Thumb Archives - Page 2 of 10

The Old House in Forester

Posted on January 20, 2025 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Forgotten Places, Houses, Thumb .

In the small town of Forester, nestled on the shores of Lake Huron in Michigan’s Thumb, stands thid old boarded up house. Its weathered appearance suggests long vacancy, hinting at a bygone era. I wondered if this house witnessed the tragic fate of Minie Quay, Forester’s most infamous resident.

At just 15 years old, Minie tragically took her own her life on a cold April day in 1876, by jumping off a dock into the icy waters of Lake Huron. She was devastated by the news of her sailor boyfriend’s demise in a Great Lakes shipwreck. She was laid to rest in the cemetery overlooking the lake north of town, and her ghost is said to walk the shoreline looking for her lover.

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Luckhard Museum and Indian Mission

Posted on August 23, 2024 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Thumb .

On Bay Street in Sebewaing near the Christ the King Lutheran School is a house like building with a concert structure that looks like a log cabin attached to it. It is the Luckhard Museum and The Indian Mission. In 1845 three Lutheran missionaries Rev. Johann J. F. Auch, Rev. J. Simon Dumser, and Rev. George Sinke arrived in Sebewaing. The Lutheran leader, Rev. Friedrich Schmid, sent them from Ann Arbor to evangelize the Chippewa Indians. They constructed a log chapel at a site just north of town but this proved to be inadequate. In 1846, they purchased lumber from Bay City and ferried it to Sebewaing and constructied this mission house and Auch used it as a combination chapel and home.

After a few years Auch moved on and the building was alternately occupied and abandoned over the course of decades. In 1954, C.F. Luckhard purchased the building and extensively restored it. Luckhard moved the structure to its present location, and used it to display his collection of pioneer-era artifacts. Luckhard also constructed a replica from concrete of the first log house built by Auch.

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St. Patrick’s Church

Posted on March 6, 2024 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Churches, Thumb .

St. Patrick’s Church in Clifford in the Thumb began in 1879 with visits from Father Clement Krebs, pastor at St. Agatha Church in Gagetown. It later became a mission of St. Elizabeth in Reese, Sacred Heart in Brown City, and most recently SS. Peter and Paul in North Branch. In 1884 the Diocese of Detroit acquired property here and built this simple Gothic-inspired church. The stained-glass windows admit light into the sanctuary and honor the parish’s Irish founders. Father Krebs presided over the first wedding in the partially completed church in August 1886. St. Patrick’s originally served the communities of Marlette, North Branch, Mayville, Kingston, Silverwood and Wilmot. Among the pastors who served the parish was the Father Charles Coughlin, who ministered here in 1924-25 and later gained notoriety as “the Radio Priest” in Royal Oak.

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An Old House in the Winter

Posted on January 3, 2024 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Forgotten Places, Houses, Thumb .

I saw this big old lonely forgotten house south of Watrousville in the Thumb, and during these cold Michigan winter nights I imagine there was a large family living there 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 split it, and stacking it, and then again while you burn it” and 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.

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The Church Among The Fields

Posted on October 6, 2023 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Churches, Thumb .

I saw this old church standing among the farm fields in the Thumb somewhere near Caseville. It looks as if it has been a while since it has seen a baptism or wedding. I don’t know anything about it but it looked rather peaceful watching over the crops.

I hope you are having a great day and thank you for taking the time to read my posts.

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The Grice House

Posted on August 28, 2023 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Houses, Thumb .

This beautiful fieldstone house stands along M-25 north of Harbor Beach in front of the Marina. It was built by James Grice who came to the Thumb in the 1860s from England. The house survived the great fire of 1881 and remained in the family until the 1960s when it was acquired by the city of Harbor Beach. It is now a museum displaying artifacts to remind visitors what life was like decades ago.

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The Depot Under The Bridge

Posted on August 16, 2023 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Thumb, Train Depots .

Underneath the Blue Water Bridge in Port Huron is the old Grand Trunk Railway Depot built in 1856. This is the depot a young Thomas Alva Edison worked at while selling newspapers and books to passengers. This is the part where I am supposed to write about Edison’s accomplishments, but I am thinking most people already know what Edison did, and how he impacted the way we live with his light bulb and other inventions. The depot is now a museum and welcomes visitors.

P.S. Maybe it’s just me, but I think Port Huron is one of the most underrated tourist cities in Michigan. I love walking along the river watching the ships sail past. Checking out the historic buildings and visiting the lighthouses. There is a lot to see and do in Port Huron and I think many Michiganders overlook it for trips and vacations.

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The Barnboat

Posted on June 14, 2023 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Barns and Farms, Thumb .

This odd looking structure stands a few miles south of Oak Beach between Caseville and Port Austin. Titled CELESTIAL SHIP OF THE NORTH (EMERGENCY ARK) it was created by artist Scott Hocking. Constructed on Goretski Family farmland it was created using materials from a collapsed 1890s barn. It is an odd sight to see especially if you were unaware of it.

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Lost in Silverwood

Posted on April 18, 2023 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in small towns, Thumb .

O.K., I wasn’t really lost in Silverwood, that would be hard to do since there are only a few streets in the town. The town sits in the Thumb between Mayville and Marlette. I found this building that looks like and old school house or a church, or probably both. There is an old store in town that I have tried to get a pic of a few times, but every time I am in Silverwood there was a truck parked in front of it, oh well, maybe on the next trip.

When the railroad was ran through the area in 1882, the residents applied for a post office. One suggested naming it something easy to remember, and the post office named “Easy” opened on April 13, 1882, with James R. Chapin as the first postmaster. The name changed to “Rollo” on March 27, 1890, and changed again on May 2, 1892 to “Silverwood”, after the nearby stands of white pine. For what it’s worth, I like the name Silverwood, it sounds like something from a Clint Eastwood western.

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The Small Town of Palms

Posted on April 3, 2023 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in small towns, Thumb .

This old concrete building stands next to the railroad tracks in Palms. I am not sure what it was orginally used for but it looks as if it has been a long time since it was utilized.

You could possibly call Palms a ghost town but a few people still live in the small town located in the Thumb between Cass City and Lake Huron. I figured a name like palms it was named after the palm tree but as any astute Michigander will tell you there are no palm trees in Michigan. The village was settled in 1850 by Canadians John Smith & Michael Dyer. It was businessman Francis Palms who owned most of the land for timber, and when he brought the railroad to the little community in 1881 they named the town in his honor.

Palms owned the most land in Michigan in the mid-1800s in both the Lower and Upper Peninsulas. After harvesting the timber he sold the land but retained the mineral rights. He made a fortune off the copper that was discovered under the property he once owned. He was the president of the Michigan Stove Company and vice president of the Detroit, Mackinac and Marquette Railroad. At the time of his death, his estate and savings were worth over ten million dollars. The largest estate in Michigan at the time.

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