Category Archives: Thumb

What is That Brick Structure in Port Hope?

Posted on by Posted in Forgotten Places, Thumb .

port hope chimney

From a distance, this tall structure in Port Hope looks like lighthouse since it is so close to Lake Huron near the tip of the Thumb. After you get up close to it you realize it is something different. Thankfully there is a historical marker next to it that tells you what it is and its significance. Maybe I am one of the few people that bother to read the signs but I appreciate them. In this day and age of google sometimes a plain old sign still works extremely well and reads:

This chimney was built in 1858 by John Geitz. It is all that remains of the lumber mill established that year by William R. Stafford. Port Hope grew up around the mill. For a score of years, this town was the center of lumbering in the Thumb. It also became an important producer of salt. In 1871 and again in 1881 the mill, the docks, and possessions of hundreds of people were destroyed by fire. This chimney is a monument to those pioneers who by their courage and industry developed this area.

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Caseville Church

Posted on by Posted in Churches, Thumb .

It’s Sunday and time for another historic church post. This is the tall and graceful Methodist Episcopal Church in Caseville. The historical marker standing nearby gives a little history and reads:

In 1868 the Reverend Manasseh Hickey and twelve settlers organized a Methodist Episcopal Church in Caseville. Services were held in a schoolhouse until the present church was built. Upon its dedication on November 15, 1874, the Gothic-inspired structure, with its 70-foot-high steeple, became a focal point for the community. Local contractor William Ormiston built the church, which contains stained-glass windows by McFadden and Reed of New York City. In 1907 a basement was excavated, and in 1940 the memorial windows were installed Over the years the steeple, which provided a landmark for Saginaw Bay boaters, was racked by structural problems and lightning, and had to be continually repaired. In 1974 the spire was replaced with a duplicate of the original.

I have never gone out fishing from Caseville, but I imagine back before GPS many fishermen would look for the steeple to help find the entrance to the Caseville harbor. I also wonder how long the pine tree has been growing next to the church. It is almost as tall as the steeple reaching into the sky.

Don’t forget to order your copy of Lost In Michigan Volume 3. t makes for a perfect Christmas gift for the person who loves Michigan.

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Applegate Barn

Posted on by Posted in autumn, Barns and Farms, Thumb .

I was zig-zagging my way across the Thumb when I saw this old barn hanging out with the Autumn trees. I could not tell you where it is located or probably even find it again. I was not paying close attention to the names of the roads I was traveling down. I know it is somewhere near Applegate but don’t ask me where I am just wondering a traveler seeing what I can discover along the way. There is no better place to get lost than Michigan in Autumn.

“Not until we are lost do we begin to understand ourselves.” Henry David Thoreau

Reminder: My next presentation will be in Omer on Monday, November 4th at the historic Masonic Lodge at 7 pm.

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The Standard School in the Trees

Posted on by Posted in Schools, Thumb, Uncategorized .

On my trip to Marysville I could have taken the expressway but that would be rather boring. I decided to zig-zag my way through the thumb. I got near Sandusky and I figured I would take some back roads since I had already been through the town. I came upon an old building among the trees. I knew it was a school because the faded metal sign above the door had the words ” Standard School ”

I have seen many schoolhouses in Michigan that are a standard school. I searched and searched the internets to figure out what that is but I am still not exactly sure. I think it is a K-8 or K-12 school but I am not sure. I know a normal school is a school for training teachers. If you know what a standard school is please leave me a comment I am curious.

P.S. thank you to the Marysville library for having me and to everyone who came out to listen to me speak. It was a fun time. I have another presentation coming up in Lakeview at the Tamarack library on October 29th at 6 pm.

I also have one coming up in omer on November 4th at the Masonic Lodge at 7pm

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The Short Barn

Posted on by Posted in Bars and Restaurants, Thumb .

I have driven past this barn near Bay Port on M-25 a few times. It has always intrigued me as to why it is so low to the ground. If you have followed me for a long time you know I am a city boy. I am not an expert on farming but I assuming this is a chicken coop but it’s only a guess. if anyone could enlighten me please post a comment I would appreciate it.

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Lost in Pinnebog

Posted on by Posted in small towns, Thumb .

I saw this old building, or at least what is left of it in the town of Pinnebog. It’s located near the tip of the thumb on the Pinnebog River. It was started back in the 1840s as a lumbering town. Another sawmill town had the same name, but when they established a post office the town changed its name to Port Crescent. That is where the state park is now and is named after the former town.

Some of the buildings from Port Crescent were moved to Pinnebog. I am not sure if this one was one of them but maybe it could have been. There is only a few houses left in the small town and I am sure it has been a long time since it heard the whirring of saw blades at the sawmill.

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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 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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The White Rock

Posted on by Posted in Thumb .

Along the Lake Huron shoreline in the Thumb is the town of White Rock. It was named after, you probably guessed it, a white rock. They rock is about a half-mile offshore. Over the years it has broken up in the ice and is not as prominent as it once was but it is still visible. The rock was used as a boundary marker to define the territory ceded by Ottawa, Chippewa, Wyandot, and Potawatomi Native Americans with the Treaty of Detroit in 1807. A roadside park was built on M-25 and an overlook allows visitors to see the rock. The lake levels also have an impact on how much of the rock is visible. Next time you are taking a drive down M-25 and you see the roadside park be sure to stop and look at the rock that helped define Michigan.

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Martini House

Posted on by Posted in Houses, Thumb .
In a quiet subdivision not far from downtown Sebewaing is this ornate yellow house. The historical marker prominently standing in front of it reads:
Sebewaing businessman John C. Liken built 5 houses, one for each of his children. Constructed in 1890 – 95 in the fashionable Stick Style, this house remains the only historically intact structure associated with Liken, one of Sebewaing’s most prominent citizens, Liken intended this house for his daughter Mary and his son-in-law and business partner, Richard Martini, but the Martini’s never lived here. Instead, their oldest child John C. Martini (1878 – 1974) moved into the house with his wife, Tillie Kemp, in 1909. John C Liken retired in 1913, leaving control of the business to the Martini’s, Richard became president and John succeeded him. The Liken and Martini families were integral to Sebewaing’s development.

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