The Gladstone Lighthouse welcomes boats into the Gladstone Harbor on Lake Michigan. Gladstone is on the south side of the Upper Peninsula near Escanaba. The lighthouse was built in 2010 when upgrades were made to Van Cleve Park. The park is a wonderful place to stop on a road trip along US-2 and while you are there you can check out one of Michigan’s newest lighthouses.
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Point Iroquois Lighthouse stands along Lake Superior between Whitefish Point and Brimley. The lighthouse was constructed in 1870 and deactivated in 1962. It now operates as a museum in the summer months. While most tourists visit Whitefish Point Lighthouse this historic beacon is worth visiting and it is a beautiful drive along the Lake Superior shoreline from Paradise to Brimley.
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This old railroad depot stands near downtown Iron Mountain in the Upper Peninsula. The old station was built in 1910. I am not sure when it closed but It looks as if it has been a long time since anyone has taken a train ride from this historic depot.
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In the small town of Hermansville just of US-2 in the central Upper Peninsula is a large two-story building with a red circle and the letters IXL in the center. The building was built in 1881 by the Wisconsin Land and Lumber Company and used as their office. They made hardwood flooring and branded the flooring IXL for “I excel” to denote the quality of the flooring. They also stamped the boards with the IXL logo. The company office in Hermansville closed in 1978. It was converted into a museum in 1982, a century after the building was constructed.
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If you are in the Upper Peninsula in the early fall you may get to witness one of nature’s wonders. The Monarch Butterfly migrates 1,900-miles south to their wintering grounds in the Sierra Madre Mountains of Mexico. Usually, around September thousands of Monarchs gather around the remains of the old Peninsula Lighthouse at the tip of the Stonington Peninsula.
It is one of only a very few places in North America where monarchs can be viewed migrating in great numbers while they wait for favorable weather conditions. Since tagging began in the mid-1990s, monarchs tagged at Peninsula Point have been found in El Rosario, Mexico, almost 2,000 miles from the Stonington Peninsula. Monarchs use a combination of air currents and thermals to travel long distances. Some fly as far as 3,000 miles to reach their winter home. If you want to know more about the lighthouse you see my post about it HERE
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A few miles northeast of the Upper Peninsula town of Crystal Falls is a stone memorial. It is a memorial to the 27 men that died when the Mansfield Mine collapsed and the water from the Michigamme River flooded the shaft. All the men working in the mine on September 28, 1893, drowned. It is a tragedy that these men who were just trying to provide for their families died. This stone memorial in the Upper Peninsula is a reminder of the lives lost and the sacrifices made by earlier Yoopers.
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The Soo Locks are the most well know engineering marvels in Sault St. Marie. A little way down the river east of the locks is another engineering marvel. Over 1300 feet long the St. Marys Falls Hydroelectric Plant was the second-largest plant when it was constructed in 1898. Second only to the hydro plant at Niagra Falls. It is still in operation today producing electricity for the easter half of the Upper Peninsula.
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In the area southwest of Negaunee, you will find several old staircases built in the berms and hills that lead to nowhere. This region of the city is known as Old Town and had several houses and buildings surrounding the Jackson Mine. The mine closed in the 1940s and by the 50s several structures in the area had collapsed due to shafts underneath caving in. Because of the unstable grounds, the buildings in Old Town were either moved or demolished. It is now part of a park that the Heritage Trail passes through. You can still drive down the old streets and see several staircases that once led to homes in Old Town.
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This wooden statue titled Nee-gaw-nee-gaw-bow (Leading Man) stands in the western Upper Peninsula town of Wakefield. It was carved by artist, Peter “Wolf” Toth to honor the Chippewa Indians. It is the 59th statue on the “Trail of Whispering Giants.” Peter Toth has donated a different Indian carving to each of the 50 states and Canada from 1971 to 1988. The statue was carved from one piece of pine donated by the Ottawa National Forest and was completed in 1988.
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The Porcupine Mountains in the western Upper Peninsula is the largest state park in Michigan. It is known for its hiking trails, waterfalls, and the Lake Of The Clouds. But few people know that hidden among the trees are the ruins of an old mining town. Nonesuch is a type of copper ore that exists in sandstone and the town was named after the ore. Mining began in 1867 and ended in 1912.
At its peak, the town had a population of 300 people and besides the mining buildings, it had a school, boarding houses, stables, and even a baseball team. Today stone walls can be found in the area where the town once stood. I also found some old cast iron machine parts including a large gear half-buried in the ground and held in place by a tree root.
The ruins can be found near the Little Iron River. A parking lot can be found off South Boundry Road with a trail that is about a half-mile long that will take you to the ruins. To find the parking lot drive straight south of the visitor center. A short road keeps going south where South Boundry Road curves to the west. Down that short road, you will find a small parking lot and an informational sign for the town of Nonesuch.
If you visit please stay on the paths and do not mess with the crumbling walls so they will remain open to visitors.
P.S. I am a State Parks Photo Ambassador and if you love Michigan State Parks be sure to follow their Facebook Page at https://www.facebook.com/MiStateParks
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