910 by Brian Woolsey, who built the dairy building that became the Woolsey Memorial Airport HERE. The family used the cottage for several years living with the birds and in 1931 after Edward died his son Lee Ustick, now a Harvard professor, inherited the house and island.

Lee had not visited the island frequently and the last time he was there was in 1945. a few years later in 1948 he got a call from the Michigan state police that the house had been destroyed by vandals. Six juveniles from Northport took axes to the home and destroyed all the plumbing, furniture and walls making the home inhabitable.

In the 1960’s the island was finally sold to retired Great Lakes train-ferry captain from Ludington, Herbert Yost, and his wife, Jane. They were going to build a new cabin on the island. The house was never built because Captain Yost was killed in an automobile crash in 1965.

In 1995, an agreement was reached with the Leelanau Conservancy to acquire the island for permanent protection as a public trust and bird sanctuary and off-limits to any visitors for the protection of the gulls that reside on the island. The old house originally built by Edward Ustick still stands on the island and is slowly crumbling.

If you found this post interesting, Lost In Michigan books are ON SALE this week, you can order them on Amazon by clicking HERE

If you rely on Facebook for post updates, I only share older posts. If you want to see me most recent posts I hope you subscribe to email updates

The Upper Peninsula Christmas Party That Changed America

Posted on December 17, 2016 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Historic Places, upper peninsula .

I wish this was a story of a wonderful Christmas miracle, but instead, it’s about a celebration that ended in tragedy. The town of Calumet, in the Keweenaw Peninsula, was one of the wealthiest towns in the United States in the late 1800’s because of its copper deposits and mining industry.

The Italian Hall in Calument, on the left side of the building you can see the arched doorway that remains as a memorial to those who died.

On Christmas Eve in 1913, after being on strike for 5 months copper miners and their families gathered for a yuletide party on the second floor of the Italian Hall in Calumet. During the party for the striking miners and their families, someone yelled, “Fire!” Although there was no fire, seventy-three people died while attempting to escape down a stairwell. Over half of those who died were children between the ages of six and ten. The belief is the door at the bottom of the stairway opened inward, and other sources say it opened outward toward the streets, but the narrow stairway became congested and after the first person fell it became a ” Domino Effect” with people trying to escape what they thought was a fire. The tragic event was part of the reason building codes were enacted for building capacity and fire escapes. The perpetrator who yelled “FIRE” creating the tragedy was never identified. It is believed to by some historians that “fire” was called out by an anti-union ally of mine management to disrupt the party. The event was memorialized by Woody Guthrie in the song “1913 Massacre”, which claims the doors were held shut on the outside by “the copper boss’ thug men”

The Italian Hall was built in 1908 as headquarters for Calumet’s benevolent society. The Society, organized along ethnic lines, encouraged and financially aided immigrants and provided relief to victims of hardship. Following the 1913 Christmas Eve tragedy, the hall continued to be used for nearly five decades. The two-story red brick building was razed in 1984. Through the efforts of the Friends of the Italian Hall and Local 324 of the AFL-CIO, the site of the building became a memorial park dedicated to the people who lost their lives in 1913.

Lost In Michigan books are ON SALE this weekend on Amazon HERE

It would mean a lot to me if you Subscribe to Lost In Michigan

Hell’s Half Mile In Bay City

Posted on October 26, 2016 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Haunted Places, Historic Places .

In the late 1800’s, after the lumbering season was done, lumberjacks and shanty boys would head out of the woods and into town, with pay they just received for a season of hard work harvesting timber in the northern woods of Michigan. One of the first large cites they would get to was Bay City, and Water Street along the Saginaw River was there for the men to spend their money. There was a plethora of businesses looking to separate the Lumberjack with his hard earned money, and after months in the woods they were happy to spend money at the saloons, dance halls and brothels, drinking and gambling in the downtown blocks on water street. The area was known for large drunken brawls, giving it the nickname “Hell’s Half Mile” There were tunnels and catacombs that ran under the city streets and buildings, allowing passage from saloons and brothels, without being seen, or maybe even to drag dead body out to hide elsewhere.

I find it kinda funny that downtown Bay City has gone from a reputation of violence and lawlessness, to a place of quint coffee shops and antique stores, and oh by the way, my Friend owns the Americana Antique Mall on Water Street, i hope you will stop by and say hi next time you are in Downtown Bay City.

It would really mean a lot to me if you subscribe to Lost In Michigan

« Previous Page