Category Archives: Thumb

An Old Farmhouse

Posted on by Posted in Houses, Thumb .

Abandoned Haunted Michigan House

This old lonely forgotten house is near Watrousville in the Thumb. During these cold Michigan winter nights, I imagine there was a large family living in it that kept warm by the heat of the fireplace. I know people who heat their house with wood, and they do a lot of cutting and splitting.  Myself being a lazy city boy, I just go over and turn up the thermostat, and burn some more gas. I was told when you heat with wood, ” it keeps you twice as warm, once while you are splitting and stacking it, and then again while you burn it”.  This old house looks like it used a lot of wood to keep warm. I hope you are safe and warm wherever you are at.

Note: I only take pics from the road and do not trespass.

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Seeking Refuge in Harbor Beach

Posted on by Posted in Lighthouses, Thumb .

Ships sailing along Lake Huron between Port Huron and the tip of the Thumb in the early 1800s had few places to seek refuge from the gales of November. Or any storm that whips up for that matter. A small harbor helped in Harbor Beach, but It was decided in the mid-1800s to build a break wall to create a safe haven for ships from the fury of Mother Nature. In 1885 a lighthouse was built replacing a light on a wooden frame. It guides ships to the opening in the break wall welcoming them to safety. It about a mile of shore but you can get a good view of it from a pier at the end of Trescott Street in Harbor Beach. I took this pic with a long telephoto lens. On Saturdays, in the summer you can take a boat to the lighthouse for a guided tour. here is their website for more info https://harborbeachlighthouse.org/

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The Side Doors in the School

Posted on by Posted in Schools, Thumb .

I saw this old school on a farm near Bad Axe. I took this pic from the road and don’t trespass, but the doors on the side have me wondering what they were used for. The entrance is in the front so I am wondering if the side doors were an attached outhouse. One for boys and one for girls but it is only an uneducated guess.

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The Stone Church on Lake Huron

Posted on by Posted in Churches, Thumb .

I was passing through the town of Lexington and I saw this majestic stone church. It is St. Denis Catholic Church and construction was started in 1880. It took two years to complete and it was dedicated in 1882. It still stands on M-25 looking toward Lake Huron and it’s hard to miss the incredible stonework as you drive past it.

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The Big Yellow House in Port Sanilac

Posted on by Posted in Thumb .

loop harrison house port sanilac

This Second Empire style mansion was built in the 1870s by Doctor Joseph Loop. A native of New York, Loop moved to Oakland County, Michigan, in 1843. he and his wife, Jane Gardner Loop pioneered this land in Sanilac County in 1854, and after graduating from the University of Michigan medical department in 1855, he opened a practice in Port Sanilac. When this home was built, he kept an office on the lower floor, and serviced a forty-mile circuit, bringing medical care to much of the county. Doctor Loop died in 1903 at the age of ninety-three, leaving the home to his only child, Ada. She and her husband, the Reverend Julius Harrison passed it in turn to one of their sons, Captain Stanley Harrison. In 1964 he deeded it to the Sanilac County Historical Society for a museum.

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Applegate’s Station No. 1

Posted on by Posted in Fire Houses, Thumb .

I was passing through the small town of Applegate in the thumb and this little building caught my eye. The sign on the front reads: APPLEGATE FIRE DEPT. MUSEUM STATION NO. 1 EST 1914. There is a newer fire station down the street. This was the original fire station. I can still imagine the old firefighting apparatus coming out of the wooden doors, racing down the street to help someone in need.

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The Pigeon Depot

Posted on by Posted in Thumb, Train Depots .

The Pigeon Depot was constructed in 1908 and served two railroad lines. In 1883 the Pontiac, Oxford and Port Austin Railroad, a north-south line, had been extended to Caseville and a depot was built at Berne, one mile north of here. Around 1886 the Saginaw, Tuscola and Huron Railroad built tracks through the Tamarack Swamp and crossed the north-south line at this point. This railroad stop became known as Berne Junction. Berne’s population dwindled as people moved to the junction where they established Pigeon in 1888. The Pontiac, Oxford, and Port Austin Line became the Pontiac Oxford and Northern and later the Grand Trunk Railroad. The Saginaw, Tuscola and Huron was absorbed by the Pere Marquette Railroad and then the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad. The Pigeon Depot presently serves as the Pigeon Historical Society Museum.

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The Red Barn

Posted on by Posted in Barns and Farms, Thumb .

I saw this big old red barn somewhere near Bad Axe. I grew up in the big city nowhere near a farm, but I do like these old barns.  Years ago farmers would seal the wood with linseed oil to help protect the wood from the weather. Many would add rust to the oil because it would prohibit mold and moss from growing on the side of the barn. The rust would give the oil a dark reddish color. As paint manufacturing evolved and became a better option for farmers many stayed with the traditional looking red color. At least that is my understanding of why barns are red and the prevalent theory on the internet.

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The White Rock Schoolhouse

Posted on by Posted in Schools, Thumb .

In a field located in the town of White Rock is a two-room brick schoolhouse. It is the third schoolhouse in the town located in the Thumb along the Lake Huron shoreline. The first one was built after the great fire of 1871. It burned down in the great fire of 1881. The second schoolhouse burned down in 1908 and this brick one is what replaced it. The school’s teachers taught children until 1968 when it was closed. A few years later the Huron County Historical Society purchased it and converted it into their museum.

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Ghost Town of Tyre

Posted on by Posted in Ghost towns, Thumb .

The old town of Tyre is in the middle of the Thumb not far from Ubly. It is not a ghost town like in the wild west movies, but the town has for the most part disappeared. It no longer shows up on the map and only a few houses remain. The town was founded in 1857 and given the name Tyre for its stony terrain.  This old grain elevator slowly being overcome by trees still stands next to the railroad tracks.

An old cemetery nearby marks the graves of some of the former residents or should I say, permanent residents. Among the people laid to rest are the Sparling men who were murdered. The court case involving the accused became a national sensation. You can read about it in my post HERE. 

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