Traveling up to the Grand Traverse Lighthouse at the tip of the Leelanau Peninsula near Northport I passed by the beautiful little Clinton F Woolsey memorial airport. It’s hard to miss the fascinating stone building with a black and yellow roof next to the road.

Clinton F. Woolsey was born in 1894 in Northport and grew up on his family farm, He took great interest in anything mechanical and after finishing school in Northport he studied engineering at Valparaiso University in Indiana. After college, He enlisted in the military eventually becoming a test pilot. While in the military he trained pilots and one of his students was Charles a Lindbergh ( think you know who he is) Interestingly Clinton was working on a plane he nicknamed the “Woolsey Bomber” and planing to be the first to fly non stop over the Atlantic ocean, but was called into duty for the Pan-American Goodwill Flight of 1926- 1927.

Capt Clinton F Wolsey (left) and co-pilot Leut. J. W. Benton with their amphibious planed the “Detroit” which crashed Feb 26th 1927

He oversaw the construction and testing of the five Loening OA-1 amphibian observation planes to be used on the tour. Tragically he was killed on the tour when his plane collided with another plane in the clouds on February 26^th 1927 in Buenos Aries. After the collision co-plot John W. Benton climbed out onto the wing without a parachute to try to lower the damaged landing gear. Captain Woolsey could have probably parachuted to safety but chose to pilot the plane with Benton on the wing. Without being able to lower the landing gear the plane crashed and both men were killed. “I have never witnessed a more courageous sacrifice,” said Capt. Ira Eaker, who witnessed the crash from his plane.

In 1934, during the Great Depression, Capt. Woolsey’s 85-year-old father Byron Woolsey wanted to ensure that Clinton would always be remembered. He donated 80 acres of his land to Leelanau Township on the condition it be used as an airport in honor of his son. The township added another 120 acres. A Works Progress Administration crew converted the farm, as part of a “New Deal” public works project, into a long grassy runway and expanded Woolsey’s creamery/milk transfer station into a terminal. The Northport Woman’s Club donated a bronze plaque honoring Capt. Woolsey, which was placed on a large boulder near the terminal.

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In 1886, William Crapo “Billy” Durant and business partner Josiah Dallas Dort leased this building along the Flint River to form the Flint Road Cart Company. Eventually, it became the Durant-Dort Carriage Factory and one of the largest carriage builders in the world.

In the early 1900s, Durant would take control of the Buick Motor Co., and using the Durant-Dort resources he grew the company into one of the most successful auto manufacturers in the country. Durant used Buick’s success to build General Motors in 1908 and as they say “the rest is history”

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This massive brick building in Belding sits near downtown across from the library. Built in 1906, Belrockton is the last remaining boardinghouse of the three provided by the Belding Brothers and Company for its single female workers. A major silk manufacturer in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the company employed hundreds of young women and earned Belding the title of “Silk City of the World.” Providing accommodations for one hundred residents and staff, the Belrockton Dormitory, a Classical-Revival-inspired building, was erected at a cost of thirty thousand dollars. Following the closing of the company’s silk mills in 1935, the “Bel” served as a residential training center for the National Youth Administration. In 1943 the building became a recreation center. The city of Belding purchased the structure in 1950 to serve as a community center. In 1987 it became the home of the Belding Museum.

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This old cannon stands next to a VFW post along the Red Arrow Highway near Watervliet in southwest Michigan. I pass by a lot of VFW posts that have decommissioned military equipment such as tanks and canons, but this particular cannon is unique and rare. It dates back to World War I. The wooden chassis and wheels were built by Studebaker. The gun portion was made by the Northwest Ordnance Company in Watervliet, New York where the United States created an arsenal in 1893 along the Hudson River. It is the oldest continuously active arsenal in the United States, and today produces much of the artillery for the army, as well as gun tubes for cannons, mortars, and tanks

Watervliet Michigan was named after Watervliet New York, where the first settlers to the area in Michigan came from in the 1830s. I can only assume that is how this historic cannon came to stand in the southwestern Michigan town is its connection to the town in New York.

Armistice Day is the day that marked the end of World War I. The armistice was signed between the Allies of World War I and Germany and fighting would stop on the 11th hour, of the 11th day, of the 11th month” in 1918. It is why we celebrate Veteran’s Day on November 11th. Thank you to all the men and women who have served or continue to serve and defend this country and its Constitution. It is your sacrifices and commitment that allow me to continue my pursuit of happiness.

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The tracks are gone, and a rail trail  for biking and hiking remains where they used to be. Autumn trees of reds and yellows stand alongside the path with memories of the tragic forest fire that burned the town of Metz.

A photo of the warped tracks from the fire ( photo from the roadside park in Metz)

The historical marker in Metz reads: On October 15, 1908, raging fires swept the pine forests of Presque Isle County. When the flames approached the village of Metz, a train jammed with women and children left for Posen, five miles away. At Nowicki’s siding, two miles out of town, huge piles of blazing wood lined the track. As the engine raced past the siding, where intense heat had warped the rails, the train left the track, leaving an open car full of refugees in the center of the flames. Sixteen were killed and dozens of others badly burned. Throughout this part of the state hundreds were left homeless, as many homes and farms were devastated. Supplies soon poured in so that shelters could be erected before the onset of the northern winter.

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