Category Archives: Sleeping Bear Dunes

Ken-Tuck-U-Inn

Posted on by Posted in Historic Places, Sleeping Bear Dunes .

If you have ever visited the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore and driven down M-22, you probably marveled at the natural beauty as I have.  Several historic houses and buildings can also be seen on M-22. In the southern part of the National Lakeshore nestled in the woods not far from the road is a light yellow house. It was built by Bertie and Donna Bancroft in the late 1920s as a boarding house for travelers visiting the area. On Sundays, the inn was a popular destination for tourists to enjoy one of Donna’s chicken dinners. During the peak season in summer, she would serve over 100 tourists using the chickens she raised at the inn. Bertie lived in this house until his death in 1963. Donna died the following year. The historic old house is now part of the National Lakeshore and is maintained by the National Park Service.

Bertie and Donna Bancroft cam from the nearby town of Aral which is a ghost town. you can read about it in my post HERE

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The Boekelodge

Posted on by Posted in Historic Places, Houses, Sleeping Bear Dunes .

The Boekelodge is in the southern part of the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. The cabin was originally built in the 1930’s and then left abandoned after a few years. In 1945, the cabin was purchased by the Boekeloo family and updated. A canal was dug from the plat river to flood the low-lying areas for a cranberry bog. The cabin overlooks a pond and is now owned by the National Park Service. A seasonal road off M-22 leads back to the cabin where you can hike the area including a trail that goes to Lake Michigan. It’s a lesser known part of the National Lakeshore, and you have to know where to find Boekeloo Road, since there is no sign along M-22 telling visitors there is a lodge hidden in the woods. I would love to sit on that porch and read a book.

P.S. Volume 2 of my Lost In Michigan book is here. I just got my box of books from Dickinson Press in Grand Rapids. Here is your chance to order a copy from my first print run before they are gone. I didn’t order a lot for the first print run, and I am still working on getting it uploaded to Amazon. I am waiting for my proof book from them before I release it. 

CLICK HERE to order your copy of Lost In Michigan Volume 2

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