State Parks Archives - Lost In Michigan

Maybury

Posted on February 22, 2023 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in State Parks .

Maybury State Park sits west of Northville in the Metro Detroit area. The land was originally developed in 1919 as the Detroit Municipal Tuberculosis Sanitarium, the facility was later named for William H. Maybury who spearheaded its development and actually oversaw its construction. The sanitarium had around forty buildings and could generate power and grow most of its own food. It served as a quarantine and recovery center for people with tuberculosis. At that time, there was no cure for tuberculosis and the sanitarium provided comfort for the patients suffering from the disease. After the development of antibiotics tuberculosis was not as common and the sanitarium was closed in 1969. Most of the buildings had been torn down by 1975 when the State of Michigan acquired the land and redeveloped it into Maybury State Park. A metal sign with the words Maybury Sanitarium stands over the entrance for the hiking trails reminding visitors of the buildings that once stood there.

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Dodge No. 4 State Park

Posted on January 4, 2023 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in autumn, State Parks .

I had this pic that I took a few months ago but never posted it. It is of Dodge Number 4 State Park that sits on Cass Lake near Pontiac. The park was created in 1922 when the Dodge Brothers donated land to the state. It is probably the smallest state park in size but it is a beautiful place in Metro Detroit.

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The Sears House

Posted on September 20, 2022 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Houses, State Parks .

Near the shores of Lake Huron in Hoeft State Park is a pleasant little house that is available for visitors to rent. This is no ordinary house since it is a historic Sears mail-order kit house. Built by park rangers and the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1929, it was erected on the road the leads into the campground. The model was the Sears-Roebuck Rodessa, but the floor plan was modified by the builders so the house could accommodate two ranger’s families if needed. The house has three bedrooms and sleeps up to eight people. It includes a Sunroom, game room, master bedroom with an attached bathroom. Sears Catalog Homes were catalog and kit houses sold primarily through mail order by Sears, Roebuck and Company. Sears reported that more than 70,000 of these homes were sold in North America between 1908 and 1940. More than 370 different home designs in a wide range of architectural styles and sizes were offered over the program’s 33-year history.

If you’re looking for a house to stay at in northern Michigan, check out the lodge at Hoeft state park. Or next time you are at Hoeft and drive past it going to the campground, you will know a little bit about this magnificent little lodge.

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Shelter at Black Lake

Posted on July 29, 2022 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in State Parks .

Onaway State Park sits on the southern shoreline of Black Lake. At the western edge of the park a trail leads from the boat launch along the lake to a stone shelter that over looks the lake. It is a nice little hike through the trees for a nice view overlooking the water.

While I was there I noticed a little American flag and a stone memorial next to the shelter. It reads: In Memory of Al Sutton Park Ranger 1993 to 2002 Onaway State park.

Thank you to all the rangers. While I am at a park, I am on vacation and enjoying nature and you are there working to keep things running for all of us trying to relax.

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Spring at Fox River

Posted on March 22, 2022 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in State Parks, upper peninsula .

Between Seney and Grand Maris is a state forest campground along the Fox River. I needed to stop for a break on my travels around the Upper Peninsula and found this nice little quiet campground. I also found a pipe sticking out of the ground with water flowing out of it. I filled up my water bottle with the cool refreshing water from this artesian spring. This was a favorite fishing spot along the Fox River for Hemingway, and I wonder if he got water from this natural spring back in the day.

P.S. Michigan has several state forest campground throughout the U. P. and I think they are hidden gems if you are looking for a quiet place to camp.

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A Mystery at Wilderness State Park

Posted on December 10, 2021 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Forgotten Places, State Parks .

Waugoshance Point sits out at the far western end of Wilderness State Park at the tip of the mitten. The mysterious metal framework sits on the point. I have seen where some people refer to it as a glider frame. After looking at it I am not convinced that is what it is. I did not have a magnet with me but I am sure it is made out of thin wall steel tubing. It is about 5 feet tall, 10 feet long and about 3 feet wide. The tubing at the back has been cut off so it may have been a lot longer at one time. The fact that it is steel makes me think that it was not used for anything aeronautical since it would be rather heavy. It does look like it may have been used by the military since it seems rather complicated in design. Some people have said it looks like an old dune buggy frame but that does not look right to me either.

During WWII the military did a lot of drone testing in northern Lake Michigan and used the old Waugoshance Lighthouse for a target. I am thinking that this may be some sort of launching framework for a drone but I am still not sure about that. I looked all over it for a serial number or some sort of markings but I could not find anything. I have been trying to get out to see this thing for several years but with the water levels of Lake Michigan being high it was surrounded by water. I finally made it out to Waugoshance Point this fall. If you know what this thing is or was please post a comment below.

