Category Archives: upper peninsula

The Ghost Town of Winona

Posted on by Posted in Ghost towns, upper peninsula .

The town of Winona sits at the base of the Keweenaw Peninsula near the Twin Lakes. There are a few houses there but for the most part it is a ghost town. During its heyday in the 1920s, Winona had restaurants, a brewery, sports teams, churches, boarding houses, a train depot, a saloon, stores, boardwalks, a school, and a barber shop. The town of Winona sprung up around the mines that were started in 1864. The mine closed in 1923 and soon after the town began to dwindle and eventually almost everyone moved away. I saw this old building being consumed by the forest. I am not sure what it was, but its rather large, so maybe a store or boarding house.

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Jackson Mine

Posted on by Posted in Forgotten Places, upper peninsula .

In the old town section of Negaunee is a large hole covered with old iron fencing. This opening in the side of a cliff was part of the Jackson Mine. The mine was the first iron ore mine in the Lake Superior region. In 1844 surveyor William Burt noticed some strange fluctuations  on his compass and upon further investigations he noticed iron ore deposits. Soon afterwards the first mine was dug.

The mine was closed in the 1950s and is now a historic site. In 2003 the area was converted into a park by the city of Negaunee and has mining artifacts on display. The area of the mine is known as Old Town Negaunee and has foundations and stairs from the houses and buildings that once stood on the land. You can read more about it on my post HERE. 

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The Old Building in Pequaming

Posted on by Posted in General Store, Ghost towns, upper peninsula .

This old building stands in the trees in the Upper Peninsula town of Pequaming. There is not much remaining in the town today but back in its heyday it the entire town was owned by the Ford Motor Company. It was a sawmill town making lumber for Model-T bodies. I am not sure what this old building was, maybe a general store or an old boarding house. It seemed kind of lonely and forgotten surrounded by trees.

You can read more about Pequaming in my other post HERE

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Our Lady Of The Snows

Posted on by Posted in Churches, upper peninsula .

I saw the Our Lady Of The Snows Catholic Church in Hessel in the southeastern Upper Peninsula. It caught my eye since it is a rather unique looking church. I was not able to find out when it was build or who the architect was that designed it. I see a lot of old and new churches while I am traveling around Michigan and this one is distinctive. I thought it was also interesting that it is Our Lady Of The Snows and I saw it on one of the hottest days of the year last summer. Hopefully I will get a chance to see it in winter sometime and get a pic of it with some freshly fallen snow. The Old Mission Indian Cemetery is next to the church but that is a post for a different day.

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The Copper Harbor Chimney

Posted on by Posted in Forgotten Places, upper peninsula .

This old chimney stands in the woods east of Copper Harbor and Lake Fanny Hooe. The old smokestack is all that remains of the Clark Mine. It was first dug in 1853 and operated by a few different companies until it closed in 1901. All that remains is this old chimney and an area covered in rocks and stone. It is a popular spot for rock hunters and not to difficult to find. If you take Manganese Road next to the Copper Harbor visitors center east it will curve into Clark Mine Rd. About a mile down the road you will see a wooden sign for the old mine.

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The Store in Herman

Posted on by Posted in Ghost towns, upper peninsula .

This old building stands along the tracks that pass through the Upper Peninsula town of Herman. It is located a remotes section of the Huron Mountains southeast of L’Anse. The town was named for lumberjack Herman  Keranen who took up farming in the area. Over the decades the population has dwindled and it is mostly a ghost town. I am not sure what this old building was but it looked like a store that was supplied by the railroad at one time.

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Boot Hill Cemetery

Posted on by Posted in Cemetery, upper peninsula .

South of the town of Seney in the Upper Peninsula is the old Boot Hill Cemetery. Most of the graves are marked with simple wooden crosses. They do not give names or dates only a reminder that someone is laid to rest in the old cemetery. They are early Yoopers that worked and lived around Seney long before trucks and snowmobiles. I can’t imagine how challenging life was for them a few centuries ago.

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Wyandotte Falls

Posted on by Posted in upper peninsula, Waterfalls .

Located along the Misery River the Wyandotte Falls are west of Lake Roland and Lake Gerald ( the Twin Lakes ) in the Keweenaw Peninsula. I am not sure why the Misery River has a sorrowful name but it was far from a miserable experience when I visited the falls. It was a beautiful hike through the woods as the sun shone through the enormous trees onto the moss covered rocks.

The falls are located about a mile off M-26 on Poyhonen Road near Twin Lakes State Park. It is a little bit of a hike from the parking area and the trail is covered in tree roots but it is worth the effort to see these waterfalls.

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The Oldest Cemetery

Posted on by Posted in Cemetery, upper peninsula .

Many visitors come into the Upper Peninsula by crossing the Mackinac Bridge then turn left and head west down US-2 for the western part of the U.P. I wonder how many travelers notice the cemetery a few miles west of St Ignace. The Gros Cap cemetery is one of the oldest contiguously operating cemeteries in the nation.

In the 1600s, a large group of Ottawa Indians settled in the area and established a burial ground which is now part of the present day cemetery. Over the centuries both Native Americans and European settlers have been laid to rest in the cemetery. A wide variety of headstones and grave markers can be seen in this pretty little graveyard. From wooden crosses to modern granite marks it spans a lot of history. I wonder how many people just pass on by without knowing the history of this cemetery.

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Spring at Fox River

Posted on by 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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