For more about the Waugoshance Lighthouse and the drone program, I hope you will take a look at my book Light From The Birdcage HERE

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The B-17 Crash in the Porkies

Posted on September 24, 2021 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in State Parks, upper peninsula .

A few miles from the main entrance to Porcupine Mountains State Park is the small town of Silver City. Next to an old boarded-up gift shop is a mangled propeller. It is about all that remains of a B-17 bomber that crashed in the Porkies. On April 18th, 1944 the B-17 was on a training mission when it left Sioux City Iowa headed to Marquette. During the flight an engine caught fire and they were ordered to land in Duluth Minnesota for repairs. Unfortunately, the underpowered airplane was not going to make it. Fortunately, the crew bailed out and landed safely on the ground. The bomber crashed in the trees somewhere south of the Lake In The Clouds

The flight crew managed to walk to Silver City. At the time, the old boarded-up gift shop was a bar and the airmen waited there for their rescue. The military quickly came in and recovered the wreckage of the airplane especially the machine guns that were onboard. One of the propellers was left at the bar in Silver City as a reminder of the incident. Fragments of the wreckage can still be found in the forest but it is a ways off one of the hiking trails and you have to bushwack your way through the trees to find it.

P.S. believe it or not, the B-17 propeller is not the only bent-up one on display in the Upper Peninsula. You can read about the one on my post HERE

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Orchard Beach

Posted on October 17, 2020 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in State Parks .

In the late 1880s, George Hart cleared the land north of Manistee where Orchard Beach State Park now stands and planted an apple orchard, which gave the park its name. The orchard sat on a high bluff overlooking Lake Michigan. By 1892 Hart had built a boardwalk and theater to attract more tourists. With its growing popularity, A trolley line ran from Manistee for people to visit enjoying the view and sunsets over Lake Michigan.

As Michiganders fell in love with the automobile few people were using the trolly and passenger trains. Trolley service to the park eventually stopped and the site was purchased by the Manistee Board of Commerce which deeded it to the state to become part of the Michigan state park system in 1921. The state built a campground among the apple trees and purchased the dairy farm across the street which is now a natural area and used for hiking trails.

The limestone buildings in the park were designed by architect Ernest F. Hartwick and built in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps as part of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s “New Deal”. The apple trees are gone and large oak and maple trees have taken their place. The park was listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 2009, cited as “one of the most intact examples of a Michigan state park developed in the 1930s and 1940s

Because of the erosion of the Lake Michigan shoreline, the historic pavilion will be moved back 200 feet in order to save it for future generations.

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How Michigan Started with a Mistake

Posted on August 28, 2020 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Historic Places, State Parks .

Located in the woods are two markers where Michigan got its start about two centuries ago. They mark the states Meridian, (north and south line) and the Baseline, (east and west line). All of the townships and counties in Michigan’s two peninsulas are surveyed from these two points. The markers are located in Meridian Baseline State Park about 15 miles north of Jackson.

The state has two points because there were two surveyors. On April 28, 1815, Benjamin Hough began surveying the Michigan territory. He started heading north from Fort Defiance in Ohio and about 70 miles north he set the first initial point in Michigan and began surveying sections 1 and 2. A second surveyor by the name of Fletcher surveyed sections 3 and 4 but his work was grossly inaccurate. To correct Fletcher’s mistakes a second initial point was established. One point is used for the east side of the state and the other is used for the west side of the state. Michigan is the only state to use two initial points for its public land surveying.

For years the twin initial points sat in a landlocked section of woods surrounded by private land. No one was allowed to visit them. In 2014 the state was able to create a parking lot and a trail to the two markers. It is about a mile and a half hike round trip to see the markers. If you do visit I recommend bug spray since they are in a rather swampy area.

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The Other Suspension Bridge in Michigan

Posted on September 7, 2017 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Bridges, State Parks .

When I mention suspension bridge most Michiganders think of the Mackinaw Bridge with its tall white towers and green decking stretching across from the lower to the upper peninsula. There is another suspension bridge that crosses the Rifle River on the hiking trails in the Rifle River Recreation Area near Lupton.

Millions of motorists have crossed the ” Mighty Mac” but I wonder how many hikers have crossed this secluded little wooden bridge in one of Michigan’s serene state parks. If you haven’t explored the Rifle River Recreation, you should, you will never know what you might find.

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